Download iOS 18 for your iPhone. How to get it right now

iOS 18 brings big changes and tweaks to your phone, and it’s available for everyone to download now, starting today, Monday, September 16. There are a few things you should know before you try to install iOS 18.

Major changes in iOS 18 include a more customizable home screen, a redesigned Control Center and photo album, the ability to lock and hide apps, and RCS support for better text messaging with Android users.

If you’re looking to download and install iOS 18 today, here’s everything you need to know.

For more, check out the nine best hidden features in iOS 18 and the seven things you should do right after downloading iOS 18.

Can your iPhone run iOS 18?

iOS 18 doesn’t work on every iPhone, but thankfully the list of supported devices has grown. You can download and install iOS 18 on iPhone XR or XS (released in 2018) and later.

Read more: iOS 18 launches on Monday. Can your iPhone even run it?

The iPhone 16 series, which you can pre-order now, will be available for purchase from September 20. The device runs iOS 18 out of the box.

Does iOS 18 include Apple Intelligence features?

Unfortunately, Apple’s Intelligence feature is rolling out next month, in October, with the release of iOS 18.1. If you’d like to try out some of the AI ​​features now, like text message summaries and voice memo transcriptions, you can try out the developer beta of iOS 18.1, but you’ll need the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, or the iPhone 16.

Back up your iPhone before updating to iOS 18

Not everyone is going to be thrilled with everything iOS 18 has to offer, which is why it’s important to take precautions before updating to iOS 17. The best way to protect yourself is to back up your iPhone before updating to iOS 18. This will give you the ability to roll back to iOS 17 if iOS 18 doesn’t work for you.

You can update your iPhone via iCloud (Settings > (your name) > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now)but this is not the right backup to restore to an older iOS version. What you want to do instead is to back up your iPhone to your computer and then create an archive backup.

Check out Jeff’s guide on how to properly back up your iPhone if you want to learn how to create a local archive on your Mac or Windows computer.

Now do these three things before installing iOS 18

After backing up your compatible iPhone, here’s what you need to do to make the installation process go smoothly:

• Make sure your iPhone is fully charged or plugged into power. You can’t download a major software update like iOS 18 if your battery is only 50% full, so it’s best to be plugged in at all times. And even when you are plugged in, your battery needs to be above 20% full, so give yourself time to charge.
• Connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi network. You can’t download iOS 18 using your mobile data, so you’ll need to be connected to a good Wi-Fi network. You can also use a hotspot, but the download process might be a bit slow.
• Make sure your phone has enough storage space. iOS 18, like other major software updates, is several gigabytes in size, so you’ll need plenty of storage space to download it. If you’re running low on storage space on your iPhone, you can go to Institutions > General > iPhone storage to delete large files and apps. You can also download iOS 18 via your computer, which doesn’t require you to free up storage space on your phone.

Also check out these simple tricks to optimize your iPhone’s storage space.

How to Download and Install iOS 18 on Your iPhone

Now comes the easy part: downloading and installing iOS 18.

On your supported iPhone, go to Institutions > General > Software update. If you do this at exactly 10am PT/1pm ET, you may have to wait a while for the update to appear, so be patient. Once it does, go to Upgrade to iOS 18 at the bottom of the page and then click on Update Now to install iOS 18 on your phone. Enter your passcode and accept the terms and conditions to start the update process.

You should see a loading bar, along with an estimate of how long it will take to download and install iOS 18. Once the download is complete, your phone will reboot and iOS 18 should be downloaded to your device.

For more information on iOS 18, here’s a review of iOS 18 and how you can get started with Apple Intelligence with the iOS 18.1 developer beta.