Apple has just released its latest iPhone update, iOS 18.4 — full details here. But while that update landed early, on March 31, it’s still not long until the next major update. Here’s when iOS 18.5 will land and what we know about it from the first developer beta, which landed on Wednesday, April 2.
Apple iOS 18.5 New Features
More are likely to appear, but there’s a neat email fix in the first developer beat. As you’ll know, iOS 18 brought Apple Intelligence to Mail, with useful summaries, for instance.
But it also brought a more controversial element: categorization of emails. It’s a system designed so that you spot the important things more easily, dividing messages into different mailboxes: Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions (plus a hidden All Mail section loitering offscreen which you bring into view by swiping from right to left. Not everyone liked it so Apple made it straightforward to turn it off again.
Tap the three dots in the top right corner and the drop down menu offers you the choice between Categories and List View.
But there were aspects of Mail that were still not easily solved: Contact Photos and the option to Group by Sender. Right now, if you want rid of these, you must go to Settings, then Apps, where you find Mail and toggle the settings off.
In iOS 18.5, those three dots mentioned above will provide a drop-down menu to sort these, too.
So far, the only noticeable update in iOS 18.5 is the addition of AppleCare information when you choose AppleCare & Warranty in the General section of the Settings app.
Apple iOS 18.5 Release Date
Since iOS 18.4 arrived earlier than Apple had told us it would, it suggests the company is on schedule (apart from the Apple Intelligence update for Siri, which has been announced as coming later).
So, it’s reasonable to assume that the mid-May release for the .5 update Apple has followed in recent years will continue. Last year, Monday, May 13 was the release date for iOS 17.5, so something similar seems most likely.
It looks like the release date will be either Monday, May 12 or Tuesday, May 13.
