iOS 18 is expected to be published in the second half of this year, and Apple is slated to unveil its next iPhone operating system update at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2024.
The iPhone maker is apparently sending an early version of the iOS 18 update to factories and other partners for quality control testing. This is reported to be a limited version of Apple’s iOS operating system, with unnecessary apps and functionality stripped from the user interface (UI) before being released by the company.
According to a MacRumors report citing a private X (previously Twitter) account with an excellent track record of leaking Apple-related secrets, the iPhone maker has begun releasing a version of iOS 18 called “VendorUI” in a restricted manner with “factories and relevant vendors”. This version includes some iOS features that the firm plans to release in the following months at WWDC 2024.
Apple develops five new versions of iOS per year, according to the report. Two of these, LLDiags (a low-level diagnostics version) and NonUI (a version for hardware engineers and calibration machines), are developed without the iOS user interface.
Meanwhile, pre-production versions of iOS are available in the VendorUI (used for factory testing) and the InternalUI (used by Apple engineers). Apple’s “Release” version is the one that is finally available to users, including all iOS visual components, apps, and features.
Because the VendorUI image excludes most apps and features that are irrelevant to manufacturers and relevant vendors, we can expect to hear more about some aspects of the iOS 18 UI in the future, prior to WWDC 2024.
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According to previous reports, Apple is working on redesigning the mobile OS interface with the impending iOS 18 upgrade, which will include certain visual aspects from visionOS, the operating system for Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
According to prior reports, Apple’s iOS 18 release would focus on introducing many new AI features and functionality to eligible iPhone models. According to the company’s latest release timetable, the next generation iPhone series and iOS 18 software upgrade could be available in the third quarter of 2024.