iPhones are already pretty impressive video cameras, but Apple just made it easier to fine-tune your clips with its new Final Cut Camera app for iPhones and iPads, which you can now download for free.

Apple announced the standalone app in May, but it's just become available to download from the App Store. Final Cut Camera doesn't do a lot that you can't already do with third-party apps like Blackmagic Camera or Kino, but it is a lot more advanced than your iPhone's built-in Camera app – and it is also free.

The main benefit of using Final Cut Camera to shoot your videos is the manual control it offers. Like the stock Camera app, you can tweak your exposure by tapping the arrow in the bottom-right corner to reveal a sub menu, then tapping the second option from the left. 

However, unlike the iPhone's built-in Camera app, you can manually change your video's ISO or shutter speed. To do this, tap the 'auto' button within the exposure menu to get those extra options. A good rule of thumb for capturing natural motion blur is to make sure your shutter speed is double your frame rate (for example, at 24fps, set the shutter to 1/48s). You can also manually set the white balance by tapping the icon to the left of the exposure button.  

The Final Cut Camera app is particularly powerful if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max because it combines these manual controls with the option of shooting in the Apple ProRes format. Unfortunately, there's no option to shoot in the ProRes LT format for smaller file sizes, but ProRes – which is used by pro video editors in apps like Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro – is still a nice option if you're looking for maximum dynamic range and editing flexibility.

Another nice trick in Final Cut Camera is the ability to 'focus pull' (or slowly change the focus to highlight a focal point in your scene). To do this, open up that same sub menu and tap the icon on the right, then tap the AF/MF button (third from the left). Choose 'Manual' focus and drag the dial to change the focus.

To help you do this precisely, you can also turn on 'focus peaking' (above), which will highlight the in-focus areas of your scene in green. You can find this by tapping the settings gear icon in the top-right, then Tools, then toggling the 'Focus Peaking' option. This option needs an iPhone or iPad with at least an A13 Bionic chip, which debuted on the iPhone 11 series back in 2019.

Final Cut Camera also offers superior zoom control to the iPhone's stock Camera app. To zoom in or out of a scene, tap the magnifying glass to the left of the three focal length options, then use the slider. This dial feels smoother than the one on the Camera app and is also restricted to a single focal length, so you don't get the jerk of switching between lenses.

All of these controls help you fine-tune your iPhone videos or create a particular mood (for example, by intentionally underexposing the scene or tweaking the white balance). But Apple has also baked in some more advanced multi-cam features for pro shooters that, naturally, push you towards its Final Cut Pro editing app...

Going multicam

For the past few years, Apple has been increasingly touting the iPhone as a professional video camera – and a few features in the Final Cut Camera app certainly help it to earn that moniker.

If you have multiple iPhones or iPads – and a Final Cut Pro for iPad subscription ($4.99 / £4.99 / AU$7.99 a month) – you can shoot a Live Multicam session using the Final Cut Camera app. This effectively gives you four different angles on the same scene, which all feed into the Final Cut Pro app for speedy capture and editing.

To start a Live Multicam session, set up a Live Multicam project in Final Cut Pro for iPad (go to New Project > Record with Live Multicam), then tap the camera icon in the top-left corner of the Final Cut Camera app. Once you've followed the instructions to set up your camera angles, you can start recording on all the devices by tapping the record button in either app.

That's a potentially handy tool for YouTubers, and if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, you can also record your videos directly to an external SSD to avoid filling up your phone's storage. You'll need a USB cable that is rated as USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 or better (with a minimum speed of 5Gbit/s), but once you're hooked up you'll see the name of your device appear at the bottom of the Final Cut Camera screen.

While the Final Cut Camera app is a handy bonus for the average iPhone owner, these extra tricks make it particularly potent for pro video shooters and owners of the iPhone 15 Pro series. Naturally, Apple will hope it lures in a few more Final Cut Pro for iPad subscribers, too, but you don't need that to benefit from some of its features.

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Apple Intelligence is an exciting new upgrade for iPhone, iPad, and Mac fans, but slightly less appealing is the fact that it's going to be exclusive to recent devices. That led many to suggest that Apple's take on AI is a crafty way to force us into upgrading our tech, but Apple has now shot down those theories.

