iPhone season is upon us, and with it, comes the yearly update to iOS. Apple plans to release iOS 17 this month, along with the new iPhone 15 line. If you’re impatient, you can try out the public betas, which are easy to install, but you won’t have to wait long: the stable version of iOS 17 will launch in less than a week.
iOS 17 will be available to download right before the new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale: The new OS will drop on Monday, Sept. 18th.
iOS 17 will only run on devices sporting an A12 Bionic chip or newer. That means the very first iPhone with the notch, the iPhone X, won’t be supported this time around (the same goes for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus). Here’s a list of all the officially supported devices for iOS 17:
You can think of iOS 17 as an update designed around improving communication, with Contact Posters front and center. With this feature, you can customize your poster with a full-screen photo and text. Any time someone receives a call from you, your Contact Poster will fill their screen. There’s also support for live text transcription for Voicemail, so you can easily screen calls, and you can leave voice and video messages on FaceTime if someone is not picking up a call.
Apple has also made huge improvements in the Messages app: The Attachments menu is now tucked away behind a Plus button, and is formatted as a simple list rather than a horizontal menu of icons. And now, you can filter your search of old messages within a single conversation, rather than your entire inbox at once. The coolest part, though, is the fact that you can turn any photo or object into a sticker (or Live Sticker), and add it anywhere in the iMessage conversation.
Also new is StandBy mode, which activates when your phone is locked, charging, and placed sideways at an angle. StandBy mode turns your iPhone into a simple smart display, where you can display a mix of widgets and photos, or just the clock.
Speaking of widgets, Apple is bringing a huge new upgrade to the Home Screen: Widgets are finally interactive, sporting tappable buttons that actually do things—you can play music, check off to-dos, and perform actions without opening the respective apps.
Apple is also focussing on a lot of smaller quality-of-life upgrades is this OS update:
That’s not all. Take a look at all the new iOS 17 features in our detailed guide.