iOS 18.3 RC is now available: these are the new features

Apple has released iOS 18.3 RC, bringing new features, improvements, bug fixes and security updates to your iPhone.

iOS 18.3 RC is now available

iOS 18.3 RC has build number 22D60 and was released to developers and public beta testers on January 21, 2025. The release of an RC version (Release Candidate) means that the official version will not be long in coming.

At first glance, iOS 18.3 doesn’t seem to have as many new features as iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2, but this is quite common for x.3 iOS releases. Still, there are quite a few changes and updates, although it is a bit disappointing for us here in the Netherlands because we still cannot use Apple Intelligence functions here.

Calculator repeats the last calculation

This feature appeared in previous iOS 18.3 betas and is sure to become popular once iOS 18.3 goes live for the general public. You can now tap the equals sign (=) again and again to repeat calculations.

Visual Intelligence

With this new feature for iPhone 16 users, you can add an event from a poster or flyer directly to the Calendar, and easily identify plants and animals.

Summarize notifications

The biggest feature in iOS 18.3 RC is the updated notification summaries. Apple is now clarifying that the feature is a beta. To avoid issues with so-called AI hallucinations, Apple has disabled summaries for the entire News & Entertainment app category. That’s a pretty drastic step, but it’s necessary since the feature generated false headlines for news services like BBC News and the New York Times.

New screen recording and streaming features

This feature is not yet available in iOS 18.3 RC, but there are new details about the upcoming screen recording and streaming features. In a subsequent update, it will be possible to record with a stereo microphone, display a live camera overlay using the picture-in-picture user interface and HDR support for screen recording.

In iOS 18.3 RC, new transition animations also appear in the Shortcuts and Messages apps. And it looks like Apple is working on integrating Apple Intelligence into the Shortcuts app.

iOS 18.3 RC doesn’t have as many new features as the two previous major iOS updates, but it does have some important changes. These include both user-friendly features and updates that look ahead to future iOS updates and hardware. You can read more about it once iOS 18.3 goes live for the general public.