What to Know
- Details on iOS 19 are expected to be announced on June 9 at WWDC.
- iOS 19 will likely drop in the fall.
- This update could include a smarter Siri, a major redesign, and a Live Translate feature for AirPods.
With Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference coming up, in June, we’ll soon get details on what this year’s operating system update is bringing to our iPhones. The update is expected to drop in the fall and we could see some of the features promised in iOS 18 finally become available, as well as a major redesign. Let’s take a look at what people are saying Apple’s fall update will send our way.
iOS 19 Rumors
Smarter Siri… Finally
The biggest expectation when it comes to iOS 19 is that we’ll see some of the features that were supposed to come in iOS 18 but were delayed, primarily the Siri upgrades. These include personal context, which would allow you to search with voice commands that include names of contacts, such as: “Siri, what restaurant did Olena recommend?”; onscreen awareness, which will help Siri integrate with whatever your screen is displaying at that moment; and deeper app integration, which will let you do things like move files from one app to another. While these were promised to us in iOS 18, the fact that they weren’t ready also casts doubt on whether they’ll be ready this time around, but it seems like a strong contender for what we’ll see.
A Major Makeover
Another major rumor is that we will see a major redesign. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says the design revamp will “fundamentally change” the way the operating system looks, and compares it to the one in iOS 7. He reports it will resemble the display seen in Apple’s AR headset, the Vision Pro. Apple leaker Jon Prosser leaked a redesigned camera app that includes a full screen photo/video display with a control panel floating toward the bottom on the screen on a transparent background. This aligns with the Vision Pro-style redesign idea, as the general design of the Vision Pro display is more transparent in general. Prosser also claims we’ll see rounded icons, though Gurman insists Prosser’s mockups are out of date. According to MacRumors, the overall look will be soft and glossy, with a display that changes based on how you tip your iPhone.
Coming Soon… But Not Yet
Apple is also reportedly redoing the Health app with personalized health recommendations and food tracking features, though this might not come out just yet. There’s also speculation Apple will release a Large Language Model (LMM) similar to ChatGPT or Gemini, but again, this likely won’t be ready just yet. Gurman claims we’ll see a “larger-than-usual” amount of features that were supposed to launch this round that will be pushed to 2026 and later. He goes on to say that Apple is moving away from the batch release with new features and instead moving toward a model where they’re launched as they become available.
Which iPhone will Be Obsolete?
This time around, Apple is likely to drop support for the XS, XS Max, and XR. The iPhone 11 is likely to squeak by for another year.
AirPods Live Translate
Bloomberg reports that we will see a live translate feature for AirPods that listens to and translates conversations in real time. We might see a demonstration of this at WWDC if this feature is indeed going to happen this round of updates. I would guess that initially this feature would only be available in a handful of languages, but this could be a really cool tool for travelers and more if implemented correctly.
