Apple’s iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8 will officially start rolling out later today evening. The latest versions of Apple’s operating systems for iPhones, iPads, and watches will bring a range of new features. Let’s take a look at all the eligible devices, along with the top new features coming to Apple’s devices
Apple’s latest iPhone 13 series will come with iOS 15 out of the box. The older iPhone 12 series, iPhone 11, iPhone XS, iPhone X , iPhone 8, iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s series will all get the update. Both versions of the iPhone SE, which is the 2016 and 2020 variants will also be eligible for the latest OS. Finally, Apple will also continue to support iPod Touch (7th Generation).
While Apple continues to support older iPhones, it should be noted that some of the features such as Portrait mode on FaceTime will be limited to newer iPhones, especially those running A12 Bionic chipset or later. The A12 Bionic chipset was seen on the iPhone XS series, which launched back in 2018. So if you can have an older iPhone 8 or iPhone X, you will miss out on some of the newer features.
iPad OS 15:
iPad OS 15 will be coming to all iPad Pro 12.9-inch and iPad Pro 11-inch versions and the iPad Pro 10.5-inch and iPad Pro 9.7-inch. It will also be rolled out to the standard iPad (5th generation and above), iPad mini 4, 5th and 6th generation. The latest iPad mini that Apple just launched is obviously running the new iPad OS. Apple iPad Air 2nd generation and above will also get the latest OS.
watch OS 8:
The watch OS 8 update will continue to support Apple Watch Series 3 and above. Of course, the latest Watch Series 7 will run watchOS 8 out of the box. To use watch OS 8, users will also require iPhone 6s or later with iOS 15 or later.
8, users will also require iPhone 6s or later with iOS 15 or later.
iOS 15: What’s new?
Apple iOS 15 brings new feature to FaceTime, including the support for spatial audio, Share Play, Portrait mode, a new Grid mode and voice isolation mode as well. Most importantly, users will be able to share links to their FaceTime calls, and those on a non-Apple device will be able to access these. So yes, FaceTime calls will work on Android and Windows-based devices via a browser.
Apple is also bringing a number of features to its Messages app. Most importantly for India, though it will be bringing capabilities to turn “notifications on or off for unknown senders, transactions, and promotions.” This will let users have more control over notifications on different types of messages. Memoji is also getting more customisations including glasses, stickers, and new accessibility options
Apple is adding a new ‘Focus’ feature as well which will let users customise notification filter based on their preference. So they will be able to set up a profile say ‘Work’ or ‘Exercise’ and decide which notifications should appear during this time period. Further, Apple is redesigning notifications in iOS 15 with contact photos for people and larger icons for apps. A new notification summary feature will allow some notifications to be clubbed together.
The new OS will also renew focus on privacy. There will be a new App Privacy Report in the Settings to let users see how often an app is accessing location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts in the last seven days. It also shows “which apps have contacted other domains and how recently they have contacted them,” according to Apple.
Further, Apple says that when it comes to Siri, all audio of any requests will now be processed entirely on the iPhone unless the user chooses to share it. Apple is also adding more offline support for Siri.
With iOS 15, Apple is also bringing a new iCloud+ service that will let users get access to what it calls as iCloud Private Relay. This will let users connect to any network virtually via Safari and browse in a private way. Apple says all traffic leaving the device will be encrypted, and no one can intercept or read it, including the iPhone maker itself.
Finally, Apple will let users choose if they wish to opt out of getting iOS 15 and just install security updates on their device while continuing with iOS 14. According to Apple, users will be able to continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates.