Editor’s note: This article is from the wechat official account “QINGtinwang”, written by Loyao, compiled by Xie Weiqi and published with authorization from Livemint.
One week after the launch of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8Plus and iPhone X, apple is releasing its long-awaited iOS 11 operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPodTouch. It has some major improvements over its predecessor, iOS 10. The improvements focus on improving the speed of iOS devices, as well as some visual tweaks and usability improvements, in addition to new features currently being developed only for the iPad Pro line.
The system update will be available for download after 10 am PT, which means we’ll be able to check the update and download iOS 11 around 1 am Beijing time on The 20th.
The newly released iPhone X, iPhone8, and iPhone8 Plus will come with iOS 11 pre-installed on purchase. Older devices that can install the new operating system include iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. IPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 5S and iPhone SE. This means the new iOS update will no longer be available for iPhone 5 (released in 2012) and older iphones.
For iPad users, the first and second generation 12.9-inch iPadPro, 10.5-inch iPadPro, 9.7-inch iPadPro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 1, iPad 5 (released in 2017), iPad Mini 4, The iPad Mini 3 and iPad Mini 2 can take advantage of the latest iOS 11 improvements. This also means that the new iOS update will no longer be available for products released on the iPad Mini (first generation, 2012), iPad (fourth generation, 2012) and earlier.
If you have the latest iPod Touch (gen 6), you can also enjoy the latest iOS updates, and perhaps the Music app optimization is more relevant to your user experience.
In the latest version of the operating system, there are several improvements on iOS, including improvements in performance, interaction processes like the control Center, dragging and dropping content between apps, a new “Do not Disturb while driving” mode, subtle improvements to Apple’s native apps, the new File management app File, The Siri virtual assistant is more powerful and focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The setup process is also simplified. If you happen to have another device running iOS 11 using the same Apple ID, you can place that device next to the one you want to set up to synchronize preferences, Settings, and passwords.
IOS 11 will also support apps built on Apple’s new AR platform (ARKit). This means that app developers can create AR apps that add virtual elements to the real world through the lens of the iPhone.
You could even say iOS 11 is two operating systems rolled into one. If you use this feature on the iPad Pro, you can take advantage of the extra space on the Dock, drag and drop content across apps, create split views when using multiple apps, and integrate with cloud services in the ‘Files’ app to make it a more productive device.
The iOS 11 update also provides adaptation to the new photo and video formats, resulting in the same photo and video files taking up 50 percent less storage space compared to iOS 10. This improvement might give some traction to the 64GB version of the new iPhone.
In another long-awaited improvement, Apple finally stopped supporting 32-bit apps. Once you update your device to iOS 11, you’ll receive a notification reminding you which apps on your iPhone or iPad need to be updated.