Even if the iOS 14 release date is a bit soon to think about, considering the last big iPhone operating system update, iOS 13, just launched with plenty of long-awaited features like dark mode, its still coming - and were very curious what iOS 14 features are headed our way.True, Apple hasnt released anything remotely official thats come out about iOS 14.
But given what was left out this time around - and what new technology could be coming in the iPhone 12 - we can make informed guesses about whats coming in the next big iOS update.Some of these are obvious, like support for 5G if Apple finally decides to release a 5G iPhone that works with the next-gen phone networks.Other iOS 14 features take a little bit of speculative leaps to imagine what tweaks Apple might make in its continual improvements on its iPhone operating system.iOS 14 release date and beta scheduleGiven the past years big iOS updates came out on September 19, one day before this year's new iPhone line, were guessing that iOS 14 will launch in late September 2020.
That will be just in time for the launch of the iPhone 12, which will be the first phones to get the next iOS.Assuming Apple follows prior years, it will likely unveil iOS 14 at its annual WWDC conference - WWDC 2020 will likely be in early May - and open the initial developer beta the same day.
The first public beta will follow later in the month, and will accordingly get new betas after the developer versions.iOS 14 compatibilityWhile Apple didnt leave any phones behind when it introduced iOS 12, the most recent jump to iOS 13 made up for it by stranding two generations of iPhone handsets anything older than the iPhone 6S or iPhone SE.
Its unclear what kind of new features require Apple to raise the threshold for which iOS phones will be able to download the new version of iOS, so its all speculation whether a generation of older iPhones wont be able to install iOS 14.Well almost surely know which iPhones wont be able to upgrade when Apple launches the first iOS 14 betas.
For now, our best guess is that the iPhone 7 will be the cut-off point, with the big question being: will iPhone SE get the iOS 14 update? Rumors of an iPhone SE 2 in March 2020 lead us to think it wont.iOS 14 rumorsiOS 14 usher in the 5G iPhone eraThis might be the easiest feature to guess Apple will bring to the operating system in 2020.
Unfortunately, as weve seen with other 5G phones, this feature cant be retroactively applied to older iPhones - hooking up to 5G networks requires a particular type of modem and compatible processors.
Only the newest phones with the latest top-tier chipsets and modems have been capable of harnessing 5G.iOS 14 could spill support for Apple AR glassesApple is planning to release AR glasses sometime in 2020 alongside a 5G iPhone, according to a Bloomberg report.
These would initially serve as an iPhone accessory running through iOS to display text messages and map directions, though that could grow over time to run their own proprietary apps from a dedicated AR glasses store - and perhaps become a standalone successor to the iPhone itself.Before that happens, though, Apples AR glasses would need a killer app as its raison detre - or rather, reason for buying, as the lukewarm reception to Google Glasses and even Snapchat Spectacles 2 can tell us.
Heck, even Amazon is couching its new Amazon Echo Frames behind an experimental product line to soften any hype.But given the years of experience developers have had with Apples ARKit, it wouldnt be surprising if 2020 was the year we see Apple branch out to smart spectacles - and iOS 14 could support it.iOS 14 what we want to seeSmart compositionThese days, everyones doing business on their phones, including sending emails at all hours.
So why cant we insert links into text in iOS Mail client? Or in third-party mail clients like Gmail?This isnt just a convenience issue - inserting links just looks more professional.
When responding to clients or simply wanting to save space it would be great to give the impression that were responding from desks - and not filling our messages with eyesores like full links.Smarter spam calls filterWhile iOS 13 introduced the capability to detect and block spam phone calls, it isnt too smart.
Silence Unknown Callers, as its termed, does exactly that - completely blocking any number not from your contact list and sending it straight to voicemail.
Thats a good start, but a bit of a strong measure that isnt too useful for folks with incoming calls from new business contacts or Tinder dates.Instead, it would be great to see smarter alerts that indicate probable spam calls, as some carriers have started doing and some third-party App Store apps do for a price.
Then it would be nice to have different levels of filtering - light blocking for only the most obvious spam numbers all the way up to aggressive filtering of any call that even has a chance of being a scam.Foldables supportThis is a bit of a stretch since we havent heard anything about a foldable iPhone.
Oh, Apple is almost surely experimenting with the tech deep in its R-D labs, but without a planned model in the works, its unlikely iOS 14 will go to the effort of supporting foldables.This is in stark contrast with Android, which introduced foldables support with Android 10 just in time for the Samsung Galaxy Fold public release.
Apple is on its own timeline, and theres no rush to add the capability in its operating system before they have a model on the way.