The release of iOS 15 is still a long way off, but that doesn’t stop the rumor mill. For now, we’ve gathered what we know so far and what we would like to see. Apple will talk more about iOS 15 later this year at WWDC 2021, but we’ll be sure to see leaks in the meantime.
Apple really changed things with iOS 14 last year, with features that users requested such as home screen widgets. It has also added the app library for automatically organizing your apps and the ability to change your default browser and email client. And iOS 15 should bring many more improvements.
Based on the leaks and rumors thus far, here’s everything we know about iOS 15 so far, debuting in the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup.
iOS 15: release date and betas
Apple usually launches the new version of iOS alongside that year’s latest iPhone. This usually happens in September. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple has delayed the launch of the iPhone 12 series until October, while iOS 14 will still be released in September 2020.
That in mind, we think iOS 15 will be out in September of this year. However, it is very likely that Apple will talk about it this summer at WWDC, the annual developers conference. There we hear more about new functions and adjustments. We’ll likely learn about developers and public betas around that time as well.
With iOS 14, users could install the public beta to test the new features, provided they were able to fix the bugs. There’s no reason to believe that Apple won’t do the same with iOS 15.
iOS 15: Which Devices Does It Support?
Apple has not officially released a list of which devices will get iOS 15. However, rumors suggest the new version will only be available for the iPhone 7 and above. That would leave the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and the original iPhone SE out in the cold.
If that’s true, here are some iPhones that we think will get iOS 15:
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPhone XR
- iPhone Xs
- iPhone Xs Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020)
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
And of course, the iPhone 13 series comes with iOS 15 out of the box.
iOS 15: what we want to see
We will no doubt see many new things in iOS 15, but nothing is set in stone yet. That’s why we have a little wish list of things we want the new iOS to have. There are a few more things that Android does well. which iOS could benefit from.
Improved notifications: This has been a pain point for iOS for a long time. It’s something Google continues to refine in Android, and we’d love to see Apple take some of those lessons learned and apply it to iOS 15. Notificationstriage is a nightmare on iOS. Inline answers are badly needed for apps that support them. Grouping should be adjusted so as not to bury important information. Useful notifications, such as deleting an email, should be clearer and more intuitive.
A Better Siri: Let’s admit it, Siri isn’t that great. Sure, it has improved quite a bit with each new iteration, but it lags significantly behind Google Assistant. Apple has a lot of room to grow in this regard. We would like to see better speech recognition and better native answers. Searching the web is fine and all, but part of what makes Assistant so useful is its ability to answer many of your questions directly. Siri just can’t compare, and we want to see that change.
Allow more default apps: With iOS 14, Apple finally let users choose their own default browser and email clients. This was a very good step in the right direction. However, we would like to see Apple let go a bit, starting with changing the default SMS. Using iMessage is fine, but being able to switch to something like Signal to have all chats in the same app. Other app defaults are also welcome, such as music and video.