iOS 15: Release date and expected new features

iOS 15 is expected to be revealed at Apple’s annual WWDC dev-centric summit, which would most certainly have an online keynote in store for us. As is tradition, we are certain that most all new features of iOS to be demoed on stage, but the most intriguing ones would likely be unraveled as soon as the first developer beta of iOS 15 arrives. This usually doesn’t take very long and is available for download right after the respective keynote ends; we don’t think it will be any different with iOS 15.

Now, what’s to expect about the new version of Apple’s OS? Given that ios 14 was a pretty important update for iOS that overhauled a slew of things, most importantly the interface by adding widgets to the homescreen, we don’t really believe that iOS 15 will add that much to that visual overhaul. If anything, it will be a tamer update that will polish whatever iOS 14 kicked off and improve the already-existing new features and functionalities. This doesn’t mean you should curb your enthusiasm though, there’s plenty of spicy talk regarding iOS 15!

iOS 15: More default apps customization

Word on the street is iOS 15 will open up the operating system to even more customization by allowing users to change even more of the default apps. iOS 14 kickstarted this trend by letting Safari and Mail be changed and an alternative be used instead. The latest iOS 14.5 beta is likely to let you change your default music platform of choice as well, substituting Apple Music for Spotify, for example. This opening of iOS will likely persist in iOS 15 as well.

Here’s what iPhones will most likely get iOS 15:

• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPod touch (7th generation)

iOS 15: Supported devices

iOS updates tend to drop support for older iPhones. This wasn’t the case with iOS 14, which was supported on the same devices on which iOS 13 was available, but this won’t be reiterated by iOS 15. Support will be dropped for the last iPhones with a headphone jack, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, as well as the original iPhone SE as only devices with an A10 or newer chipset will still remain supported. 

iOS 15: Privacy

The latest iOS 14.5 beta pumped up the privacy of the iOS even further by automatically redirecting safe browsing data through Apple’s own servers and acting as a proxy of sorts, protecting you from the prying eyes of the advertising monstrosities prying for your data (looking at you, Google). Supposedly, we can expect similar privacy features to be part of iOS 15 as well. 

iOS 15: Release date

This year’s WWDC developer summit will likely be an online-only event that will take place sometime in June, which seems to be Apple’s favorite month for software announcements. Aside from releasing a beta, this early reveal of iOS also gives plenty of headroom to app developers to prepare their apps for the upcoming changes and get up to speed on all the new features. 

As far as the release of the official version of iOS 15, it will undoubtedly take place alongside the release of the iPhone 13 (iPhone 12S) series. Traditionally, iPhones are released in late September/early October, so expect the next version of iOS along those lines.