Apple started this week by putting out a second RC (Release Candidate) version of iOS 18.2 for developers, indicating that the next version of the iPhone system (along with updates to the other main products) is imminent. Although the RC is usually the last version before shipping, sometimes last minute bugs get squashed in a followup RC release.

Normally a .2 release wouldn't warrant much attention, because it's often a set of bug fixes and refinements that didn't make it into the original release. However, this time it's notable because iOS 18.2 is bringing new Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro that have been teased for months and have become only recently available to people who chose to install the developer or public betas.

These include visual intelligence, which is one of the key features of the new Camera Control button, and the ability to experiment with Genmoji and generated images in Apple's Image Playground.

So what does that tell us about when we can expect the full release of iOS 18.2?

Now that developers have the iOS 18.2 RC in hand, that suggests Apple is on a fast track to get the next version out soon. Most likely that will be tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec 10, if we gauge it by the last year's release of iOS 17.2 that arrived on the second week of December 2023.

To get ready, make sure you make a proper iPhone backup on the unlikely chance that the update goes sideways -- it's always a great idea to have a solid backup in place.

Remember that Apple Intelligence will work only with the following models that are equipped with the A17 Pro or later (iPhone and iPad Mini) and M1 or later (Mac and iPad) processors: