Apple has never had a bigger software year, or so it goes

It’s been an unprecedented year for Apple software. The company supports more platforms and devices than ever, and the number of new features that have shipped and are coming soon is impressive. So how does that all work? Here’s a report-style look at the good, bad and ugly sides of Apple’s 2024 software.

Good: New platform and massive feature releases

The year isn’t over yet, but if everything is expected, 2024 will truly be a huge year for software releases.

For starters, the Vision Pro was launched this year. Apple’s first ‘spatial computer’ shipped with visionOS, a brand new major software platform that does so many things right.

With visionOS, Apple built a futuristic computer system that focused on eye tracking, hand gestures and the integration of important devices. I could spend an entire article exploring the ins and outs of visionOS, but let’s move on.

iOS 18 launched last month with a bunch of major and minor updates for iPhone users. There are a host of new customization tools and numerous feature additions to Photos, Notes, Messages, Reminders, Journal, and Settings. There’s a brand new app, Passwords. And much, much more.

Apple also released visionOS 2, macOS Sequoia, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11 and tvOS 18.

All on the same day.

iOS 18.1 is coming later this month, and with it the first wave of Apple Intelligence features. That includes:

There are also other cool upgrades coming in 18.1, like call recording and transcriptions, drag and drop for iPhone Mirroring, and more.

iOS 18.2 will also be here soon. It brings with it some of the most highly anticipated AI features, as well as goodies for the non-AI crowd. Expected features include:

Add up everything Apple has released so far, and the features yet to come, and it’s remarkable how much the company’s software teams will accomplish this year alone.

Bad: delays and neglected platforms

There’s a lot of good to say about Apple’s year of software. But of course there are also some bad things worth mentioning.

I won’t go into specific bugs or performance issues here. Bugs are largely an anecdotal problem that will vary from person to person.

But I do want to highlight two areas that haven’t been great:

• delays
• neglected platforms

For delays, I refer almost entirely to Apple Intelligence.

Clearly, Apple’s original plan was to deliver the first Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.0. That way, the iPhone 16 would benefit right out of the box.

Instead, despite a lot of AI marketing flooding the world, Apple’s biggest tentpole feature for the iPhone 16 is still unavailable.

In the long run, a one-month delay won’t make any difference. No one will care. But it’s a shame how often Apple’s big iPhone 16 reveal had to include the asterisk “coming later” not only for AI, but also for camera control upgrades.

As for neglected platforms, the one I hold most dear is the HomePod. In a year that has focused on major Siri upgrades, the lack of improvements for Apple’s smart speaker is a major letdown.

In that regard, the lack of an AI story for not only HomePod, but also Vision Pro and Apple Watch is a disappointment.

Ugly: masonry appliances

Lately there has been a disturbing series of incidents involving Apple software (mostly betas) causing major problems with the hardware.

The most notable example is that iPadOS 18 connects some M4 iPad Pro models. This was not a beta version, but rather the public shipping version of the new iPad software.

I wish I could say it was resolved quickly, but over two weeks later we are still waiting for a resolution. iPadOS 18 was quickly retired by Apple, so users with an M4 iPad Pro have not been able to install it since. (Update: The fix was released via iPadOS 18.0.1 just hours after this article was published)

Two recent beta releases have caused similar issues for other devices. First, it was HomePods that were bricked by Apple’s 18.1 beta 2 release. This week, watchOS 11.1 beta 3 was pulled after reports of device crashes.

It is not unusual for a software update to cause these types of problems every now and then. But three such releases in the last few weeks alone is an ugly sight.

Apple Software Report: Wrap-up

In my opinion, despite some setbacks, Apple’s software year will be extremely positive. The company may have a huge payroll, but that doesn’t make its achievements any less remarkable.

And as nice as it would have been to get all the Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18 alongside the launch of the iPhone 16, regular major feature drops have their own benefits too.

What is your opinion on Apple’s software year? Let us know in the comments.