In an interview with Daring Fireball's John Gruber at WWDC 2024 (spotted by MacRumors), John Giannandrea (Apple's SVP of Machine Learning and AI) said in reference to Apple Intelligence that "you could, in theory, run these models on a very old device, but it would be so slow that it would not be useful".

When Gruber asked if Apple Intelligence was simply a "scheme to sell new iPhones", Greg Joswiak (Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing) said, "No, not at all. Otherwise, we would have been smart enough just to do our most recent iPads and Macs, too, wouldn't we?"

That last point refers to the fact that Apple Intelligence works on iPads and Macs that have an M1 chip or later, which means it'll be available on a much wider range of devices than on iPhones. We've rounded up the full list of devices that support Apple Intelligence, which includes 16 models of Mac and five versions of the iPad.

The most likely and credible explanation for Apple drawing the line on some devices and not others for Apple Intelligence support is memory. As noted by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 comes with an A16 Bionic chip that has 6GB of memory, while the iPhone 15 Pro's A17 Pro chip comes with 8GB of memory.

The analyst also noted that Apple Intelligence uses a 3-billion-parameter large language model that, when compressed, needs around 0.7-1.5GB of spare memory. Considering that the M1 chip surprisingly has less processing power than the A16 Bionic, that means the memory requirement theory for Apple Intelligence's device exclusivity certainly has some credence. 

But it's also fair to suggest that Apple has had one eye on upgrade cycles when developing its shiny new AI feature.

Analysis: A very convenient truth

There are certainly two sides to this debate about Apple Intelligence's exclusivity. Apple's explanation that on-device AI is computationally demanding and not possible on older devices is certainly true.

John Giannandrea explained further in the interview: "So these models, when you run them at run times, it's called inference, and the inference of large language models is incredibly computationally expensive. And so it's a combination of bandwidth in the device, it's the size of the Apple Neural Engine, it's the oomph in the device to actually do these models fast enough to be useful".

The question is more about if Apple has decided to draw the line on which models can run Apple Intelligence in a "useful" way. Considering the standard iPhone 15 came out less than a year ago, it's disappointing that Apple didn't have the foresight to give it enough RAM to support its AI features. Cynics might say that was by design.

With the best phone cameras now so fully evolved that it's hard to add major new upgrades, there's also no doubt that AI is the next big poster feature to help spark a much-needed upgrade cycle. A few years ago, some studies suggested that the average iPhone upgrade time had increased from three years to four.

As the technological gap narrows between iPhones, and software support lengthens, Apple needs a new feature to convince us to trade in our old phones for new ones – and AI tricks conveniently do need a hardware boost when they're run on-device.

Whether Apple Intelligence is exciting enough for us to upgrade is another matter, but that's something we'll find out when it lands with iOS and the iPhone 16 later this year. 

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If you've got an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18 will enable any app on your handset to make use of the best camera trick that's exclusive to these devices: the ability to record ever-so-slightly 3D images and clips known as spatial photos and videos.

As reported by MacRumors, Apple announced a new API (application programming interface) at WWDC 2024 earlier this month, which means third-party app developers will be able to leverage the spatial features in the same way as the rest of the iPhone camera.

The technical name for the trick is stereoscopy, and it works by taking the same photo (or video) from two slightly different angles. You end up with something that has a little bit of depth to it, rather than being 2D and flat.

As the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have two cameras vertically aligned, they can capture spatial photos and videos – the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus can't, as the cameras on those phones are diagonally aligned (that might change with the iPhone 16).

Viewing photos and videos

You can't actually view spatial photos and videos on an iPhone, what with it having a two-dimensional screen: you need an Apple Vision Pro so that you can move your head around, and we've been impressed by the experience. These files can also be viewed on other VR headsets, but not natively – you need to do some converting. Spatial videos can also be captured on a Vision Pro headset, as well as viewed.

With sluggish sales reported for Apple's mixed reality headset, developers might not be falling over themselves to get support for spatial photos and spatial videos built into their apps, but it is another selling point in a crowded field.

