The Apple World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) will go from June 10-14, 2024. This annual event typically showcases new Apple products and announces the newest iOS version that will premiere later in the year. With major upgrades expected across the board for iOS 18, this could be one of the most impactful conferences in years.
Apple has already announced several accessibility upgrades expected to be included in iOS 18 such as Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, and Vehicle Motion Cues to fight motion sickness. The new system is also expected to include multiple AI features for the iPhone and revamp the device's home screen layout.
Read on for more iOS 18 rumors and what details have been confirmed so far.
What do I need to know about iOS 18 and WWDC 2024?
- WWDC 2024 lasts from June 10-14.
- Apple has confirmed iOS 18 will be announced at the event.
- New features announced so far include Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, Vocal Shortcuts, and Vehicle Motion Cues to reduce motion sickness.
- Siri is rumored to be getting smarter with AI generation capabilities.
- Apple has reportedly secured a partnership with OpenAI.
- iPhone Home Screens are rumored to be more customizable, allowing you to place app icons anywhere.
WWDC 2024 details
WWDC 2024 lasts from June 10-14, but the most important keynote event will be June 10 at 10 a.m. Pacific time. This is when to expect the most important updates and announcements, like iOS 18, WatchOS 11, and any new products being revealed. The presentation will be streamed live on Apple's website, YouTube, and Apple TV.
iOS 18 rumors
Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about new iOS versions. Typically, a new iOS generation is announced at WWDC in June and officially released later in the year around September or October with the new iPhone.
Apple has already announced some new accessibility features coming later this year. Unless these are part of a very late update to iOS 17, these features are a preview of iOS 18. There are also rumored features involving AI and screen customizations that should be coming to iPhones through iOS 18.
Eye Tracking
Apple announced Eye Tracking with a video showing someone using their eyes to control an iPad without physically touching the device.
The feature is designed for people with disabilities and uses the front-facing camera of iPads and iPhones to monitor user's eyes. Apple explained the technology uses AI and Dwell Control (a feature activated by looking at parts of the screen for certain amounts of time) to work.
Music Haptics
Music Haptics is a new way for deaf or hard-of-hearing users to experience music on their iPhones. When enabled it uses the Taptic Engine (the thing that makes your phone vibrate) to play new taps and create tactile textures for users to feel the music as it plays. It has been enabled to work with millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog and will be accessible for third-party app developers to use when creating music in apps.
Vocal Shortcuts
Vocal Shortcuts allow users to assign custom utterances to launch shortcuts on their iPhones. Essentially, when the device hears a specific phrase or sound, it can launch programs and complete complex tasks.
This feature is an extension of the accessibility created by iOS 17's Personal Voice, which allows users to upload a digital copy of their voice to their iPhone. Both were created to help people with speech difficulties use their iPhones better.
Vehicle Motion Cues
Apple doesn't want you to get car sick anymore. Vehicle Motion Cues are animated dots that appear on the edge of your screen when your phone detects you're in a vehicle. The dots react to the movements of the car, so they change when driving forward, turning, or going in reverse.
It goes without saying this feature is for vehicle passengers, not the driver. It can also be set so it automatically turns on or you can manually enable it.
AI-enabled Siri
One of the biggest expectations for iOS 18 is more AI features with some rumors suggesting Apple has secured a partnership with OpenAI. Samsung and Google premiered impressive AI capabilities on the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8. Apple's latest release, the iPhone 15, hardly offered any.
Siri is expected to get the bulk of the AI features in iOS 18. As Apple's digital assistant, it makes sense that this is where many of the improvements would go. Rumors suggest that Siri will have more conversational capabilities and user personalization. Additionally, it's expected Siri will offer more ability to work within iPhone apps and to carry conversation topics across Apple devices.
What Apple devices will get AI features? It's too soon to tell. That said, phone companies have generally offered two types of AI features so far: OS-specific and device-specific.
- OS-specific AI features are tied to a phone's operating system. It's a pretty good bet that many AI features included with iOS 18 will be available for any device that can run that operating system.
- Device-specific AI features are linked to pieces of hardware in individual smartphone models. Examples of these features would be abilities tied to an iPhone's camera system or processor. If Apple follows in the footsteps of Samsung and Google, the most impressive AI features will be linked to the upcoming iPhone 16 series with very few device-specific abilities going to the previous generations.
Home Screen customization
Every few years Apple revamps the iPhone Home Screen. This year, iOS 18 is rumored to finally get rid of the invisible grid that locks apps to specific places.
In the past, you could create new screen views for your iPhone, but apps and widgets always populated the top of the screen and worked their way down. It's rumored iOS 18 will allow apps to go anywhere on the screen and allow users to create blank rows and columns.
Will Apple announce any other devices?
Last year Apple revealed the Vision Pro at WWDC 2023. New iPhones are typically revealed in the fall and the newest iPad Pro was already announced earlier this month, so we don't expect any major device or hardware reveals at this year's conference. That said, Apple could still surprise us.
Max McCaskill
Sr. Staff Writer
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