Apple has officially released its iOS 18 Beta to the public, allowing existing iPhone users to get an early preview of what the new operating system has to offer. If you can’t wait to give iOS 18 a try, here are several things you need to know and also the steps required to download iOS 18 Beta.
iOS 18 iPhone Compatibility
iOS 18 is currently supported on devices that can currently run iOS 17. This includes the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone SE (2nd generation) and above. If you’re still using older iPhone models like the iPhone X and iPhone 8, or older, sorry, you’re out of luck.
If you’re iPhone is compatible and you want to proceed, it is advisable to perform a full backup via iCloud. To backup your iPhone, just go to Settings > tap on your Apple ID profile at the top > tap on iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now.
How to download iOS 18 Beta on your iPhone?
Before you can download iOS 18 Beta, you would need to enrol your device on the Apple Beta portal. A login with your Apple ID is required to proceed.
Once that’s done, you can launch “Settings” on your iPhone and then tap on General > Software Update.
As shown above, you should see the “Beta Updates” option. Just tap on it and then select iOS 18 Public Beta.
You should now see iOS 18 Beta on your iPhone’s Software Update screen. On our iPhone 15 Pro Max, the update is about 7GB in size and it is recommended that you download and install it over WiFi after you’ve backed up your iPhone. You can select to update now or schedule it to update later tonight.
Since this is a Beta release, do expect stability issues and bugs since this software isn’t final. A public beta release should be more stable than the Developer Beta version. For greater peace of mind, it is recommended that you only download iOS 18 Beta on a secondary or spare phone, just in case your crucial day-to-day applications don’t play nice with iOS 18 Beta.
The final version of iOS 18 is expected to be released in Q3 2024 just in time for the upcoming iPhone 16 series.
New features for iOS 18
Customisation is a big thing for iOS 18 and users can now customise their home and lock screen almost like an Android. Besides that, they have also revamped the photos app, email app, control centre layout and the ability to lock your apps with Face ID. Apple is also bringing generative AI features through Apple Intelligence where you can get help composing messages and creating new Emojis and images with AI.
You can learn more about it in our iOS 18 coverage or check out Apple’s iOS 18 Preview page.
