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iOS 18.3 is the third major update to the iOS 18 operating system, and while it isn't as feature rich as iOS 18.1 or iOS 18.2, there are some Apple Intelligence changes worth knowing about, as well as as some other tweaks, bug fixes, and security updates.

iOS-18.3-Everything-New-Feature.jpg

This guide covers everything new in iOS 18.3.

Apple Intelligence

After updating to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence is an opt-out feature, not an opt-in feature. If you didn't have Apple Intelligence turned on, it's now turned on automatically, and you will need to go to the Apple Intelligence section of the Settings app to turn it off.

Apple-Intelligence-General-Feature-2.jpg

Apple Intelligence will also be automatically enabled on devices running iPadOS 18.3 and macOS Sequoia 15.3.

Apple Intelligence is available on the iPhone 15 Pro models, iPhone 16 Pro models, the iPad mini 7, and all Macs and iPads with an M-series chip. On these devices, Apple Intelligence is now turned on automatically when iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, or macOS Sequoia 15.3 is installed. In prior updates, you had to explicitly turn Apple Intelligence on to be able to use the feature set.

Visual Intelligence

For iPhone 16 models, there are new Visual Intelligence features that are accessible with Camera Control.

ios-18-3-camera-control-animals.jpg

You can now use Visual Intelligence to add an event to the Calendar app, or to identify plants and animals.

Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries

iOS 18.3 makes several changes to Apple Intelligence Notification summaries to address complaints over notifications that have false news headlines.

Notification summaries for the News and Entertainment category have been temporarily disabled, and Apple is working on improvements. The feature will return in a future software update, but for now, these types of notifications will not be aggregated and summarized.

bbc-news-apple-intelligence-summaries-clean-1.jpg

In the Settings app, when a user activates Notification summaries, Apple has added a warning that this is a beta feature, and that errors are a possibility.

notification-error-warning-ios-18-3.jpg

For summaries that are still available through ‌Apple Intelligence‌, the text is italicized as a way to distinguish them from standard notifications.

ios-18-3-notification-summary-italics.jpg

Apple also added an option to manage whether notifications are summarized for an app right from the Lock Screen. To turn off summaries from the Lock Screen, swipe to the left on a Notification summary and then tap on options to get to the menu to disable it on a per-app basis.

Calculator

Apple made a change to the Calculator app, returning a feature that was removed with iOS 18. You can once again tap the equals sign twice to repeat the last mathematical operation.

iOS-18-Calculator-Feature.jpg

Apple removed repeating operations in iOS 18, but it's back. Some iPhone owners who used the Calculator app for things like calculating compound interest will now be able to do so again.

Black Unity Wallpaper

The update adds a new wallpaper to go along with a new watch face and new Apple Watch band that were announced today.

Apple-2025-Black-Unity-Collection.jpg


Bug Fixes

There are fixes for a couple of notable bugs.
  • Siri Keyboard - The update addresses a bug that could cause the keyboard to disappear after you typed in a Siri request with the Type to Siri feature.
  • Apple Music - iOS 18.3 fixes a bug that could cause audio playback to continue even after the Apple Music app is closed.
Security Updates

iOS 18.3 fixes 25 security vulnerabilities, including one that was actively exploited. A CoreMedia vulnerability could be used to elevate privileges, and Apple is aware of reports that it may have been used on devices running iOS 17.1 or earlier.

A Photos vulnerability could allow an attacker with physical access to an unlocked device to access the Photos app even when the iPhone is locked, and Apple fixed several issues with AirPlay that could allow attackers to execute code or crash apps.

Two kernel vulnerabilities that could let malicious apps gain kernel privileges were addressed, and there are a handful of WebKit fixes for Safari. Given the number of security holes that were patched, it's a good idea to install the software to get the latest fixes.

Article Link: iOS 18.3 Features: Everything New in iOS 18.3
 
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Reactions: JapanApple
What an absolute disaster of a launch! As a UK user, I still don’t have access to full AI functionality despite spending a fortune on the new MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro. It’s beyond frustrating that I’m expected to manually download 'Apple Intelligence' components—are we in 2005? To top it off, the download has been stuck at '100% complete' for an entire day. What on earth has happened to Apple?

