Apple

iOS 17 Expected Release Date, Features, and Supported Devices

Ravi Kumar

May 05,2023
5 min read
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In fact, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who often provides reliable details on Apple's plans, says that iOS 17 will include "several of users' most requested features," which sounds very enticing. We've since heard hints of what might be coming from a MacRumors forum source that's been reliable in the past, so we thought we'd highlight some of the additions that we might see.

we discuss everything you need to know about iOS 17. We cover its release schedule and when you can expect the beta and final versions to come out; how to get it when it does; the models of iPhone that are likely to be able to run iOS; and the features we expect and hope to be added in the new OS.

Much Needed Performance Improvements

Before there were a range of quality of life features planned for ‌iOS 17‌, Gurman claimed that it would be a "tuneup" update focused on fixing bugs and improving performance. Apple still seems to be focused on boosting performance, efficiency, and stability.

Apple is said to be focusing on long-term support for older devices, which suggests that work is being done on making ‌iOS 17‌ a bug-free update even on iPhones that don't have the latest hardware.

Active Widgets

Apple is "testing" an active widget experience for the Home Screen and Today View on the iPhone, but this apparently isn't a feature that's a sure thing for ‌iOS 17‌.

Active widgets would be widgets that are more interactive, doing more than simply displaying information or letting you tap into an app. Active widgets could include one-tap buttons, sliders, and more, making widgets more dynamic.

Better Search

New versions of iOS often come with improvements to Search and Spotlight, and it sounds like ‌iOS 17‌ will be no exception. There's been a lot of attention on ChatGPT and other chatbot experiences that use AI trained on web content, but we're not expecting anything quite that advanced from Apple.

Rumors about improved search have not been specific, but in the past, Apple has worked to streamline search results, locate text in photos and videos, and allow users to search for specific subjects in images. Improvements to all of these features could be coming, along with new search capabilities.

One area that's in dire need of improvement is Apple's in-app search, like the search function for the Settings app. The Settings app often does not provide reliable results for the setting that's being sought, so hopefully this will be under the search improvement umbrella.

Alternate App Stores

European regulations will soon require Apple to support sideloading and alternate app stores, giving customers in Europe a way to access apps outside of the App Store.

Apple is working on including this functionality in iOS 17, but unfortunately, it's only expected to be available for customers living in the European Union. If laws in other countries change, these capabilities could eventually expand, so it will be interesting to see how Apple ultimately handles sideloading.

We can expect Apple to have security checks for sideloaded apps similar to the Mac Gatekeeper function that prevents non-trusted software from being installed, and it's not going to be a way for developers to skirt fees. Apple still plans to charge developers for access to iOS, though the fees may be lower than the 15 to 30 percent that Apple collects now.

Over th epast several years, the release of the new version of iOS has been fairly consistent:

iOS 16:Monday, September 12, 2022
iOS 15: Monday, September 20, 2021
iOS 14:Wednesday, September 16, 2020
iOS 13:Thursday, September 19, 2019
iOS 12:Monday, September 17, 2018

Before this happens, a series of beta versions of iOS 17 will be released to testers, beginning with the first developer beta likely released on the first day of WWDC 2023. Here’s our expected timeline:

Early to mid-June 2023: iOS 17 is announced at WWDC, and the first developer beta is released.
July 2023:Apple releases the first public beta of iOS 17.
June to September 2023:Apple releases a series of additional developer and public betas.
Early September 2023:The iPhone 15 is announced.
Mid-September 2023:The final public version of iOS 17 is released.

A New CarPlay Experience

At WWDC 2022, Apple showed off a next-generation version of CarPlay that's expected to be implemented in 2023. It includes support for multiple displays in a vehicle, so the CarPlay experience can be implemented on the infotainment system, instrument cluster, and more.

Instrument cluster integration is a new feature that will give ‌CarPlay‌ more control over the vehicle's functions, and it will integrate with the speedometer, odometer, fuel gage, and more. Vehicle climate controls will be accessible directly through ‌CarPlay‌ so you won't have to exit out of the ‌CarPlay‌ system to adjust the heat or the AC, and Apple is also planning to add a series of useful widgets that will display information like trip duration, fuel economy, weather, HomeKit devices, and other details that you might want to have while driving.

Third-party app stores

A recent report claims that Apple will start to open up the iPhone in iOS 17, allowing the distribution of apps outside of Apple’s own App Store, the use of NFC for touchless payments beyond Apple Pay, browsers that don’t have to use Apple’s Webkit rendering engine, and more. It’s all necessary to comply with the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, and the expectation is that it will only apply to those iPhones running iOS 17 in the regions covered by EU law.

The App Library is a good idea but poorly executed.

We have a few simple suggestions. Tapping the search box at the top of the App Library gives you an alphabetical list, which is a much simpler and intuitive way to find an app. It should be the default view—or be able to be set as the default view.

At the very least, make the folders in the App Library work like folders throughout iOS. Don’t move them around, make them so you open the folder when you tap on them and never one of the apps within. And maybe incorporate a number showing how many apps are in the

Conclusion

Apple has until March 2024 to comply with the new European laws, so while sideloading does not have to be in the first versions of ‌iOS 17‌ that go out to the public, it does have to be implemented at some point during the ‌iOS 17‌ development period.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. iOS 17 release date: When will iOS 17 arrive?

iOS 17 will be announced and demonstrated at WWDC 2023 in June, and then rolled out to iPhones across the world in fall 2023, almost certainly in mid-September. (The last time an iOS update was released outside September was iOS 5 back in October 2011.) It’s likely to follow closely on the heels of the iPhone 15 launch event. There was a gap of five days between the iPhone and iOS update in 2022, and six days in 2021.

2. iOS 17 compatibility: Which iPhones will be able to run iOS 17?

Our best guess is that the iPhone XS and later will be able to run iOS 17. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and the iPhone X which came out the same year, are all on the borderline. They may miss out, or they may squeak through and get another year of software support.