Apple has been internally testing iOS 18.2 for at least a few months now, based on evidence of the software version in our website's analytics logs.
Below, we explain when iOS 18.2 is likely to be released.
iOS 18.2: Release Timing
During its iPhone 16 event, Apple said it will be making Apple Intelligence available in more English-speaking countries in December, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. Support for these additional languages will likely be added in iOS 18.2, as the update is likely to be released in December, just like iOS 16.2 and iOS 17.2 were.
In other words, iOS 18.2 is likely to be widely released in December.
Here is when similar updates were released:
- iOS 17.2: December 11, 2023
- iOS 16.2: December 13, 2022
- iOS 15.2: December 13, 2021
iOS 18.2: Expected New Features
Apple Intelligence in More Countries
As mentioned, iOS 18.2 should expand Apple Intelligence to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK for the first time.
Image Playground and Genmoji
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said two more Apple Intelligence features that were previewed earlier this year will be added in iOS 18.2, including Image Playground for generating images and Genmoji for generating custom emoji.
Here is how Apple describes Image Playground:
Produce fun, original images in seconds with the Image Playground experience right in your apps. Create an entirely new image based on a description, suggested concepts, and even a person from your Photos library. You can easily adjust the style and make changes to match a Messages thread, your Freeform board, or a slide in Keynote.
Here is how Apple describes Genmoji:
Make a brand-new Genmoji right in the keyboard to match any conversation. Provide a description to see a preview, and adjust your description until it's perfect. You can even pick someone from your Photos library and create a Genmoji that looks like them.
ChatGPT Integration With Siri
Apple said that ChatGPT will be available through Siri before the end of the year, so this integration will likely go live with iOS 18.2.
With user permission, Siri will be able to show ChatGPT answers directly in response to questions and other prompts. ChatGPT will also be an option for Apple's system-wide Writing Tools feature, allowing users to generate text and images. Apple said ChatGPT will be powered by OpenAI's latest GPT-4o model on its platforms.
iPhone, iPad, and Mac users will be able to use ChatGPT for free, without creating an account, and ChatGPT Plus subscribers will be able to connect their accounts to access paid features on these devices. Apple said OpenAI will not store ChatGPT requests made from its devices, and it said users' IP addresses will be obscured.
