Joe Maring / Digital Trends
iOS 18is a liberal and exciting iPhone update . From the family screen customization peter to the new Control Center and the various improvements to iMessage , there ’s plenty to be stimulate about . I bonk I am !
However , there ’s also an ugly side to iOS 18 . A expectant part of this update let in Apple ’s long - awaited AI features , which Apple name to asApple Intelligence . What we ’ve interpret so far of Apple Intelligence expect quite promising . unluckily , while these AI feature are included in the iOS 18 update , they ’ll only be available for a select chemical group of people .
It creates a new precedent for iOS updates , and it may very well touch on the iPhone forever .
iOS 18 is a two-tiered update
Whenever a Modern Io update is announced , we expect it to be available for many years ’ worth of iPhones . iOS 18 is no dissimilar . If you have an iPhone as older as the iPhone XS , iPhone XR , iPhone SE 2 , or any new models , you ’ll get the iOS 18 update later this fall .
Although it ’s no longer the leaderwhen it comes to recollective - terminus software updates , Apple is still one of the best in the business . It ’s long been received that you could buy an iPhone and carry long time and years of major software update . It ’s something that Android earpiece have just now take in up to in late age , and it ’s long been one of the biggest reasons to buy an iPhone over a vie smartphone .
Unfortunately , while iOS 18 is coming to 23 unlike iPhone fashion model , only two of them are getting thefulliOS 18 update . All of the Apple Intelligence features are only available for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max . Even if you have an iPhone 15 , iPhone 15 Plus , iPhone 14 Pro , or any other iPhone model getting iOS 18 , you wo n’t be treated to any AI goodies .
This isn’t the first time Apple has done this
Is this the very first time Apple has released an iOS update and not madeevery single featureavailable for every example receiving the Modern software ? No . In fact , this has been an expected side effect of iOS updates for old age . Some new feature in iOS updates require processing power that older iPhones just are n’t capable of , which means some features are often on the chopping block with every major update .
For example , in the iOS 17 update last year , only iPhone 12 and newer models gotthe FaceTime gesturesfor triggering 3D gist in TV call . StandBy mode was also only uncommitted for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models .
Older iOS updates apply , too . In iOS 16 , the written matter - and - spread shaft for hit depicted object from picture was only useable for the iPhone XS and newer . In iOS 15 , numerous FaceTime features — including Portrait modality and spacial audio — also only worked if you had an iPhone XS or newer .
This lineament discrepancy has never been ideal , but it ’s also feel reasonable . We wait that some Io features will only work on new iPhones , but it ’s typically only iPhones that are multiple year sure-enough that drop out on these features . Furthermore , these missing feature are only ever a fistful of minor thing — not huge pillars of the update .
Why iOS 18 is different
If Apple has done this before , why does it feel so new and dissimilar in iOS 18 ? This time around , many of the enceinte and most exciting Io 18 features are affect . And not only that butApple is limiting Apple Intelligenceto its two highest - end and most expensive iPhone models . That’smuchdifferent than anything it ’s done in prior year , and it set a perturbing precedent for iOS updates depart forward .
Presumably , all of this year ’s iPhones — iPhone 16 , iPhone 16 Plus , iPhone 16 Pro , and iPhone 16 Pro Max — will get the Apple Intelligence features coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max . Or will they ? If Apple is being this restrictive with AI feature right out of the logic gate , what ’s to hold back it from proceed to do so in the futurity ? Could the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus leave out out on Apple Intelligence , too ? Could we see new Apple Intelligence Features declare this fall that are only uncommitted on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max ?
These may be unnecessary concerns , but Apple has created a situation where I ca n’t help but wonder about them . Even if it ’s unacceptable for Apple Intelligence to run on most exist iPhones because of hardware constraint , which very well may be the case , it does n’t finish the whole post from feeling any less crummy .
Maybe this is just an awkward one - time transitional period as we enter the world of Apple Intelligence . Maybe we wo n’t ever ask to care with something like this again . instead , maybe this is the start of a raw epoch of iOS update , where only the best of the near get the biggest tidings features . We ’ve never been in a position like this before , and it name me anxious about what iPhone update look like going forward .
