Apple Released iOS 18.1: Complete Guide with Every New Feature
Introduction
Apple has released iOS 18.1, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone users worldwide, with the exception of those in the European Union and China. Beyond Apple Intelligence, this update offers a range of new features and essential security patches to enhance user experience and protection.
Every Non-Apple Intelligence feature Apple introduced with iOS 18.1:
Call recordings and transcriptions let you record live calls and transcribe them in the Notes app, with an automatic announcement that the call is being recorded. This feature is not available in markets where call recording is prohibited by the local legislation.
New notification badges on the Lock Screen showing the number of notifications collapsed behind a notification thread.
Camera Control can quickly switch to the front TrueDepth Camera (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
Sleep Apnea notifications for supported Apple Watch models (Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 10).
Spatial photo capture, along with spatial video capture, is available in a new Spatial camera mode (iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)
New Shortcut allowing users to open and close the Control Center. This can help you create a shortcut to your Home Screen that will allow you to open or close the Control Center via an Icon in one of your Home Screens or the Dock.
Option to Drag & Drop files from your Mac to your iPhone with iPhone Mirroring in macOS Sequoia
New Health Shortcuts
New Apple Pay Shortcuts available depending on your region
Control Center has new options to add connectivity controls individually
Reset your Control Center configuration into factory settings
RCS Business Messaging lets you connect with businesses over RCS (requires carrier support)
App Store search lets you use natural language to find what you're looking for more easily
Game Center friend invites can be sent directly from the Contacts app and Friend Suggestions, and receivers can see the invites in the inbox in Settings
Option to Hide the Off Listening Mode in compatible AirPods models
AirPods Pro 2 Exclusive Features
The following features require AirPods Pro 2 with firmware version 7B19 or later. All features may not be available for all countries or regions. Apple shares more information here.
Hearing Test feature provides scientifically-validated hearing test results from the comfort of home (intended for users 18 years or older)
Hearing Aid feature provides personalized, clinical-grade assistance that is automatically applied to sounds in your environment as well as music, videos, and calls (intended for users 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss)
Hearing Protection feature helps users minimize exposure to loud environmental noise across listening modes (available in the United States and Canada)
All Apple Intelligence features available with iOS 18.1:
The following set of features are available in English (US) only at the moment in the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, Phone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Writing Tools
Writing Tools are available nearly everywhere you type, allowing you to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text right in the app you’re working in
Rewrite suggests different versions of your text so you can choose which combination of flow and wording you like best
Proofread lets you view suggested improvements to what you’re writing, like grammar fixes and language refinements
Summarize allows you to select text wherever you’re writing and generate a high-quality summary
Siri
A new look and feel includes a glowing light that wraps around the edge of your screen, animates responsively to the sound of your voice, and lets you keep scrolling or typing while you talk to Siri
Type to Siri when you don’t want to speak a request out loud by double tapping at the bottom of the screen
Richer language understanding enables Siri to follow along if you stumble over your words or change your mind mid-sentence
Conversational context is maintained over the course of a session, so you can refer more naturally to something you said in a recent request or something Siri mentioned in a recent response
Product knowledge helps you get answers to thousands of questions about the features and settings on your Apple products
Voice enhancements make Siri sound more natural, expressive, and clear
Photos
Photos search lets you find photos and videos simply by describing what you’re looking for
Clean Up removes distractions in your photos
Memory movies can be created by describing the story you want to see
Notifications
Notification summaries make it easy to catch up on your notifications with a glanceable summary of the most important information
Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus that ensures the most urgent notifications get through to you while silencing potential distractions
Other
Smart Reply in Mail and Messages help you quickly respond to messages with suggested responses
Priority messages in Mail understands the content of your messages and prioritizes those that require your attention, displaying them at the top of your inbox
Transcription summaries in Notes give you an intelligently created summary of the transcript from your audio recording or call recording
Known Bug Fixes
Fixes an issue in Podcasts where unplayed episodes are marked as played
Fixes an issue where videos recorded at 4K 60 while the device is warm could experience stutter while scrubbing the video playback in Photos
Fixes an issue where digital car keys may not unlock or start a vehicle with passive entry after restoring from a backup or transferring directly from another iPhone
Fixes an issue where iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro models may unexpectedly restart
Security Patches
Accessibility
Available for: iPhone XS and later
Impact: An attacker with physical access to a locked device may be able to view sensitive user information
Description: The issue was addressed with improved authentication.
App Support
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: A malicious app may be able to run arbitrary shortcuts without user consent
Description: A path handling issue was addressed with improved logic.
CoreMedia Playback
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: A malicious app may be able to access private information
Description: This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks.
CoreText
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font may result in the disclosure of process memory
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
Foundation
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Parsing a file may lead to disclosure of user information
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.
ImageIO
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing an image may result in disclosure of process memory
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
ImageIO
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted message may lead to a denial-of-service
Description: The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks.
IOSurface
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory
Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management.
iTunes
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to break out of Web Content sandbox
Description: A custom URL scheme handling issue was addressed with improved input validation.
Kernel
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to leak sensitive kernel state
Description: An information disclosure issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries.
Managed Configuration
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Restoring a maliciously crafted backup file may lead to modification of protected system files
Description: This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks.
MobileBackup
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Restoring a maliciously crafted backup file may lead to modification of protected system files
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved file handling.
Pro Res
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory
Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.
Safari Downloads
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An attacker may be able to misuse a trust relationship to download malicious content
Description: This issue was addressed through improved state management.
Safari Private Browsing
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Private browsing may leak some browsing history
Description: An information leakage was addressed with additional validation.
SceneKit
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to heap corruption
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
Shortcuts
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to access sensitive user data
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of sensitive information.
Shortcuts
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: A malicious app may use shortcuts to access restricted files
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved checks.
Siri
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to access sensitive user data
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of sensitive information.
Siri
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An attacker with physical access may be able to access contact photos from the lock screen
Description: This issue was addressed by restricting options offered on a locked device.
Siri
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
Siri
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: A sandboxed app may be able to access sensitive user data in system logs
Description: An information disclosure issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries.
Spotlight
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An attacker may be able to view restricted content from the lock screen
Description: This issue was addressed through improved state management.
Spotlight
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An attacker may be able to view restricted content from the lock screen
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
VoiceOver
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: An attacker may be able to view restricted content from the lock screen
Description: This issue was addressed by restricting options offered on a locked device.
WebKit
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may prevent Content Security Policy from being enforced
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
WebKit
Available for: iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected process crash
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved input validation.
WebKit Bugzilla: 279780
