iOS 18.2 will be generally available starting Wednesday, Apple announced. At the same time, macOS 15.2 Sequoia, iPadOS 18.2, watchOS 11.2, tvOS 18.2 and visionOS 2.2 can probably also be installed on supported devices.
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Update
December 11, 2024,
14:28
Clock
The updates were not yet available in the early afternoon; Apple usually releases them at 7 p.m. Central European Time.
Outside the EU and China, version 18.2 brings important innovations for Apple Intelligence: This includes ChatGPT integration in Siri and Apple's AI writing tools. OpenAI's chatbot can be used in iOS 18 either with or without an OpenAI account. Mac users in the EU can activate Apple Intelligence directly when they switch the operating system from German to English.
Apple Intelligence with ChatGPT and image generation
With the new “Image Playground” app, Apple makes it possible to generate comic-style images and also use portraits and photos from your own media library. Users can also create any new emojis via text prompt on iPhones and iPads – Apple calls them “Genmojis”. The function will come later on Macs.
Image generation with Apple’s “Image Playground” – no one should expect miracles here. The tool works locally on the devices and integrates the photo library.
In Germany and other EU countries, the AI package only started in April 2025, then probably also in German. With a workaround, Apple Intelligence can be activated on iPhones in Germany and used in English.
On iPhone 16 models, the camera button now supports either focus and exposure lock when pressed lightly, similar to many system cameras. The camera control also provides access – on devices with Apple Intelligence – to the announced “Visual Intelligence”, which analyzes photo content, either with ChatGPT or Google’s image search.
AirTag sharing and new EU features
Other new features include the option to temporarily share the location of lost AirTags (and other trackers with Find My support) via a web link. The first airlines, including Lufthansa, will accept such links in the future in order to search for missing suitcases. Apple Mail is supposed to automatically sort emails into categories on the iPhone, but this is initially only available on devices that use English as the operating system language (and doesn't seem to handle German emails well).
The requirements of the Digital Markets Act also provide new functionality: Apple's Safari browser receives a comprehensive export and import function to make switching browsers easier.
With iOS 18.2, users can also set and manage default apps centrally in Settings. For the first time, it is possible to (quickly) delete all pre-installed Apple apps from the device – except Settings and Phone. Apple is also promising two bug fixes related to photos: freshly taken photos should reliably appear immediately in the all photos view of the Photos app. According to Apple, an issue with dull looking night shots on the iPhone 16 Pro (Max) has also been resolved.
Patch for iOS 17
The update to iOS 18 now appears prominently on iPhones that are still running iOS 17 – and is also downloaded automatically in the background by default. However, Apple also offers a new version 17.7.3 for iOS 17, which apparently eliminates security gaps.
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