Apple will release major operating system updates for their devices starting with iOS & iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10 on Monday, September 18, followed by macOS Sonoma on Tuesday, September 26. As with each yearly update, there are a number of notable new features along with myriad smaller, but still interesting, changes. In this post, I highlight what, I think, are the main new features for the iPhone and iPad.
Updating
If you have your device set to automatically update, then you will be notified to install the update in the near future. If you would rather not wait, you can tell your device to install the update right away.
Go to Settings, tap General, and then tap Software Updates.
If an update is available, it will be listed here. Tap on it to initiate the installation.
What’s New?
While there are always numerous changes in these updates, I’ve picked what, I believe, are some of the most noteworthy for most people. There are likely many other improvements that you will find useful, so I’ve included links below to Apple’s site for more details if you’re interested.
Phone & FaceTime
The phone app has not seen significant changes in quite some time. This year is different, with quite a few new, interesting features.
- Contact Posters: you can set a photo as well as the font and color that will be shown on the screen of the person you’re calling.
- Live voicemail: if someone is leaving you a voicemail, you’ll see a real-time transcription of the message on your screen and can decide to answer the call at any time the caller is still on the line.
- FaceTime messages: you can leave an audio or video message when someone doesn’t answer a FaceTime call.
- FaceTime on Apple TV: if you have an Apple TV, you can use FaceTime on your television by using your iPhone or iPad as the camera.
Messages
- Check In: automatically notifies a friend or family member when you arrive at your destination. Great for those times when someone says, “let me know when you get home safely.” It’s simple to start, and after that, it is automatic.
- Improved search: it’s easier to find messages by using multiple filters at once, such as “all messages from John with the word sushi.”
- Catch up: easily catch up on a long thread by tapping the new arrow button to jump to the last message you’ve read.
- Stickers: create stickers from your photos, add new effects, and use them in more apps and places throughout the system.
- Location: you can now easily share your location or view someone else’s location from inside a message thread.
Standby
StandBy displays full-screen information on your iPhone when it’s on its side while charging. It can display things such as a clock, calendar, photos, notifications, and other widgets. This will be great on a desk or nightstand, and will be especially useful on iPhones with the always-on display.
AirDrop
- NameDrop: makes it simple to exchange contact information by just bringing your iPhone close to another. You choose what information to share, so it’s safe and secure.
- Easier transfer: just bring up the content you want to share, then hold your phone close to the other iPhone and AirDrop will begin.
- Continue over Internet: once AirDrop is initiated, if you move away from the recipient before it completes, the transfer will continue securely over the Internet automatically.
I have an article on AirDrop coming soon.
Keyboard
- Autocorrect: gets much more accurate in iOS 17 (finally!) and makes it easier to correct mistakes if it’s wrong.
- Predictions: the keyboard will display predictions to help complete phrases or sentences, making it faster to finish your thought.
Maps
- Offline: you can download maps for use when you don’t have an Internet connection. This will be great while traveling and need directions when you don’t have a cell signal.
- Electric chargers: if you have an electric vehicle, Maps will now show you charging station availability along your route.
Siri
- No “Hey”: you’ll now be able to just say “Siri” (you can also continue to say “Hey Siri”) when you want to activate Apple’s assistant.
- Multiple requests: you’ll also be able to ask Siri to do multiple things without having to say “Siri” for each request. For example, you could say “Siri, add eggs to my grocery list” followed by “Remind me to call Mom tomorrow at 10.”
Passwords & Web
- Shared passwords: you can securely share a list of passwords with other people and keep them in sync. This will be great for accounts that are shared in a family.
- Autofill from Email: if you get verification codes via email, these will now autofill in Safari the same they do from a text message.
- Safari Profiles: create home and work profiles to keep history, favorites, cookies, and more separated.
Reminders and Notes
- Grocery Lists: the Reminders app can automatically categorize your grocery list, making it easy to shop. For example: milk will be in the Dairy section, while steaks will show up in Meats.
- Sections & Columns: Reminders allows you to create separate sections in a list, and view the tasks in those sections in columns for even more ways to be organized.
- PDF Improvements: the Notes app adds numerous improvements for working with PDFs, including real-time collaborative editing, intelligent form detection & improved autofill.
- Linked Notes: a note can now contain links to other notes. So, for example, when travel planning, you could create a link from a note with the itinerary to a note with details about each attraction.
Photos
- People: the People Album in Photos has improved the ability to recognize your favorite people
- Pets: the app now recognizes dogs and cats and shows them in the People Album (interestingly, there’s no “Pets” albums).
- Memories: add photos to the automatically created Memories and change the order they are displayed.
iPad Lock Screen
The iPad gets a customizable Lock Screen similar to what the iPhone got last year in iOS 16. This allows you to add widgets, change fonts & colors, and rotate through your favorite photos.
And Much More…
I’ve highlighted what I consider to be the main updates, but there are many more tweaks and improvements. Here are some links to Apple’s website:
And, if you want even more details, Apple has created PDFs that detail the full list of what’s new:
Compatibility
Apple does a fantastic job supporting their devices with system updates for many years. Even so, not all devices will be able to install these updates. If you’re not sure which specific device you have, go to Settings, tap General, then tap About and look at Model Name.
Here is the list of supported devices:
iPhone
- iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
- Phone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS, XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)
iPad
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation and later)
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
- iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
- iPad (6th generation and later)
- iPad mini (5th generation and later)
It’s Getting Better All The Time
Each major update adds interesting new capabilities and improves the apps and services we use, making the whole package more useful. I plan to write about many of these changes in more detail in upcoming posts.
I am excited about a number of these changes, especially in the Notes app and Reminders app, as I use those almost daily. What about you? Is there anything that’s going to improve the way you use your device?
Cover photo by Brandon Romanchuk on Unsplash
Rob’s Tech Talk 
Rob,
Thank you for coming back and sharing your knowledge with us. It is so helpful.
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Great overview, Rob. I think you’re right, those are likely the most noteworthy new features coming. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that, while what we already have is so good, Apple finds ways to make things even better. Hi, cake, have some icing.
Here’s what I’m eager for:
Contact Posters look nice and fun. While I like the idea of controlling “my image” to recipients, will I be able to override what others show me?
My iPhone 12 mini lacks always-on. But I always have it set to never auto-lock because most of the time, it’s sitting on a Qi charger. So I think I’ll be able to do the same with a magsafe night stand and totally enjoy Standby.
The improved auto-correct might be the biggest and best change of all, as it’s often a recurring nuisance. I think I turned it off anyways.
Shared passwords for my family should be somewhat of a game-changer. Eager to try that.
Safari profiles sound interesting, but I’m not sure I need that or how I could take advantage. Sounds like another way to organize browsing.
Linked notes is going to be super great; can’t wait. Notes is also getting Block Quote formatting! This is super since I often use it for blogging. I’m guessing Pages can already do block quotes (I’ll check).
I wish photos app on iPad would gain more of the advanced edits that the Mac version has, like the Curves tool or histogram and color channel edits.
Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Jason. Great list!
For contact posters, they’ll only show for people in your contact list, but you’ll be able to turn those off per-user.
I, too, am very excited about shared passwords. My wife and I are always having to send each other those.
I agree about Photos and editing. I’ve been using Photomator, which is really good. I got it before the subscription so am grandfathered in, which is super nice.
(Oh, and Notes has gotten SO good!)
I appreciate you reading and commenting.
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