iOS 18.2 Brings Big Improvements to Apple Intelligence. Here’s How To Download To Your iPhone

Apple has been promoting Apple Intelligence It’s been pretty good since the company announced the AI ​​feature back in June, but honestly it’s been pretty disappointing. Until now.

On Wednesday, Apple announced the release of iOS 18.2, which brings some of the most anticipated AI features to iOS 18, including ChatGPT integration of Siri and writing tools, the ability to create your own emoji with. Genmojionce A photo playground an app to create images from text commands.

If you are iPhone 16 owner, you get Visual Intelligence, a visual search tool that lets you extract information from anything you point your camera at, like text, food, places and more. Think Google Lens, but with Apple.

As long as you own an Apple Intelligence compatible device, you can download iOS 18.2 today and get all the latest AI features. Here’s everything you need to know.

To learn more, see what’s new in iOS 18.2 and how to fix your iPhone before downloading iOS 18.2.

What iPhone models support Apple Intelligence?

All iPhone models after the iPhone XS and iPhone 11 can run iOS 18, only some of the latest models support Apple Intelligence. Here are all the iPhones that support Apple Intelligence:

As mentioned above, only iPhone 16 users will get Visual Intelligence, a powerful AI search feature.

Apple Intelligence also works on iPad and Mac models with the M1 chip and later.

Now, do these six things before installing iOS 18.2

You don’t need to do all of these things to download iOS 18.2 to your iPhone, but it will definitely make the downloading experience much easier:

• Protect your iPhone. You never know what can go wrong when you update, so it’s good to have a backup. On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup and press Backup Now.
• Update to iOS 18.1.1. This will make the update work better than going from iOS 18 to iOS 18.2.
• Charge your iPhone or connect it to power. You don’t want your battery to die when you download a new software update, so make sure to keep it charged at least above 20% or just plug it into power while updating.
• Connect your iPhone to a reputable Wi-Fi network. You can download iOS 18.2 using mobile data, but it will be slow and may fail if your service is bad.
• Check to see if your iPhone has enough storage. Every iOS software update requires enough storage to download and install successfully. If you run out of storage, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and remove large files and applications. You can also download iOS 18.2 using your computer, which doesn’t require you to free up storage on your phone.
• If you haven’t already, join the Apple Intelligence waiting list. Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and press Join the Apple Intelligence waiting list. It should take a few hours to get approved. You must also be on a waiting list to use Genmoji and Image Playground.

To test Apple’s new AI, you must have an eligible device and run iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 or the current macOS 15.1. (On the iPhone side, those are the current iPhone 16 models and last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.) You’ll also need to join a waiting list in the Settings app, but Apple Support says it usually only takes a few hours to gain access. Once approved, you will receive a notification saying it is ready to run on your device.

You should also check out these easy ways to optimize your iPhone storage.

How to download iOS 18.2 on your iPhone

Now that you’re ready, it’s time to download iOS 18.2 If you’re coming from iOS 18 or iOS 18.1, updating should be incredibly easy. All you need to do is go Settings > General > Software Updates and press Update Now. Enter your passcode, agree to the terms and conditions to request the update, and wait for iOS 18 to download and install. If your phone reboots and starts backing up, you should be running iOS 18.2.

When is iOS 18.2 coming out?

It’s out! Apple started rolling out the iOS 18.2 update today, Dec. 11. More Apple Intelligence features will be available in the coming months, the company said.

While you’re here, take a look at what to expect from the iPhone in 2025.