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Apple Says iOS 18.5 Coming Soon, Here is What's New

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In its press release for the new Pride Band today, Apple said that iOS 18.5 is "upcoming," following more than a month of beta testing.

iOS-18.5-Feature-Real-Mock.jpg

We expect the iOS 18.5 Release Candidate to be released this week, and this should be the final beta version, barring any last-minute bugs or changes. The software update should then be released to the general public next week.

iOS 18.5 is a relatively minor update for the iPhone, with only a few additions discovered so far. Below, we recap all of the known changes.

Specifically, there are a few changes in the Mail and Settings apps. The update will also include a new Pride wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad.

Mail

In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner.

mail-categories-ios-18-5.jpg

This was already an option on earlier iOS versions, but it was buried in the Settings app.

Settings

In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more prominent.

applecare-logo-ios-18-5.jpg

Pride

Apple today announced its 2025 Pride Collection, including a new Apple Watch band, watch face, and a matching wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad.

The new Pride Edition Sport Band has rainbow stripes that vary in shape and size, and it is available to order on Apple.com starting today.

Apple-Watch-2025-Pride-Feature.jpg

Apple said a matching iPhone and iPad wallpaper will be available when iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 are released to the public. The wallpaper features colorful stripes that change position as users move, lock, or unlock their devices.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Says iOS 18.5 Coming Soon, Here is What's New
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/05/apple-says-ios-18-5-coming-soon/
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18.5 latest beta, bah humBUG. Compass is still 90 degrees off (again until reboot) all the time. Esims playing up, not working at all for the first 30-40mins and countless reboots after being in airplane mode for some time. Spontanious resprings of the UI. Settings app CTDs. Im not really happy :)

Edit: just let me be angry and frustrated please :) Seems I’m not the only one with these bugs.
 
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When will they just forgo the numbers and call it iOS

There should just be a version number in the small print.

On my Apple TV I just let it update automatically and forget which major version it’s on, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care. As long as it’s updated the numbers don’t mean a thing.
 
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New features: Turn off everything from previous IOS update and more pride backgrounds. Meanwhile half of the AI features are missing in the EU due to regulations.
 
Fuzzball84 said:
When will they just forgo the numbers and call it iOS

There should just be a version number in the small print.

On my Apple TV I just let it update automatically and forget which major version it’s on, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care. As long as it’s updated the numbers don’t mean a thing.
Click to expand...

I let everything auto-update, as well, including my iPhone and Mac. I still like to know what version number I'm running.
 
UpsetTheAppleCart said:
Hey Apple, can we have a Humility wallpaper, pretty please?
Click to expand...
They would go out of business before gaining humility under their current leadership. I for one have locked down our pocketbooks for Apple for a while after so many missed deliverables. I am all for seeing them have some contraction to see customers aren't having the current direction they have been pushing lately.

They are neither innovative or "it just works" any longer.
 
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Users: we want working Siri, bring new languages (like polish) to it, new delayed features.
Apple: give us new wallpapers and emoji with software updates.
Apple should really think about prorities with new iOS deployment. I would see it as minor update 18.4.2, not 18.5 😒
 
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Arguably only one of the three listed items is even a "feature." Not sure how this constitutes a point-release instead of just being 18.4.x
 
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It's been years since we've been excited by or rushed to update to a new iOS, iPad OS, or Mac OS.

They typically introduce bugs, break or change long-standing features or options, redesign functional elegant software for change's sake, worsen battery life often dramatically, and sometimes slow down the devices.

Overall, they offer little new that we care about and rarely, if ever, fix long-standing design flaws and bugs.

It's sad.

It's also become a deadline spectacle as every OS is on a mandatory, simultaneous release schedule — each iteration rolling out at the exact same date and time rather than when they are polished or even ready. Apple Bureaucracy and artificial deadlines are ruining the software.

No longer can Apple say “It's that simple” or “It just works” — because it isn’t and it doesn't!
 
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