With 2023, we can be absolutely certain that Apple is going to release a new iteration of its iPhone software in the form of iOS 17. In fact, if you look around the web you can already see iOS 17 showing up in data analytics, which means that somewhere inside a bunker in Apple Park, the company is testing its next best thing for iPhone. Here's everything we know so far, which admittedly, isn't a lot...
iOS 17 release date: Is iOS 17 available?
iOS 17 is nowhere near release. Apple usually holds its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in June, where it will unveil iOS 17. Beta access should start on that same day, but iOS 17 won't be rolled out to regular users until later in the year, likely in September alongside the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Last year, iOS 16 was released to the public on September 12. A good guess for 2023 would be a very similar timeline.
What iPhones will get iOS 17?
iOS 17 will be available on all of Apple's current best iPhones, including the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, as well as the upcoming iPhone 15. For the first time since iOS 13, Apple dropped support for some iPhones with the release of iOS 16, namely the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 lines, as well as the first-generation iPhone SE.
That leaves the iPhone's A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X as the oldest supported devices. If Apple does drop any support this year, expect it to be for those three devices. However, Apple has an excellent track record of providing long support for devices, so it's possible at all the devices that support iOS 16 will also get iOS 17.
How can I get iOS 17?
iOS 17 will be released through Apple's usual software update channel. That means it will be available to download on your iPhone in the Settings app, under the General heading in the Software Update section. This option will appear at the public release, but you can also set your iPhone to enable automatic updates.
iOS 17 features
Unfortunately, we're yet to hear anything about any upcoming features coming to iOS 17. But we do have some bad news. Apple is putting a lot of energy into Apple VR this year, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that as a result, Apple is going to introduce fewer new features and make "fewer major changes than originally planned."
But what changes could Apple make? Here's what we think:
iOS 17: iMore's expert opinion
So what would we at iMore like to see in iOS 17? Here's what our team of experts had to say:
Tammy Rogers - Staff Writer:
"Even more lock screen customization would be my number one. Let's go beyond just the text of the clock, let me put more widgets and choose what the two shortcut buttons do."
Daryl Baxter - Features Editor
"Redesign the camera app - after 16 years it's too cluttered to pick which mode is best for the moment, and trying to switch between them, especially slo-mo 120FPS and 240FPS is too long to do. Let's see a simpler user interface, and maybe some other colors than black to make it more fun to use."
John-Anthony Disotto - How-To Editor
"A better use of the Dynamic Island so I can actually use it for something other than timers. I would like notifications to be more connected to the Island so that it feels more incorporated into my device rather than another TouchBar"
Stephen Warwick - News Editor
"I am begging you to please just fix Siri. Somehow, the virtual assistant has got worse since it was launched, and can't even handle the most basic, primitive tasks. We need way more on-device control to stop long wait times, and Siri really needs to figure out handling basic requests again. Also please let us use the Xbox Cloud Gaming app natively and not via the web."
iOS 17: Looking forward to it
iOS 17 isn't as far away as you might think, and we've got plenty to look forward to. However, the year of Apple Reality Pro might well detract from Apple's software this year, especially if it's true that Apple is sending more resources that way at the expense of its iPhone software.
Given that iOS 16 wasn't a massive overhaul, I think it's a shame we might get another incremental update, but perhaps Apple can repay us with better stability and less bugs than in previous years.
