Apple is currently beta testing iOS 18.4, and it’s packed with a lot of big and small new features. But per Mark Gurman, iOS 18.5 is set to solve Apple’s biggest AI problems with two new features: major Siri upgrades and AI support in China.
What to expect from iOS 18.5, per Gurman
In his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman wrote about the new features coming in iOS 18.4, then pivoted to discuss Apple’s following update:
Anyway, the follow-up release, iOS 18.5, is where the good stuff is supposed to wind up. It has the AI-infused Siri that the company showed off last June, as well as support for Apple Intelligence in China.
Typically, a point update so late in an iOS release cycle won’t have many notable new features.
With iOS 18.5, however, there are two big ones:
- the Siri upgrades we’ve been waiting for
- and Apple Intelligence support in China
#1: Siri upgrades
Siri changes will enable Apple’s assistant to do all the things that were demoed last year at WWDC, and that many users had expected to be available already—since Apple already promoted them in ads.
For example, Siri will support hundreds of new in-app and cross-app actions. This will make it far more powerful than before, letting you perform many actions by voice that you previously needed to open an app for.
On-screen awareness is another upgrade coming. It lets Siri understand what you’re looking at on your device and perform actions based on items on-screen.
Finally, Siri will also understand your personal context. This means Siri will be able to behave much more like a human assistant. Ask it questions about your previous meetings, texts or emails you were sent, places you’ve been recently, and so on, and Siri will be able to answer those questions with true intelligence about your life.
Apple has been making Siri changes gradually in its recent updates, but iOS 18.5 should finally get us to the point where it feels like the “new era for Siri” has actually arrived.
#2: Apple Intelligence in China
The majority of our readers may not be impacted by this, but Apple Intelligence’s arrival in China will address one of Apple’s biggest current problems.
With fierce competition from local smartphone makers, all of whom offer their own AI support, bringing Apple Intelligence to China has become an urgent necessity for Apple.
iPhone sales in China have been struggling recently, but Tim Cook told investors not to worry.
Part of his case for optimism was that Apple Intelligence had not yet launched in the region, and iPhone sales have performed stronger where AI features are available.
So naturally, the arrival of Apple Intelligence support in iOS 18.5 should—assuming existing trends hold—help boost sales in one of Apple’s most important markets.
iOS 18.5 release timing and wrap-up
Currently, Mark Gurman expects Apple to ship iOS 18.5 with these new features some time in May.
Though with iOS 18.4 coming not long before in early April, it’s very possible that it could slip into early June instead. The important thing is for Apple to get it out the door before WWDC 2025 kicks off.
Do you expect iOS 18.5 to make a big impact on users? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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