Apple iOS 15 has been released after an extended period of beta testing. It brings a lot of upgrades (and some great secret features) and while it is more evolution than revolution, it gets a lot right — including stability. Here’s everything you need to know.
Tip: bookmark this page because I will keep it up to date if/when new problems are found. I will deliver my final verdict in a week.
09/20 Update: Apple has already released new beta versions of the next iOS 15 release. More in "The Road Ahead " section.
09/24 Update: several smaller bugs have appear in iOS 15 now many more users have installed the generational update. More detailed below.
09/29 Update: multiple serious new iOS 15 problems have been identified. Details below and upgrade conclusion changed.
Apple iOS 15
Who Is It For?
Apple iOS 15 has been released for all iOS 14-compatible devices. This is remarkable because it still includes the iPhone 6S, released back in 2015. You should be automatically notified to upgrade but, if not, you can trigger the update manually by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update. If you are running a newer beta version of iOS 15 when you read this (see ‘The Road Ahead’ section at the end), you must unenroll your iPhone first before iOS 15 will show up.
Note: this guide is not focused on older iOS updates or iPadOS, but I will touch upon pertinent issues in these guides.
The Deal Breakers
Jailbreakers, stay away. Neither checkrain Unc0ver (nor checkra1n have managed to jailbreak iOS 15 yet and with the former marooned on iOS 14.3 and the latter’s iOS 14 jailbreak restricted to devices with A9(X) chipsets (iPhone 6S, 2017 iPad). I would expect a long wait.
For everyone else, the first 24 hours paint a very promising picture. Reddit threads are predominantly positive and the official @AppleSupport account on Twitter has not been bombarded with complaints, which is standard when any major bugs are found. I have seen isolated reports of install issues, Livetext problems with non-English languages and FaceID not activating but they are few and far between.
Consequently, this is the most stable new iOS generation I can remember. Be warned, bugs can still show up in the coming days as more and more iPhone and iPad owners upgrade but I will update this guide if any serious problems are found. Ultimately, however, this is a very promising start.
09/24 Update: Two significant bugs are now being reported in iOS 15. The first warns users "iPhone storage almost full' even when there is plenty of space. This is simply a faulty error message and you can ignore it until Apple releases a fix. A second flaw is also seeing AirTags disappear from the Find My app after updating to iOS 15. This isn't being widely reported but affected users say you will need to do a factory reset to fix it. Again, Apple may provide a fix for this in the upcoming iOS 15.1 which began beta testing earlier this week.
So What Do You Get?
Apple’s iOS 15 release notes are too long to reproduce in full here, but here are the highlights:
FaceTime
- Support for Spatial audio, voice isolation and portrait mode on iPhone XR and later
- Group FaceTime calls can show grid view displays for up to six people
- Android and Windows devices can join FaceTime calls via their browser
Focus
- Focus lets you automatically filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing, such as fitness, sleep, gaming, reading, driving, work, or personal time with smart home screen sorted and contact suggestions
Apple iOS 15 Focus mode
Health
- Share health data, alerts, and trends with contacts or your healthcare provider with verifiable health records including vaccines and lab test results
- New ‘Walking Steadiness’ metric (iPhone 8 and later)
iCloud+
- iCloud Private Relay (beta) is basically an Apple-branded VPN
- Hide My Email creates unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox so you can send and receive email without having to share your real email address
- HomeKit Secure Video supports additional security cameras without using your iCloud storage quota
- Custom email domain personalizes your iCloud Mail address and allows you to invite family members to use the same domain
Live Text
- Live Text can copy, paste, translate and search from text in photos (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later) with phone number, email, date and address recognition
Maps
- Detailed city maps and 3D views in major US cities and London (inexplicably iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
- Improved step-by-step walking directions, journey planning, public transport information, place cards for locations and an interactive 3D globe (again iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
Memoji
- Over 40 Memoji outfit choices, new colors to customize Memoji clothing and headwear
