Apple seeded second release candidates of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 on Friday, a day after releasing a second release candidate for macOS 15.4. These follow-up releases likely do nothing but fix bugs discovered in the first release candidates of these operating systems, which Apple released Monday.
When the final versions go live sometime in April, the OS updates will give millions of people around the world their first access to Apple Intelligence (and bring other improvements to boot). But they won’t include the much-anticipated smarter version of Siri that Apple promised last year.
iOS 18.4 brings Apple Intelligence to billions more people
Release candidates are the last step in beta testing, giving third-party software developers and other beta testers one more opportunity to look over the final versions of operating systems before they’re introduced to average users. If significant bugs turn up in an RC, updated versions of the release candidates come out, as occurred this week with iOS 18.4 RC 2, macOS 15.4 RC 2 and iPadOS 18.4 RC 2.
Previous betas gave a preview of what’s in iOS 18.4, but Cupertino itself revealed the big change: bringing Apple Intelligence to billions more people around the world. Although this suite of AI tools is the hallmark of iOS 18, access has been limited. It launched first in the United States, then expanded to key English-speaking key markets including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. And that’s it so far.
The AI tools will soon break away from English, and the expansion will happen with iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4. The additions on the way include French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (simplified). In addition, localized English for Singapore and India are on the way.
On compatible devices, the collection of AI tools can tweak users’ grammar and images, create custom emoji and generate cutesy pictures based on user prompts. More features are in development, too.
The release candidates reveal the new features Apple considers most important via the release notes. The one for iOS 18.4 says, “This update introduces a new Sketch Style option in Image Playground, recipes in Apple News+, and enhancements to better organize and filter your library in Photos. This release includes other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPhone.”
And the iPadOS 18.4 note says, “This update introduces a new Sketch Style option on Image Playground, Mail Categorisation, recipes in Apple News+, and enhancements to better organise and filter your library in Photos. This release also includes other features, bug fixes and security updates for your iPad.
Miscellaneous improvements
Apple isn’t entirely fixated on artificial intelligence, though. iOS 18.4 and other upcoming OS upgrades will include other enhancements as well.
A slightly quirky one will give the Home app control of robot vacuum cleaners.
Speaking of quirky, Apple typically introduces new emoji in its spring software upgrades. This year, the additions include a harp, a shovel, a fingerprint and several more. (Don’t want to wait? Make your own Genmoji.)
Apple says it will bundle a firmware update that brings lossless audio to the latest AirPods Max with these updates, too.
For more, check out the five 5 iOS 18.4 features we’re excited about.
No boost to Siri’s IQ
For months, observers thought iOS 18.4 would include an AI-enhanced version of Siri, but no. On March 7, the company had to admit, “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”
After this very public debacle, Apple brought in a new manager to lead the Siri. Still, it’ll be months before anyone outside of Apple sees anything from the Siri upgrade project.
Expect iOS 18.4 this spring
iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3 and macOS Sequoia 15.3 all launched in January, and their follow-ups are right around the corner. Release candidates traditionally come out a week before the full launch.
But there’s little mystery when the next updates will arrive. Apple said multiple times that the debut of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4 will happen in April. We don’t have an exact date, but the first week of the month seems very likely.
Looking further ahead, the next big update might be iOS 18.5, macOS Sequoia 15.5 and iPadOS 18.5. This might happen in May. WWDC25 will surely come in June, giving the world its first look at iOS 19, macOS 16 and iPadOS 19. Expect these in the autumn.
