8 ways I prepped my iPhone for iOS 18.1 – and I recommend you do too

First things first: Make sure your phone can get the update. To get the iOS 18.1 update, you need to have an iPhone running an A12 Bionic chip or later (the A12 Bionic was the first to feature a neural engine). 

If you already have iOS 18, you’re good to go. If, for some reason, you held out on updating, you might be surprised and find you’re actually not getting it!

The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR are the oldest iPhones that support iOS 18. 

Also: Every iPhone model compatible with Apple’s iOS 18 (and which ones aren’t)

Here’s the list of compatible iPhones in full:

• iPhone SE, 2nd gen
• iPhone XS, XS Max and XR
• iPhone 11 series
• iPhone 12 series
• iPhone 13 series
• iPhone 14 series
• iPhone 15 series
• iPhone 16 series

To get Apple Intelligence, you will need an iPhone with an A17 Pro chip or later. This means the newly-released iPhone 16 range, which uses the new A18 chip, or an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Also: The best iPads of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

The following iPads will get iPadOS 18.1:

• iPad Pro models from 2018 and later (3rd generation onwards)
• iPad Air models from 2019 and later (3rd generation onwards)
• iPad models from 2020 and later (8th generation onwards)
• iPad mini models from 2019 and later (5th generation onwards)