by Juli Clover
The first beta of Apple’s upcoming iOS 18.4 update could be released as soon as the middle of next week, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
Next week may be busy with the launch of Apple’s new Powerbeats that have a heart rate sensor and the iPhone SE 4, but we could still get the new beta on February 12 or February 13. If Apple waits until the week after that, the software could come on February 18, as February 17 is Presidents’ Day, a U.S. a holiday.
Apple often follows software releases with new betas, but there has been a delay between iOS 18.3 and the iOS 18.4 beta. Apple released iOS 18.3 11 days ago on Monday, January 27, and we’ll be at the two week mark on February 10.
It’s not unheard of for Apple to take some time between software updates and betas, especially when an update has a lot of new features. Rumors suggest that iOS 18.4 will bring major Apple Intelligence Siri changes, which Apple outlined earlier this year.
Siri is set to gain personal context, onscreen awareness, and the ability to do more in and between apps. With Siri’s history of performance issues and questionable responses compared to other personal assistants, Apple likely wants to ensure that it gets this new feature set right.
The new Siri abilities are one of the major Apple Intelligence features that Apple has already been highlighting in advertising and information about AI, so there are a lot of expectations.
The update will also likely bring new emoji characters, some changes to default app options in the European Union, and an expansion of Apple Intelligence to new languages and countries.
Apple has already said that Apple Intelligence will expand to additional countries in an April update, so we are expecting iOS 18.4 to be in beta testing through March ahead of an April launch.
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