Notifications
- Large app icons and improved contact photos, new daily roundup notification summary, mute from any app
Apple iOS 15 Daily notification roundup
Photos
- New UI for Memories UI, new memory types for international holidays, children, pets and integration with Apple Music as well as rich photo data, including shutter speed and camera and lens type
Privacy
- Mail Privacy Protection and Safari Intelligent Tracking Prevention combine to prevent email senders from learning about your Mail activity, IP address and blocks tracking
Safari
- Controversial redesign with bottom bar tab, tab groups, improved start page, support for Web extensions and Voice search
Shared With You
- Content shared via Messages sorted via a new ‘Shared with You’ section on Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app
Siri
- On-device processing to process more requests while offline and on-device personalization to improve speech recognition (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
- Onscreen contextual understanding when sending messages and receiving calls
- Share items with Siri lets you send on screen items like photos, web pages and Maps locations to any of your contacts
Spotlight
- Integrates searches for contacts, actors, musicians, movies, and TV shows
- Photos Library searches based on locations, people, scenes, text in the photos and photo subjects, like a dog or a car
- Web image search allows you to search for images of people, animals, monuments, and more
Apple iOS 15 Spotlight
Wallet
- Support for smart home, hotel and office keys (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later) as well as car keys (iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and later) and remote car controls including lock, unlock, honk your horn, preheat your car, or open your trunk on supported vehicles
Weather
- New UI, full-screen mode, next-hour precipitation notifications (Ireland, UK, US) and animated backgrounds which accurately represent the sun position, clouds, and precipitation (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
Further tweaks and optimizations include tags and mentions support in Notes and Reminders, Spatial audio with head tracking in Apple Music (AirPods Pro, AirPods Max), system wide translation support and updated widgets. Drag and drop support allows you to move images, documents and files between apps while temporary iCloud storage grants free additional storage to set up new devices for a period of up to three weeks (this is great).
In addition, Apple’s official security page states that iOS 15 contains 22 security fixes and patches vulnerabilities in Face ID, Siri, WebKit (the web browser engine used by Safari) and WiFi. No zero-day hacks are listed.
Apple iOS 15 Verdict: Upgrade If You Cannot Wait
iOS 15 has bucked the trend of generational iOS upgrades by having an extremely smooth first 24 hours. This is in stark contrast to the dumpster fire we saw with the arrival of iOS 13, in particular. For most users, this will be enough for them to get iOS 15 right now but cautious upgraders would be equally wise to wait. Generational bugs tend to come out of the woodwork as more and more users upgrade.
Note: bookmark this guide, I will continue to update it with any relevant flaws or features I find and you will find my final verdict here in one week.
09/29 Update: Those who waited for my final verdict have made a smart move. In the last 48 hours a flurry of iOS 15 problems have been revealed as ever more iPhone owners upgrade. Problems affect almost every area, including the touchscreen display, camera, storage, connectivity and CarPlay, Apple Music, iMessage and Podcasts apps. My advice for everyone still on iOS 14.8 would be to wait until iOS 15.0.1 at the least. This lorry load of problems will take multiple updates to fix. Read about them in my new report.
The Road Ahead
Apple tends to release bug fixes soon after generational releases, so expect iOS 15.0.1 or iOS 15.1 within 1-2 weeks. These updates usually address bugs that couldn’t be fixed before release as well as prepping for the rollout of features that also missed the launch deadline. Apple’s iPhone 13 range is another factor, the phones come with iOS 15 but miss out on the latest optimizations because they have to be ready to ship around the world.
In short: brace yourselves for a flurry of iOS 15 updates over the next few months and check out the best secret features in the meantime.
09/20 Update: Here we go! iOS 15.1 is already in beta testing. No details have yet been revealed about what is in the release. This suggests it could primarily be bug fixes and may eventually launch with a 'minor point' version number (eg iOS 15.0.1).
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