So far we haven't seen any photo or video apps implementing the feature, though iOS 18 is only at the developer beta stage right now. Given that the new API is closely integrated with the current iPhone camera APIs, it shouldn't be too hard to add support for it.

When September rolls around and we get more iPhones that can record in these formats, as well as a full release of iOS 18-compatible devices, spatial photos and spatial videos might start to become more mainstream. 

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Now that the dust has settled on WWDC 2024's many iOS 18 announcements, we've been keen to find out which iPhone feature Apple fans are most excited about – so we set out to answer that very question in a new WhatsApp poll.

We asked the many followers in our WhatsApp channel (368,000 subscribers and counting) the simple question "which iOS 18 feature are you most excited about for your iPhone?". The answers give us a revealing glimpse of the features that you'll use the most when iOS 18 lands in September – and which could get ignored.

The poll also gives us a snapshot of how much of the TechRadar audience is on Android. In fact, the top answer in our poll (with around 1,664 votes) was actually "I don't care (I'm on Android)".

But Android fans aside, a significant number of iPhone owners chose their favorite features from our list of iOS 18's biggest headlines. There wasn't much love for the upgrades to Apple Mail, the redesigned Photos app or, surprisingly, support for RCS messaging – which should make texting Android-owning friends a much better experience.

Still, here are the top three iOS 18 features that TechRadar's Apple fans are most excited about:

3. Texting via satellite (130 votes)

The popularity of iOS 18's satellite texting feature was a slight surprise, given it'll be limited to those with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 series. But there's no denying how useful this extension on Emergency SOS could be for those who are caught in cellular dead zones.

If you've been disconnected from both cellular and Wi-Fi connections for a while, iOS 18 will give you an alert to ask if you want to use satellite connectivity. From there, you'll be able to use the Messages app to send or receive both SMS texts and iMessages. 

For now, the feature will be free for two years from the time you bought your iPhone 14 or iPhone 15, but Apple has said it plans to charge for the feature in future.

2. Customizable home screen (279 votes)

We thought that iOS 18's advanced home screen customization (which has more than a hint of Android about it) would be the top choice in our poll. But it still came in at a respectable second place, with 9% of the total vote.

If you missed WWDC 2024, iOS 18 will let you do many things that Apple has steadfastly refused to allow on iPhone before, including letting you position apps at the bottom or side of the screen so you can see your lovely wallpaper behind. 

We'll also be able to hide app names (like the above), for a super-minimalist look. And there'll be the option of triggering new dark mode icons and adding color tints, too. Thanks Apple, it's about time.

1. The new Siri assistant (495 votes)

Apple's big Siri upgrade was definitely one of the biggest stories of WWDC 2024, and you emphatically agreed. In total, 16% of the respondents to our WhatsApp poll said the new Siri assistant is the most exciting feature of iOS 18.

Unfortunately, the rebooted Siri – which will also be able to connect to ChatGPT, thanks to a deal with OpenAI – will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro series (or iPads and Macs) with an M1 chip. It'll also no doubt be compatible with the iPhone 16 series in September.

But if you're lucky enough to have a recent iPhone, you'll get Siri's visual makeover, more natural conversation skills and the option of typing questions to Siri later this year. From next year, Siri will also get the ability to use "personal context" and on-screen awareness to become even more useful. 

Considering we've been waiting 13 years for Apple to deliver on Siri's original promise, we couldn't be happier – and you sound pretty excited about it, too. 

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At WWDC 2024 earlier this week, Apple announced a whole host of AI features coming to its various software platforms, including an Image Playground AI art generator in iOS 18 – and now we've got some more information about how the app is going to work.

As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple VP of software engineering Craig Federighi said in an interview during WWDC that iOS 18 is going to "mark up metadata" so that image files come with details stating whether or not they're made by AI.

While the current developer beta of iOS 18 doesn't include any of the upcoming AI features – so no Image Playground app – some digging into the beta code by the 9to5Mac team found references to image "forensics" that would identify AI-generated files.

Put that together and it's clear that Apple has been thinking about how to encourage the responsible use of AI – which Apple is calling Apple Intelligence on its own devices – and how to stop faked pictures being passed off as real.

