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iOS 18 beta features: Everything new coming to your iPhone

Published Jun 25th, 2024 12:39PM EDT
iOS 18 beta features download
Image: José Adorno for BGR

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At the beginning of June, Apple released iOS 18 beta 1. Full of new features, BGR mentioned what Apple announced during the WWDC 2024 keynote, such as a redesigned Home Screen and customizable Lock Screen, among other changes. Now that the testing cycle is continuing, Cupertino seeded iOS 18 beta 2.

With that in mind, we’ll keep updating this article with Apple’s latest features and changes during the iOS 18 beta cycle.

iOS 18 beta 2 features

iPhone mirroring in macOS Sequoia
iPhone mirroring in macOS Sequoia exclusive features M1 Macs Image source: Apple Inc.

iPhone Mirroring: One of the biggest crossover features between macOS Sequoia and iOS 18 is iPhone Mirroring. With this function on, you can control your iPhone using your Mac.

RCS support: Apple is now being more straightforward about its RCS support. On Messages settings, the company has a new RCS Messaging toggle you can turn on. However, messages are still sent as SMS – the company is working to fix this issue.

Control Center’s Power Button: Apple tweaked the power button on the Control Center to only work when held instead of tapped. We think this is a hint at a hardware change with the upcoming iPhone 16 models.

SharePlay screen sharing: Users can now take over other people’s iPhones when helping them using SharePlay screen sharing.

Home Screen changes: Apple now lets you make your wallpaper dark, in addition to a new App Store icon for those moments.

iOS 18 supported devices

With iOS 17, Apple ditched the iPhone 8 and iPhone X models from its lineup. With iOS 18, Apple continues to offer support for all the same iPhone models. That means there are no additional iPhones in 2024 that will reach the end of their life cycles.

That said, these are the iPhone models that can run this new system:

  • iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2nd gen)
  • iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13
  • iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (3rd gen)
  • iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
  • iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
José Adorno Tech News Reporter

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.

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