iOS 15 release date, beta and all the new iPhone features

iOS 15 is official and we can’t wait to get our hands on it. Apple showed off several new features during its WWDC 2021 keynote, including some awesome new things coming to FaceTime and notifications.

Though the full version of iOS 15 won’t ship until later this year, Apple’s iOS preview offers us the chance to see what big features Apple has planned for the software that powers its smartphones, including the iPhone 13 models due out later this year.

Here’s everything we know that’s coming in iOS 15.

iOS 15: Release date and betas

Let’s start with the beta process first. Apple has handed developers a beta of iOS 15 during WWDC so they can get started updating their apps to take advantage of the software’s new features. Unless you’re an app maker, that’s not a beta you’re going to want to install on your phone. (Not that you could, anyway — it’s only available to registered developers.)

The public beta of iOS 15 is what you’ll want. And that’s coming in July. If Apple follows the pattern of previous releases, you’ll just need to head to Apple’s beta website and login with your Apple ID to register your iPhone. (It’s best to visit that site on the device where you wish to install the beta.) You’ll be able to download the public beta once that software becomes available. Expect multiple updates to the iOS 15 public beta after that first release until the full version is ready.

When will that be? Apple simply says the fall of this year. Apple typically launches the new version of iOS about the same time as a new iPhone. (Usually, the iOS update shows up a few days ahead of time.) This generally happens in September. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple delayed the launch of the iPhone 12 series until October 2019; iOS 14 still released in September 2020. With that in mind, we think iOS 15 will drop in September of this year. 

iOS 15: What devices will it support?

Get ready for a surprise. If you can run iOS 14 on your iPhone, you can also run iOS 15. That’s a bit of a shock, as rumors prior to the emergence of the iOS 15 developer beta, suggested the iPhone 6s and original iPhone SE were about to get dropped. That means you’ll be able to run iOS 15 on hardware that first debuted in 2015.

Here’s the list of supported devices according to Apple:

• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone SE (original model)
• iPod Touch (severnth-generation)
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X
• iPhone XR
• iPhone Xs
• iPhone Xs Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max

And, obviously, the iPhone 13 series will come with iOS 15 out of the box.

If you’re wondering about iPad compatibility, remember that Apple split up the software for its phones and tablets several years ago. iPadOS 15 is adopting many of the features we’ll talk about here, along with some iPad-specific changes that will sound familiar to iOS 14 users (widgets on the home screen to give just one example).

iOS 15: Features

iOS 14 was a pretty big upgrade, but there’s a lot planned for iOS 15 as well.

New FaceTime features: FaceTime is getting some of the most substantive changes in iOS 15. The popular video chat is getting spatial audio to make sound feel more natural, plus voice isolation using machine learning and wide spectrum to bring in more ambient sounds. 

Better yet, for group FaceTime calls, Apple is adding link creation (a la Google Meet and Zoom) so that even people on Android and Windows can join in via the browser. Apple has also added a grid view for group calls and a portrait mode to bring the focus on you.

SharePlay: SharePlay is a new way to share media experiences with your friends and family. If you’re quite social and like to share music, videos, and your phone’s screen, SharePlay is a new way to communicate in lieu of screenshots. You can, for example, listen to an album on Apple Music together, or watch a Netflix show together while chatting in iMessage with the picture-in-picture mode. SharePlay will work across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Notifications and Focus: One major pain point with iOS is notifications and Apple is tackling it to a degree. Notifications will now be sorted into a deal-with-it later category, and conversations will surface first. The look and feel of the notifications pane has received a slight face lift to look a bit more modern.

On top of improvements to notifications, iOS 15 will introduce changes to Do Not Disturb and add the new Focus mode. The former simply lets you set a DND status in Messages and iMessage will auto-reply to say that you’re busy. Focus lets you set up profiles like work and personal that changes how you use the phone, letting you eliminate distractions while you’re working or taking some time for yourself.

Live Text: Similar to Google Lens, Apple will introduce Live Text to iOS 15. You’ll be able to copy text from within a photo, screenshot, or web image.

Lookup: Again, looking to Google Lens, Apple added Lookup, which lets you point your camera at something and look it up. It can recognize animals, nature, landmarks, art, and much more.

Photos Memories: Apple is taking a page out of Google Photos’ book and is adding new memories to Photos. These memories curate photos and adds music to them, creating a fun movie. You can change the music and pace, often creating something wholly different.

Wallet additions: Wallet is getting some improvements, letting you add car keys (with supported car manufacturers), corporate badges, hotel keys (at participating hotels), and even state IDs in participating states. Apple said that the TSA will start letting you use your iPhone for identification purposes. 

Fresh Weather design: The Weather app is getting a face lift. Apple has added a lot more animations and new infographics. It helps you get more information about what’s going on outside.

Maps changes: Apple is gunning straight for maps and navigation superiority with Maps in iOS 15. It’ll now offer a globe (a la Google Earth) and it adds new city details like elevation, turn lanes, and bike lanes. It’ll also show you new road details and traffic conditions. Transit users will be able to pin their favorite lines, and Maps will let you know when it’s time to disembark.

Moving into the future, Maps in iOS 15 is heading into augmented reality. When you emerge from a train station and you’re lost, hold up your iPhone and let it scan the buildings around you. It’ll bring up the last directions you need to get to your destination.

Safari: Safari is getting an overhaul in macOS 12, and some of those changes are finding their way to the iPhone, too, though the new look accounts for the iPhone’s smaller display. The tab bar is now at the bottom of the screen — closer to your thumb, Apple notes — and it disappears as you scroll. The idea is to make the browser easier to operate with one hand.

Additionally, features introduced in the macOS Monterey version of Safari such as Group Tabs will also appear in iOS 15’s version. Web extensions are now supported on the iPhone and iPad as well.