Apple and AI art

From what we know about Image Playground already, the app will pop up in various places – like Messages or Notes – whenever you need to create a new AI picture. It might be a custom emoji, for example, or an image of a friend in your choice of setting.

Pictures created by Image Playground will take the style of cartoons and illustrations rather than photos, so that's one way Apple is protecting against these tools being misused. If you're not sure what to create, prompt suggestions are included too.

These AI models have been trained on "licensed data" and "publicly available data" pulled from the web, Apple says. In other words, if your art is online, Apple Intelligence was probably trained on it – unless the site it was published on opted out of the process.

The Image Playground capabilities are going to be made available in a future beta, according to Apple, but out of the currently available iPhones only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will have the necessary power to run it. These AI art generation features will also be available on Apple Silicon Macs.

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Apple announced a lot of new features coming to iOS 18 at its WWDC 2024 event, but there wasn't time to cover everything – and additional upgrades continue to be revealed, including live video support for emergency SOS calls.

As described in Apple's press release for iOS 18, the new functionality is going to enable you to "share context through streaming video and recorded media". It means emergency dispatchers will have a better idea of what's happening and can provide help accordingly.

You can place an emergency call on an iPhone by pressing and holding the power (or side) button and either of the volume buttons together: a countdown will show on screen, and if you keep holding, the call will be placed.

So far we haven't seen the new video feature demoed – iOS 18 is currently only available as a developer beta – but presumably there will be options on screen during the call to start livestreaming or to send recorded video.

A major upgrade

We can add live video support for emergency SOS calls to the long, long list of new features arriving in iOS 18. Some of the ones we're looking forward to the most include the ability to lock away apps and customize the look of the home screens.

The iOS 18 upgrade might also mean you can do away with your password manager and your current audio transcription service. Several features currently covered by third-party apps will soon be integrated into Apple's own software.

Then of course we have all the Apple Intelligence tools offered by iOS 18, including a major upgrade for Siri that should make it much smarter – though bear in mind that Apple Intelligence will only be available on two iPhone models to begin with.

Next month iOS 18 is going to enter the public beta phase, so more of us will be able to try it out, and then it should start rolling out to everyone in September – more or less at the same time as the iPhone 16 handsets are unveiled.

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WWDC 2024 was all about software this year, with the big announcements being iOS 18 overhauling the iPhone’s operating system, macOS getting smart features, Siri gaining AI smarts, and the introduction of Apple Intelligence. But in terms of hardware, Apple has very little to say.

But with Apple’s smartest iOS 18 features limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and Apple Intelligence offering consumer-focused AI tools, we can take a decent stab at what we could expect to see the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max bring to the table; likely in a September Apple event. 

An intelligent smartphone 

First, the next-generation Pro iPhones are surely going to lean on AI features via Apple Intelligence; we’re talking smarter ways of capturing and editing content, AI-assisted organization features such as setting agendas by crawling emails, and smarter web browsing with intelligent search features and web page summaries.

If these sound somewhat familiar, it's because the Google Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy 24 have similar generative AI features; for more check out our guide on the best AI phones to buy right now.

However, as US Phones Senior Editor Philip Berne discussed in his Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review, some of the AI features in the best Android phones aren’t the most intuitive to access and calibrate. But going by how Apple adopts existing technology, I’d bet that its integration of AI in the iPhone 16 range and iOS 18 – at least as it evolves out of its beta stage – will be deep and done in a way that makes tools like smart photo editors feel natural to use rather than as an extra feature.

A Siri showcase 

And I expect Apple will make a big deal out of SIri and its new smart features at the iPhone 16’s launch; while the new Siri is coming to other phones, I’d not be surprised if the next-gen iPhones get some exclusive Siri-centric features. 

The reason for that thinking is the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will surely come with a more powerful A-series chip, likely calibrated for AI workloads, and thus be ready to power new smart features. 

But I’ll go one step further and predict that the whole iPhone 16 range could get new chips to power on-board large language models for AI tools, all with the goal of spreading and democratizing the use of generative AI. 

