iOS 18: Bad News for iPhone 15, 15 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro & Others

While devices like the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and iPhone 14 series will move from iOS 17 to iOS 18, they may not get the operating system’s full suite of features according to an Apple insider.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has spent the past few weeks outlining Apple’s plans for iOS 18 and AI, has gone into more detail in a new report.

iOS 18, which will debut at WWDC 2024 on June 10th, is expected to deliver numerous AI features including upgrades to Siri, the iPhone’s personal assistant.

The operating system is expected to use a combination of on-device and cloud for AI processing. Unfortunately, it looks like customers might need a newer iPhone to use these features.

Gurman says many of iOS 18’s on-device AI capabilities “will require an iPhone 15 Pro or later to work.”

In other words, they will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple’s current flagships, and the upcoming iPhone 16 series.

So while owners of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will get AI upgrades with iOS 18, they won’t get all of the changes.

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max both utilize Apple’s A17 Pro chip while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are powered by an older A16 chip.

It’s unclear how big of a blow this will be given that Apple hasn’t detailed iOS 18 in full yet. Gurman didn’t explicitly say which AI features will be missing.

It’s also a blow for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max users who apparently won’t get access to Apple’s biggest AI developments.

This also means devices like the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max and others will get a lesser version of iOS 18.

Fortunately, we only have a few weeks to go before we learn about these limitations as Apple will push iOS 18 into beta testing shortly after its WWDC 24 keynote.

The final version of iOS 18 will arrive in the fall alongside the iPhone 16 series. Apple’s new iPhones may get some exclusive AI features that aren’t available on older iPhone models like the iPhone 15 Pro.