Enlarge / The 2024 iPad Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Apple has added the ability to format external drives in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, the major software updates for iPhones and iPads due later this year.

While the feature likely won't be tapped by all that many users, its inclusion is fascinating in that it shows just how far Apple has moved away from its original sensibilities with the iPhone and the iPad.

The feature was discovered in the iPadOS 18 beta by artist and developer Kaleb Cadle, who posted about it to his Substack ByteBits a couple of days ago. It was later found in iOS 18 as well.

Enlarge (credit: OpenAI / Apple / Benj Edwards)

On Monday, Apple announced it would be integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT AI assistant into upcoming versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. It paves the way for future third-party AI model integrations, but given Google's multi-billion-dollar deal with Apple for preferential web search, the OpenAI announcement inspired speculation about who is paying whom. According to a Bloomberg report published Wednesday, Apple considers ChatGPT's placement on its devices as compensation enough.

"Apple isn’t paying OpenAI as part of the partnership," writes Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, citing people familiar with the matter who wish to remain anonymous. "Instead, Apple believes pushing OpenAI’s brand and technology to hundreds of millions of its devices is of equal or greater value than monetary payments."

The Bloomberg report states that neither company expects the agreement to generate meaningful revenue in the short term, and in fact, the partnership could burn extra money for OpenAI, because it pays Microsoft to host ChatGPT's capabilities on its Azure cloud. However, OpenAI could benefit by converting free users to paid subscriptions, and Apple potentially benefits by providing easy, built-in access to ChatGPT during a time when its own in-house LLMs are still catching up.

Enlarge (credit: Apple)

Apple's new iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates are mostly good news for users of older Apple devices—with the exception of a handful of iPads, the new updates will run on most of the same hardware that can run iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

For iPhones, that will cover everything from the iPhone XR/XS and newer, including the 2nd-gen iPhone SE; the 7th-gen iPad and newer; the 3rd-gen iPad Air and newer; the 5th-gen iPad mini and newer; all 11-inch iPad Pros; and the 3rd-gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later. Here are the full support lists:

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  The iOS 18 support list. [credit: Apple ]

The iPad drops support for most models with an Apple A10 or A10X processor, including the sixth-generation iPad, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and the second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

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  The Calculator app is finally coming to iPad. [credit: Samuel Axon ]

CUPERTINO, Calif.—After going into detail about iOS 18, Apple took a few moments in its WWDC 2024 keynote to walk through some changes.

There are a few minor UI changes and new features across Apple's first party apps. That includes a new floating tab bar. The bar expands into the side bar when you want to dig in, and you can customize the tab bar to include the specific things you want to interact with the most. Additionally, SharePlay allows easier screen sharing and remote control of another person's iPad.

But the big news is that the Calculator app we've all used on the iPhone to the iPad, after years of the iPad having no first-party calculator app at all. The iPad Calculator app can do some things the iPhone version can't do with the Apple Pencil; a feature called Math Notes can write out expressions like you would on a piece of paper, and the app will solve the expressions live as you scribble them—plus various other cool live-updating math features. (These new Math Notes features work in the Notes app, too.)

Enlarge / The logo for WWDC24. (credit: Apple)

Apple's annual developer conference, WWDC, kicks off in Cupertino, California, next week. As always, it will start with a livestream keynote on Monday morning at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. We'll be in attendance reporting on the event, so let's take a moment to take stock of what we expect to see next week.

But first, let's note something we don't think we'll see: Due to some peculiarities about Apple's upgrade cycles, as well as a push toward the M4, we're not actually expecting any major hardware announcements at WWDC this year.

That's OK, though, because it looks like it's going to be a big one for software news. iOS has seen relatively modest updates in the past couple of years, but that's about to change.