iOS 18. Image: Apple.
Are you neck-deep inside the Apple ecosystem with Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and the full works? You might want to set your weekend aside for a fuss-free catch up to Apple’s latest firmware updates.
As of today (19 September 2024), Apple users in Singapore can update their Apple products to the latest firmware version. They are:
- iOS 18 for iPhones
- iPad 18 for iPad tablets
- macOS Sequoia for Mac systems, like the MacBook
- watchOS 11 for Apple Watches
- tvOS 18 for Apple TV 4K, and Apple TV HD
- visionOS 2 for the rare few with an Apple Vision Pro
Here’s a quick overview of the tangible upgrades you can expect from these updates. Please remember to back up all your devices before you start in earnest, and choose a convenient time to do so!
iOS 18
iOS 18. Image: Apple.
We covered iOS 18 updates as early as WWDC 2024, and here are all our updates on iOS 18 announcements thus far, if you want more information than what’s already mentioned below.
Apple’s latest firmware update to iOS 18 brings a more customisable Home Screen that offers tinting, control groups, and even smart home controls. The Photos app also see its most significant redesign which is both more accessible and simple to navigate.
Later this year, the Mail app will also get intelligent categorisation, so you don’t have to personally label your emails based on their importance. Besides a Primary category for the most urgent emails, it will have other groupings like Transactions, Updates, Promotions, and more.
iOS 18 also gets ton of privacy additions like a brand new Password app, and app-locking to prevent prying eyes from seeing content they should not have access to.
The biggest update of them all would be Apple Intelligence, which formerly introduced generative AI tools to iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro phones.
Of course, these are just the tip of the iOS 18 iceberg, so be sure to learn more from the links above.
iPadOS 18
iPadOS 18. Image: Apple.
Besides the long-awaited Calculator app, the new iPad update also has a Math Notes function for solving handwritten problems, creating variables, adding equations to a graph, and more. Math Notes is available in the default Notes app.
Handwritten notes will also be editable with Smart Script, which lets users type text in their own handwriting. Thus, users will be able to edit handwritten text without having to rewrite it by hand.
Messages app also gets features like Tapback, which lets users respond by pinning emojis.
Like other iOS 18 users, it also gets a customisable Home Screen, the revamped Photos app, more privacy controls, and Apple Intelligence.
What’s new and unique to iPads, however, is iPadOS 18’s revamped Tab Bar, which becomes a sidebar in selected apps like Apple TV, News, Books, and Fitness.
macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia. Image: Apple.
Are you a heavy user of Macs or MacBooks? Don’t forget to catch up on the macOS Sequoia updates we’ve been covering all along.
The desktop and laptop versions of Apple’s operating system introduce iPhone mirroring so that you can use the iPhone directly on your monitor. How convenient.
The default browser, Safari, gets a new Highlights feature that intuitively suggests the most relevant follow-up action for the item you’re looking at, such as directions when you see an address.
Dragging a window to the edge of the screen triggers the operating system to suggest an automatic tiled position, offering better organisation. Apple calls this Window Tiling.
Like the iPhones’ latest update, macOS Sequoia also gets its own Passwords app.
In a later update, the OS will also get Apple Intelligence, on top of upgrades in Messages, Notes, Apple Maps, and more.
watchOS 11
Apple watchOS 11. Image: Apple.
All our watchOS 11 coverage can be found here.
The new Vitals app for Apple Watches grants users an overview of key health metrics and indicates those that go beyond the typical range. Users are also given notifications and possible causes of these changes for them to act on.
Workout junkies get Training Load, which helps fitness folks make an informed decision on their training intensity up to a 28-day weighted average. With that, Training Load can grant insight into the current strain and potential changes to their fitness or injury risk.
Activity Rings are upgraded, with customisable daily or weekly rings and the ability to pause them temporarily without affecting their streaks.
Health app now supports pregnancy logging, and it can hold details like gestational stages, symptoms, and see heart rate trends alongside key milestones.
The Smart Stack interface gets smarter with widget suggestions based on the time, date, location, and routines of the user. This is on top of new additional widgets for Smart Stack, like Photos, Distance, and Shazam.
tvOS 18
Our existing tvOS 18 coverage can be found here.
Besides new screensavers, guest access, guest control, and InSight snippets about the content you’re seeing via tvOS 18, AirPlay itself also gets Spatial Audio support, so you can stream audio from an Apple device to compatible third-party audio equipment.
tvOS 18 itself gets 21:9 aspect ratio support, which helps to make some movies and projector-operated setups more compatible.
Finally, you can add robot vacuum cleaners to the Home app.
visionOS 2
Apple visionOS 2. Image: Apple.
This relatively new operating system is for the Apple Vision Pro spatial computer, which you can learn about here.
visionOS 2 adds the ability to transform 2D images in the Photos app into spatial photos, taking advantage of the unique spatial computer’s immersive viewing experience.
The launch of the iPhone 16 series and iPhone 16 Pro series also made it easier to capture spatial content for the Apple Vision Pro, and sharing can be done via SharePlay. For professionals, there’s an upcoming Canon EOS R7 lens that’s specifically made for capturing spatial content, so keep an eye out for that, too.
The operating system also supports new hand gestures. Raising the hand and tapping fingers together can quickly bring users back to Home View. Flipping hands can flit through time, battery level, volume adjustments, and access to the Control Centre.
The software update also provides mouse navigation and compatibility with Apple Vision Pro, which allows users to achieve pinpoint productivity when using the headset.
If you like curved monitors and want to replicate that experience in your Apple Vision Pro, Mac Virtual Display will get an “expandable, ultrawide screen that wraps around the user” later this year.
The OS has a ton of small updates, like saving Guest User’s eye and hand data for up to 30 days. You can see them all here.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.