Subtle tweaks

Now, I’m not expecting the design of the next-generation iPhones to be much different from what we have at the moment; Apple has arguably nailed its design language and made good use of titanium. But new chips that could be tasked with running demanding AI workloads for a good bit of time will likely need improved cooling to stop them from overheating in the compact iPhone chassis. That could mean internal design tweaks for the iPhone 16 and maybe even changes in the phones’ size and thickness. 

And with more powerful silicon comes the potential for more power drain, so I’d not be surprised if the iPhone 16 models come with larger batteries than their predecessors and thus have a bit of extra bulk; expect the titanium chassis of the current Pro iPhones to trickle down to the standard and Plus next-gen models in order to mitigate any potential increase in weight. 

Ultimately, WWDC didn’t shed the brightest of light on what to expect from the iPhone 16 family. But I’d bet a decent sum of money – if I had some – on AI features being front and center at Apple’s next iPhone keynote. I could see that also working in tandem with the rumored Apple Watch 10. 

We’ll have to play the wait-and-see game for a few months, but with Apple Intelligence grabbing headlines, Cupertino’s smartphones are only going to get smarter. 

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With a wealth of new features and functions arriving with iOS 18 later this year, you might be able to retire some of the apps and services you currently rely on – and perhaps save some money, too. As is often the case with Apple's software updates, the next iPhone upgrade is going to plug some of the gaps currently being filled by third-party developers.

Of course, there are reasons to stick with these third-party options as well – they'll often give you more flexibility and more in the way of advanced features, and perhaps you don't want to have Apple in charge of everything you're doing on your phone. On the other hand, if you ditch everything we've listed below, you could save up to $58 / £50 / AU$85 every single month.

These are the most significant apps and services that have had their key features added to iOS 18. You could say Apple has Sherlocked them – a term widely used whenever Apple's software copies a third-party app, in honor of the old Sherlock file search tool on macOS that eventually duplicated the features in an independent program called Watson.

However you interpret iOS 18's upgrades, here are the apps that it could soon take off your hands (and bank statements)...

1. LastPass (and other password apps)

iOS, iPadOS and macOS have been able to manage passwords and other information for a while now, and keep it securely synced between devices. But iOS 18 is going to bring with it its own standalone password manager – and that might mean you can do without the likes of LastPass, 1Password, or whatever it is you happen to be using right now.

Passwords, passkeys, and codes can all be handled by iOS 18, and you're going to be able to easily share these logins as well. Interestingly, Apple Passwords will work with third-party web browsers like Chrome and Edge too, via an extension called iCloud Extension. 

There is one main reason why you might still want to carry on paying $3 / £2.60 / AU$4.50 a month to LastPass though: you regularly use devices that aren't made by Apple (and it's worth noting LastPass is free for a single device, too).

2. Grammarly

One of the main tricks you'll be able to do with Apple Intelligence – the new Apple AI being baked into iOS 18 – is getting it to run an eye over text that you've written for spelling and grammar mistakes, whether it's in a web form, an email, a text, or anything else. You can even ask for your text to be rewritten to change the text's tone or succinctness.

All of this is very much in the wheelhouse of Grammarly, which offers AI-powered text checking and rewriting in your web browser and across all of your various devices. While there is quite a lot you can do with Grammarly for free, much of the AI-enabled magic requires a subscription, and that starts from $12 / £10 (about AU$18) per month.

3. Otter AI

Otter is one of the most well-known and feature-packed voice transcription apps out there, and it uses some advanced AI modeling to turn spoken audio into written text with a high degree of accuracy. If you need transcripts of meetings, interviews, or anything else, then Otter usually does a fine job of producing them, and at a decent speed, too.

However, you can only work with 30-minute files and up to 300 minutes of audio per month – after that you're paying from $10 (about £8 / AU$15 per month). iOS 18, meanwhile, will record, transcribe, and summarize as much audio as you like through the Notes app – which may mean a lot of Otter users decide to make the switch.

4. TapeACall

If you need a call recording, TapeACall does the job for you for $10.99 / AU$17.99 (it's free right now in the UK), and is packed with features: text transcriptions, cloud syncing, conference call recording and more. However, it doesn't work natively on your phone, instead setting up a group call with your contacts and TapeACall to do the recording.

