iOS 18.1: imminent arrival of the special Apple Intelligence update

Article updated on October 22, 2024:iOS 18.1 should arrive next Monday October 28 or Tuesday October 29. The RC beta of the software has been available since October 21, as initially planned in this article. Additionally, Appleconfirmedthe release of iOS 18.1 in the week of October 28.

iOS 18.1 iscurrently being tested. Hear that it can be downloaded, but only in beta. Several beta versions of iOS 18.1 have already been released, so the final version should not take too long. But, as you well know, Apple does not communicate too far in advance about the release dates of its OS. It therefore seems interesting to us to try to find the most probable firing window for the arrival of iOS 18.1, experience having shown us in the past that the Californian firm generally maintains a fairly similar deployment schedule for its products. from year to year.

Especially since for iOS 18.1 expectations are high given that the update comes withApple Intelligence, in-house AI, presenting itself as a real revolution on iPhone and Mac.

So when can we take advantage of it? Let us try to answer this question using several elements.

What hypotheses for the release date of iOS 18.1?

Let's take a look in the rearview mirror and inspect the key dates of the iOS 17.1 rollout which took place during Fall 2023:

• beta 1: September 28, 2023
• beta 2: October 4, 2023
• beta 3: October 11, 2023
• RC beta: October 18, 2023
• final version: October 25, 2023

The iOS 17.1 testing phase lasted 27 days (almost 4 full weeks) and included 4 beta versions, RC included. Let's see what the iOS 18.1 testing schedule looks like so far:

• beta 1: July 29, 2024
• beta 2: August 13, 2024
• beta 3: August 28, 2024
• beta 4: September 17, 2024
• beta 5: September 23, 2024
• beta 6: October 7, 2024
• beta 7: October 14
• RC beta: October 21

We can immediately notice that the testing of iOS 18.1 began well before that of iOS 17.1 in the year. This does not necessarily mean that iOS 18.1 will necessarily be released earlier than iOS 17.1. iOS 18.1 appears to be a fairly massive update, bringing Apple Intelligence notably to iPhone, and therefore probably requiring a much longer testing period.

We can therefore think that Apple is seeking above all to ensure the proper functioning of the AI ​​on compatible machines before launching it for everyone. For this reason, it seems more prudent to us to bet ona release of iOS 18.1 modeled on the 2023 schedule, i.e. a final version appearing in the second half of October.

In the end, according to our analysis, and assuming that an RC beta is released the week of October 21, iOS 18.1 should probably appear on Monday October 28 or Tuesday October 29. The recent announcement of the iPad mini 7 with a release date of October 23 and theApple precisionthat Apple Intelligence would not be available on day 1 on the tablet supports our prediction.

iOS 18.1 should arrive on iPhone on Monday October 28 or Tuesday October 29, 2024

Let us remember thatApple Intelligencewill arrive with iOS 18.1, oncompatible machines only.

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.