This evening, expected from 7 PM, you will be able to download the final version of iOS 18, after the new iPhone operating system spent around three and a half months in beta.
The new iOS version brings many nice innovations, but not the biggest one – Apple Intelligence. The collection of AI features is expected to launch in English in October, while its German version is delayed indefinitely. During the iPhone announcement last Monday, Apple didn’t even mention German in a preview. Nevertheless, there are still many exciting features to discover here, including a significantly more customizable home screen.
Before you install iOS 18, you should keep a few points in mind to ensure the update goes as smoothly as possible – or so you can properly roll it back should something go wrong.
Since Friday, September 13, the iPhone 16 has been available for pre-order and will officially hit stores on September 20. You can find the best deals here.
iOS 18 – is the update worth it?
iOS 18 is one of the most interesting updates in recent years – not only because the overall range of features is quite impressive, but also because many of them will not be available in Germany or the EU.
The biggest feature is Apple Intelligence, as mentioned above, a collection of various AI-supported functions that aim to improve your everyday life with the iPhone. This includes intelligent text correction in Mail, Notes, and other text-based apps designed to enhance your writing style – called “writing tools,” as well as summaries of multiple notifications.
The Photos app also learns a few new AI tricks (like many others), but like all other features, you will notice none of it because, as mentioned: Apple Intelligence will initially remain off-limits in Germany. What Apple’s new AI initiative can already do overseas and will certainly be able to do here can be found here: Apple Intelligence: What it is, what it can do, and when you will get it.
The other feature that you will not have access to immediately is iPhone mirroring, which allows you to mirror and control your locked iPhone on your Mac (with macOS 15 Sequoia) without having to hold it.
Apple is withholding both features, supposedly due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which attempts to regulate large tech companies in the EU. Whether there is any truth to this, we will probably never find out.
Reading Tip: Apple’s biggest fear: The EU gets a better iPhone
Beyond these features, there are still a few reasons why the update to iOS 18 is worth it.
Foremost is the home screen, which can be even better personalized in the next version. It will get a quite useful dark mode with dark icons, and you can now freely distribute app icons on it, leaving gaps as you wish so as not to obscure the motif on your wallpaper.
At the same time, the Control Center will also be overhauled. Here too, the groundbreaking new feature is that you can now customize it completely for the first time – not just the arrangement of individual controls but also their size.
Of course, apps will also be updated and numerous bugs from previous versions fixed. We have compiled all the new features in iOS 18 on this overview page: iOS 18 – all news.
“iOS 18 – what’s new”
Will iOS 18 run on my iPhone?
Every year, the question arises again with an iOS update: will the next version run on a certain iPhone, as Apple regularly cuts support for older devices whose chips are no longer powerful enough.
This year, however, you are in luck: if your iPhone received iOS 17 last year, you can also update to iOS 18. While Apple Intelligence will not run on older devices (aside from the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max), it doesn’t matter since it is not available yet anyway.
Therefore, the list of iPhones compatible with iOS 18 is as follows:
Check storage space
The storage situation on the iPhone hasn’t been as precarious for several generations as before when base models still came with 64 GB of storage, but especially heavy photographers still hit their limits today. The update to iOS 18 is likely between 7 and 8 GB in size, so at least that much storage should be available on your iPhone, preferably double that just to be safe. You can find out how much storage is available on your iPhone under Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
If you don’t have enough storage available, you can specifically delete large apps in the same view that you may not need. For example, Instagram uses about 5.5 GB on my iPhone – just 5 GB of that is cached data that wastes unnecessary space. You can delete such apps and reinstall them to clear your iPhone of data clutter. To see if it is worth it, tap on a large app in the storage view and check how much space the “Documents & Data” entry occupies.
In the fine print under each app, it shows when you last used it. If you haven’t used an app for more than a month, the information is missing. Consider whether you absolutely need the app on your iPhone. Games you haven’t touched for a while generally also consume a lot of storage space.
If you’ve uninstalled apps and still don’t have enough storage for iOS 18, that’s strange! – continue with your photos and videos. Particularly the latter take up a lot of space and are therefore good candidates for deletion. Open the Photos app and go to the video album. Unfortunately, there is no way to sort files by size or length on the iPhone. So, scroll through the list and delete what you consider unimportant.
If you’ve deleted app data, apps, and videos and still don’t have enough space – odd! – continue with your photos like you did with the videos.
Create a backup
While iOS 18 has been in beta since June and the biggest issues have been fixed by now, it is not ruled out that there might still be some minor problems with one or another iPhone model. Or you might not like iOS 18 and would prefer to stay on iOS 17 for a while longer.
In any case, you need a proper backup if you want to revert to a previous main version. A cloud backup is not suitable for this; you cannot easily restore it if you have updated your iPhone to the next version.
To create a local backup of your iPhone, you need to connect it via cable to your Mac (or Windows PC). On the Mac, select your iPhone in Finder and click “Back Up Now” in the “General” tab under “Backups.” On a Windows PC, you need the app “Apple Devices” from the Microsoft Store. The interface is practically identical to Finder.
Reading Tip: Apple Devices App for Windows – Manage iPhone and iPad on PC
Check battery status
iOS updates require your iPhone’s battery to be at least 50 percent charged or currently charging. This measure is to avoid your iPhone running out of juice during the update, which can lead to possible issues.
Before you update, ensure you either have enough battery or connect your iPhone directly to power.
Install iOS 18
If your iPhone is ready, you can regularly check Settings > General > Software Update starting around 7 PM on September 16. If the update to iOS 18 is available, you can download it there. If the update does not appear, you can pull the whole page down to force it to refresh. If the update is still not available, your iPhone is either incompatible (see list above) or it is simply not available yet. Try again later!
“iOS 18 – what’s new”