What's more, you only get a limited number of minutes of recording with the up-front price of the app, with more available through a subscription. With that in mind, you might well want to consider jumping over to the built-in call recording features coming with iOS 18, which are built right into the Phone app and also offer automatic text transcription as well.

5. ChatGPT Plus

What with OpenAI adding so much functionality to the free tier of ChatGPT recently, you might have already been weighing up how much value for money you were getting from your ChatGPT Plus subscription. But now that Siri is getting ChatGPT features as well, you've got another reason to stop paying every month for your AI chatbot access.

We're not talking about Apple's own LLM (Large Language Model) and AI chatbot here (though that might come later): we're talking about the very same artificial intelligence text responses that are currently offered by ChatGPT Plus, available through Siri, thanks to Apple's deal with OpenAI. You could save your $20 (about £16 / AU$30) each month.

6. Bullitt Satellite Messenger

Since the iPhone 14 launched in 2022, iOS users have been able to lock on to a passing satellite to send an emergency SOS message if they're in trouble and in an area without cellular network coverage. With iOS 18, any text can be sent via satellite if needed – so you can always stay in touch with friends and family, wherever you happen to be.

So far, Apple hasn't said anything about this feature costing any money (it has made noises about emergency SOS satellite communication becoming a paid-for feature, but it's free for now). That means you might no longer need the plans offered by Bullitt Satellite Messenger, which start at $9.99 / £9.99 (about AU$15) for 80 texts per month.

7. AllTrails

Another improvement iOS 18 is bringing is in the Apple Maps app, where you'll be able to browse through thousands of different hiking trails, across all 63 National Parks in the United States. There are filters for length, elevation, and route type, so you can find something perfect for you – and you can set up your own custom trails as well if needed.

These improvements might have you thinking twice about renewing your AllTrails Plus subscription (in the US at least), which costs $35.99 / £35.99 / AU$35.99 every year. Admittedly that covers a lot more trails and a lot more parts of the world than Apple's offering, but you could find Apple Maps covers everything you need – and it'll no doubt expand over time as well.

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Apple Pay is getting the ability to give users a way to access installment payment loan services and view and redeem rewards when making a purchase online in iPhone and iPad apps. 

Many websites support the ability to make payments with Apple Pay, with it being very easy to pay via an iPhone – tapping on an Apple Pay option will trigger the native Apple Pay interface letting payments be charged to the selected or default credit or debit card and approved via a double-click of the home button and Face ID. But they offer only cash transactions rather than allow more options, such as paying in installments. 

Announced at WWDC 2024, the tweaked Apple Pay means users will be served up the option to now pay in installments and select other ‘Pay Later’ options within apps and browsers; that’s providing they are using an Apple Pay-enabled bank and are within supported markets. 

The same is true when it comes to redeeming rewards, as I’ll let Apple explain: “The ability to redeem rewards for a purchase with Apple Pay will be available beginning in the US with Discover and Synchrony, and across Apple Pay issuers with Fiserv. The ability to access installments from credit and debit cards with Apple Pay will roll out starting in Australia with ANZ; in Spain with CaixaBank; in the UK with HSBC and Monzo; and in the US with Citi, Synchrony, and issuers with Fiserv. Users in the US will also be able to apply for loans directly through Affirm when they check out with Apple Pay.” 

There's also the new ability to use Apple Pay in any third-party web browser and computer by simply scanning a code with an iPhone and then using Apple Pay to securely complete the transaction.

All this expands the capabilities of Apple Pay, but also arguably makes it almost too easy to indulge in impulse purchases – buying things with but a few taps can make it trivially easy to jump on a sudden bargain without necessarily really thinking it through if you need the thing that caught your eye.

Tap, tap and away  

A less eye-brow raising pair of new Apple Pay and payment-related features come in the form of Tap to Provision and Tap to Cash.

The former lets you add eligible credit or debit cards to Apple Wallet by simply tapping your card to the back of their iPhone, which seems a lot slicker than trying to awkwardly frame a card in the Camera app's viewfinder or manually input a load of card details. 

