Apple on Wednesday released the next major iOS 18 update, which includes new Apple Intelligence features like ChatGPT integration. OpenAI turned the ChatGPT milestone into one of its “12 Days” event surprises, showing how ChatGPT will work on the iPhone in iOS 18.2 and the Mac in Sequoia 15.2.
The work on Apple Intelligence doesn’t stop there. Apple will release iOS 18.4 in the spring, complete with other AI functionality like the smarter Siri capabilities shown off at WWDC 2024.
However, the ongoing work on iOS 18 versions and AI features will impact the development of iOS 19, which is set to be unveiled at next year’s WWDC event. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said a few weeks ago that various iOS 19 features would be delayed. In an update on X, Gurman said that engineers who should have moved to iOS 19 development are still working on iOS 18 features.
“I continue to hear that the gradual rollout of features across iOS 18 to iOS 18.4 is leading to delays of some features scheduled for iOS 19,” Mark Gurman said on X. “That will lead to a long term rollout of features next cycle as well. Engineers are stuck working on iOS 18 projects when they’d usually already be on to the following OS.”
Gurman did not detail which iOS 19 features will be delayed or what will make it into the first stable version, which should be released in mid-September. However, a few weeks ago, Gurman said that one of the key iOS 19 features that should see delays is a Siri version that includes Apple’s own genAI chatbot features.
The new version of Siri will be unveiled at WWDC 2025, according to reports. Then, Apple will take its time with the rollout, likely deploying it in the spring of 2026. That sounds like an iOS 19.4 release for the ChatGPT-like Siri, similar to what Apple is doing with the Apple Intelligence update for Siri in iOS 18.4.
In the same report, Gurman said that a “larger-than usual number of features scheduled for iOS 19 (beyond the new Siri) are already postponed until spring 2026 (when iOS 19.4 debuts).”
The claims certainly make sense, as Apple is far behind in the AI race. Just look at what’s happening right now. OpenAI took o1 and Canvas out of beta while giving ChatGPT a new interface to take advantage of these powers better. Also, the text-to-video Sora service is rolling out. Separately, Google unveiled Gemini 2, bringing AI agents to the forefront.
If I were to guess, I’d expect Apple Intelligence 2.0 features to be delayed in iOS 19 while Apple continues adapting to the market and improving its AI models. It’s not just about the software, as Apple has to devlop its AI-centric infrastructure to handle the more advanced Apple Intelligence features that require cloud processing.
I’d also expect Apple to ship plenty of non-AI iOS 19 features come next September. Remember that the first iOS 18 release included tons of features that make the upgrade worthwhile, despite lacking Apple Intelligence.
Speculation aside, some iOS 19 novelties will leak before next June, when Apple hosts its next WWDC event. As for new Apple Intelligence features, we only have to look at what OpenAI and Google are doing to get an idea of where Apple is headed.
