Apple’s It’s Glowtime event just wrapped up (see Everything Apple Revealed at its iPhone 16 Launch Event for all the details ), which showed off the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, as well as the new Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 devices. The phones come with iOS 18 preinstalled, so you don’t need to upgrade at the time of purchase. Anyone with an older iPhone will be able to try out iOS 18 when it becomes a free download for most newer Apple handsets on September 16. However, not every iPhone can run iOS 18, and even those that can won’t have all the bells and whistles of Apple’s new Intelligence features.

That update stratification is now a thing of the past. Typically, every year, Apple removes a handful of older iPhone models from its iOS compatibility list. Last year, for example, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X were removed from the compatibility list. That meant those iPhone owners couldn’t update to iOS 17 and were missing out on a number of notable features.

We’ll help you find out if your iPhone supports iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence. Not sure what’s coming in the new update? Here’s a roundup of the biggest announcements from WWDC, including an overview of iOS 18.

iPhones compatible with iOS 18

We’ve got good news: If you had a compatible phone last year when you updated to iOS 17, that device should still be compatible with iOS 18, according to Apple. That means you don’t have to buy a new phone to try out most of the new software features.

In other words, if you have an iPhone from model year 2017 or earlier (iPhone 8 or iPhone X), you won’t be able to upgrade to the latest iOS, but your phone should still work, albeit without the latest and greatest features.

Is your iPhone compatible with Apple Intelligence?

Even though your older device still supports the latest iOS, chances are you won’t be able to try out the Apple Intelligence beta next month. Unless you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max — the top-of-the-line models released in 2023 — or one of the new iPhone 16 models, your iPhone isn’t eligible.

When will Apple Intelligence features be available?

If your device is compatible with Apple Intelligence, you can start using some of these features as early as October. These features will then be available for newer iPhones in later updates.

Apple Intelligence will be available in English in the US in October. It will be available in localized English for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK in December. Additional language support, including Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish, will be available sometime next year, Apple says.

As previously reported, Apple Intelligence will not be coming to EU countries for the time being. The American tech giant is still embroiled in a battle with European regulators over the enforcement details of the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

iOS 18 new features you can expect

While Apple Intelligence is by far the biggest update coming with iOS 18, its features will be rolled out more piecemeal over the coming months. And the more advanced features won’t be available on older iPhone models, aside from the iPhone 15 Pro series. But the rest of iOS 18’s features are coming to the phones listed above. These are just some of the highlights you can expect to see when you download Apple’s new software later this month.

Password app: Keep all of your login details safe in one place, including passwords and security alerts that you can access directly within the app. (This functionality currently lives in Settings, but moving it to a new app will make it easier to find and access.)

Improved Messages app: A new iMessages experience brings the option to bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough your text. You can also add animations to your text messages. The update also brings RCS to iPhones to better support Android compatibility.

An organized photo library: The Photos app is getting a new design, allowing you to create and pin your own collections within the app — think “wedding photos” or “trip to Aruba.” The current tabbed bottom is being ditched in favor of a grid layout. The revamped carousel view touted at WWDC was removed during the beta process.

Personalized home screen layout: You finally get the option to rearrange your apps. For example, you can leave the middle space open to display your home screen photo, and instead have your apps only take up the edge of the screen. You can also change the appearance of your apps by giving them a color, and by making them larger.

There are plenty more tweaks and improvements coming to keystone apps like Maps, Calendar, Safari, and more. Check out Cherlynn Low’s picks for the best hidden features of iOS 18 and Apple’s accompanying operating system updates, based on the beta builds released earlier this year.

Is there an iOS 18 beta?

It’s here, and you can download it now — as long as you’re willing to put up with the glitches and challenges of beta software. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, we’d recommend just waiting for the full version to come out in a little under a week.

Update, September 9, 5:00 p.m. ET: Details have been added about the lack of availability of Apple Intelligence in EU countries.

Update, September 9, 3:37 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with the announced release dates for iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence.