iOS 18.2 will bring these new features to your iPhone in December

Apple has made a lot of promises for iOS 18, yet a good chunk of them aren’t available in the current betas of both iOS 18.0 and iOS 18.1. Since most of the promised features are coming “later this year”, we should expect them in iOS 18.2 – assuming theres no delays.

For the past few years, iOS x.2 updates have released in December. Any features that aren’t present in iOS 18 and 18.1 will likely appear in this version, given the fact that it’d be the last opportunity for a release within 2024. Of course, there’s always the chance that Apple adds some major feature in a later beta of 18.1, but that generally doesn’t happen.

ChatGPT support in Siri

On Apple’s last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook commented on the staggered release of Apple Intelligence features. While talking about the rollout, he mentioned that ChatGPT integration will arrive “by the end of the calendar year.”

Apple is also reportedly investing in OpenAI’s next funding round, showing their confidence in the companies technology.

Apple Intelligence expansion

At the iPhone 16 keynote this week, Apple announced that Apple Intelligence will be localized for additional English speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Apple Intelligence currently only supports US English.

Genmoji & Image Playground

We got to see Apple’s image generation features at WWDC back in June, although we haven’t seen them ship in any betas since then. Even though there haven’t been any concrete leaks nor confirmations from Apple on when we’ll see these features ship, it seems quite likely that it’ll be later this year.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently reported that we’ll be seeing these image generation features within iOS 18.2 later this year. You’ll soon be able to generate your own emojis and other fun images on iPhone 15 Pro and later.

Hearing Health for AirPods Pro 2

Apple announced some new hearing health features for AirPods Pro 2 at the iPhone 16 keynote, including a new hearing protection mode that’ll add passive noise cancellation in loud environments. They’re also adding a new “clinical grade” hearing aid, with a custom made hearing profile tailored to the user. It’s currently being FDA certified, and is expected to release later this year, likely alongside iOS 18.2.

Redesigned Mail app

Apple’s new Mail app with a fresh design and categorization is also expected to release later this year, according to Apple’s website. You can read more about the new Mail app and all of its features here.

Forced browser choice screen in EU

Apple unveiled a new screen for selecting your default browser in the EU earlier this year, but starting later this year, Apple will be forced to display that screen far more often.

If you currently use Safari, you’ll be required to look at this browser choice screen upon updating. Additionally, you’ll be forced to check this setting once a year, or when you’re setting up a new device. Unlike most iOS settings, this one will not persist through backups. You can learn more about these EU changes here.

Robot vacuum cleaner support

Apple also says that we can expect full support for robot vacuums later this year. The Home app will be able to control the core features robot vacuum cleaners – such as power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. You’ll also be able to interact with Robot vacuums using Siri.

Do any of these features excite you for iOS 18.2? Let us know in the comments.

Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Threads

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.