iOS 18.3 was released at the end of January, but the highly anticipated next update—iOS 18.4 Beta 1—is still nowhere to be seen. Let’s take a look at why it’s delayed and what features we can expect in this update.
Why is iOS 18.4 Beta Delayed?
iOS 18.4 Beta was initially expected to be a major update for Apple Intelligence, and typically, Apple releases new betas shortly after a public update like iOS 18.3. But this time, things don’t seem to be going as planned.
Reports suggest that iOS 18.4 Beta isn’t even ready yet. One of its key features—Siri’s on-screen awareness—is reportedly not working as expected, even in the internal builds Apple is testing.
https://x.com/n_maximoff/status/1890195137982263432
When Will iOS 18.4 Beta Be Released?
Mark Gurman previously hinted that iOS 18.4 Beta 1 might drop this week, and Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be publicly released in April, meaning there isn’t much time left for testing.
Here’s a look at previous .4 Beta releases:
- iOS 17.4 Beta 1: Thursday, January 25, 2024
- iOS 16.4 Beta 1: Thursday, February 16, 2023
- iOS 15.4 Beta 1: Thursday, January 27, 2022
As I’m updating this post, it’s Thursday, February 20—a day that seems like the perfect time for Apple to release iOS 18.4 Beta 1. It’s the third Thursday of February, there are no holidays, and it doesn’t overlap with the iPhone 16e launch. But, well… Apple had other plans.
https://x.com/BetaProfiles/status/1892612390992138409
So, if iOS 18.4 Beta 1 doesn’t drop this Friday either, I’d say Apple is still ironing out issues and isn’t quite ready to release it. In that case, we’ll just have to wait and see if it arrives next week (sigh).
What to Expect in iOS 18.4
Initially, reports suggest iOS 18.4 will focus on Siri and Apple Intelligence updates. While details are still sparse, here’s what’s rumored so far:
- Apple Intelligence expands to the EU
. - Support for changing default apps like Maps and Translate [EU only ].
- Apple Intelligence adds more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified), English (Singapore) and English (India). Although Vietnamese was originally planned to support Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.4, Apple has decided to release it later along with other languages, possibly in iOS 18.5.
- Siri gets smarter, recognizing on-screen content and performing relevant actions.
- More personalized Siri responses using data from your photos, calendar, Messages, and other apps.
- Smarter app-specific requests for Siri, like deleting specific emails, moving notes between folders, sharing links via email, opening documents, or summarizing articles.
- Apple Intelligence builds an on-device semantic index to process and store information from your emails, photos, websites, and apps.
Mark Gurman also recently reported that Apple may delay or scale back some Siri and Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4, pushing them to iOS 18.5, which could launch as early as May. This means features like a smarter Siri, on-screen context awareness, and personal context awareness might not make it into iOS 18.4.
https://x.com/markgurman/status/1890523822572388469
With the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple also confirmed that Visual Intelligence will soon come to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max via the Action Button and a shortcut in the Control Center. Although Apple hinted that this feature “will arrive in a future update,” I believe it will ultimately be added to iOS 18.4.
https://x.com/BetaProfiles/status/1892580623979561044
That said, Gurman still believes iOS 18.4 will bring some new features—we just don’t know what they are yet. When iOS 18.4 Beta is out, I’ll provide a complete rundown of all the new features and changes, for both Apple Intelligence-supported and non-supported devices. Stay tuned! 