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Artificial Intelligence remains in its infancy which is to be expected due to the complex nature of it. Having no desire to invest in implementing it until its usefulness and accuracy is improved.

There's no point in paying for subscriptions or even bothering with free versions. Little reason to buy the latest Apple hardware that supports it. Better yet, I will continue to focus on what my various Apple devices do best now.

By taking a wait and see approach there’s an opportunity to save plenty of time and money.
 
What an absolute disaster of a launch! As a UK user, I still don’t have access to full AI functionality despite spending a fortune on the new MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro. It’s beyond frustrating that I’m expected to manually download 'Apple Intelligence' components—are we in 2005? To top it off, the download has been stuck at '100% complete' for an entire day. What on earth has happened to Apple?

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I didn't see any type of download - where was that triggered (which toggle)?
 
What an absolute disaster of a launch! As a UK user, I still don’t have access to full AI functionality despite spending a fortune on the new MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro. It’s beyond frustrating that I’m expected to manually download 'Apple Intelligence' components—are we in 2005? To top it off, the download has been stuck at '100% complete' for an entire day. What on earth has happened to Apple?

View attachment 2476559
Apple Intelligence is an oxymoron, there's nothing intelligent about it. Just use the ChatGPT app for your MAC, it just works.
 
Do we have any news from anywhere on when to expect actual AI stuff being unlocked in EU (Denmark) or is it still not really gonna happen? :(
 
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Apple Intelligence is an oxymoron, there's nothing intelligent about it. Just use the ChatGPT app for your MAC, it just works.
well yeah but... all THAT aside, one of the things that WOULD be nice is the functionality of the tools in the Camera app and Photos to adjust and remove items... we still don't have that... I don't get why that's not offered at all...
 
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Do we have any news from anywhere on when to expect actual AI stuff being unlocked in EU (Denmark) or is it still not really gonna happen? :(
18.4, which should be out this spring. I believe it already available on the Mac in the EU as MacOS is not a gatekeeper under the DMA.

That said, I suspect Danish is not a supported language at this point.
 
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Something rotten in Apple, I installed 15.3, ran the latest version of superduper onto a blank formatted samsung t7 drive. Worked fine EXCEPT I tried to reboot off of the external drive and I got a shutdown on my machine M1 studio. Almost didn't want to reboot off of the internal drive. Log looks like a non copied library. So be careful of this update.
 
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The following screenshot is from my iPhone 13 Pro. It shows that the ChatGPT plugin is there, but disabled. Tapping any of these just takes me to the main Siri screen without any ChatGPT option.

I have the ChatGPT app, paid subscription, and Shortcut to do the same thing already. But Apple withholds it to try to get me to get a new iPhone. It’s having the opposite effect.

This would be an easy way to make up for years of broken promises and disappointment from Siri. But no, gotta push those otherwise meaningless hardware upgrades.

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This would be an easy way to make up for years of broken promises and disappointment from Siri. But no, gotta push those otherwise meaningless hardware upgrades.

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Or maybe, Apple tested the Apple Intelligence features on an almost 3 and a half year old phone and determined the performance wasn’t good enough to offer the Apple Intelligence features.

Given they’re not offering it to iPhone 15 users either, I suspect it’s much more likely that it isn’t a good experience with the limited RAM in your phone from 2021, rather than a conspiracy to make you upgrade.
 
To top it off, the download has been stuck at '100% complete' for an entire day. What on earth has happened to Apple?

Alas, my updates to 18.2 and 18.3 both froze at 100% for quite awhile, without auto restarting the laptop. After waiting an hour I just force shut it down. Upon reboot all was fine with the new update(s) installed. Not ideal, but since Apple’s support site said that was what should do, I did it. And haven’t witnessed any issues.
 
I'm still very pissed that they did not give Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro/Max's. So what if it doesnt have the camera button, they could have easily made it assignable to the Action Button or just a mode within the Camera App.

This was something I was looking forward to and they screwed me.
 
Wanna run without solving BASIC phone functions!, such as editing a mistyped number in the dialpad. Only Apple phones are so backwarsd that cant support tha, it want to provide "smart" functions.
Evan Apple does not call its offering Ariticial Intelligence, just Apple Intelligence, because it is sooooooo bad.
 
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