The second, Tap to Cash, lets users send and receive money held on an Apple Cash digital card by holding two iPhones together – all without having to share phone numbers.

“For example, Tap to Cash can be used to pay someone back at dinner or buy something at a garage sale,” explained Apple. 

As a fan of Apple Pay and its blend of easy use and security, I’m happy to see the folks at Cupertino expand out their payment services. But I do need to be aware that just because something is easier to buy, it doesn't mean I have to get it. 

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One of the more intriguing aspects of Apple Intelligence (Apple’s suite of AI tools) is Image Playground – a feature that lets you use a prompt to generate images. We’ve of course seen similar tools from many other companies, such as Midjourney and DALL-E, but having this baked into iOS 18 could make it a lot more useful, and we now have a clearer idea of how it works.

We knew already that Image Playground would provide you with suggested prompts (though you can also create your own prompt), and while Image Playground isn’t yet active in the available iOS 18 beta, MacRumors contributor Steve Moser has found some details about the suggested prompts it offers.

For one thing, these suggestions will be personalized. So for example you might be presented with a suggestion based on something that you’re messaging a friend about.

From forests to fantasy

The possible suggestions fall into various different categories too, and Moser has found a large number of suggestions that might be offered.

For example, under the category of ‘Nature and Environments’ you could get a prompt suggestion of mountains, a desert, a forest, a starry night, or a waterfall, among others. For ‘Themes’ there’s adventure, birthday, graduation, fantasy, love, and more. ‘Beverages and Foods’ include a champagne glass, coffee, and tea, and there are also suggestions covering ‘Items and Accessories’, ‘Places’, ‘Seasons’, and ‘Costumes and Characters’.

You can see the complete list of the suggestions that Moser has found over at MacRumors, but note that there are probably more than this, since certain suggestions in Apple’s marketing materials haven’t been found in the beta. And this being a beta, it’s likely that the complete list of suggestions will be different (and probably larger) by the time Image Playground launches anyway.

These suggestions could appear when you’re using an app that Image Playground is baked into, such as Messages or Notes, but there will also be a standalone Image Playground app you can then share images from to other apps and social media.

Beyond the categories of suggestion above or simply entering your own prompt, we know from Apple’s marketing materials that Image Playground can also be used to create cartoon-like pictures of contact images or people from your photo library, and that you can choose between three styles when generating images – ‘Animation’, ‘Illustration’, and ‘Sketch.’

So Image Playground looks set to be a powerful and versatile image-generation tool, and it’s powered on-device, so you don’t need an internet connection – though as a result it will also require an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, or an iPad or Mac with an M1 or better chipset to use.

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We're still picking our way through all the iOS 18 announcements Apple made at WWDC 2024, and new details are continuing to emerge about the features coming our way with the software update – including two that will help with iPhone charging.

As reported by MacRumors and 9to5Mac, the upcoming iOS 18 upgrade is going to give you more control over the charging limit on your iPhone: in addition to the current 80% setting, you'll also get 85%, 90%, and 95% as options, too.

These limits help you protect the health of the phone battery, so it should retain a higher charging capacity for longer. As Apple explains, charging up to 80% can be better for the battery than charging all the way up to 100%, depending on the scenario.

The extra flexibility with this setting means you'll be able to get more time between recharges while still looking after the health of your iPhone battery. Based on the first iOS 18 developer beta though, these extra settings are only available to iPhone 15 owners.

Slow charging

Also new in iOS 18: an indication of when you've been using a charging speed that's less than the maximum supported by your iPhone. On the Battery screen in Settings, you'll see a "slow charger" message, and orange bars on the recharge graph.

As far as we can tell, this is available for all iPhone models, not just the iPhone 15. However, it's also worth mentioning that features might be both added and removed during the iOS 18 beta testing process.

iOS 18 is bringing with it a host of new features, including advanced home screen customizations, texting via satellite, the option to lock apps behind Face ID or Touch ID, and a major AI-powered upgrade for the Siri assistant.

A beta of iOS 18 is available to developers right now, with a public beta following in July. Apple hasn't said exactly when the software will roll out to everyone, but it's most likely going to be in September to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 16.

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