iOS 12 release date: Apple's new iPhone software to come later this year

Everyone will get all of it in September – but that's just the beginning of the story

Apple's brand new iPhone software, iOS 12, will arrive later this year.

The new operating system comes with a wide range of updates, from being able to FaceTime multiple people to tracking how you are using your phone. However, probably its biggest feature isn't really a feature at all, but a new focus on performance that should speed up iPhones, even on much older handsets.

And all of that will be arriving later this year.

The new software will be released in the Autumn, Apple said at its WWDC conference in California.

That is when all of the software will be out for everyone, at least. But really it arrives in a number of stages.

First, developers have access to beta versions of the software. That will begin straight away, with developers able to download those updates now.

Then a public beta of the software will arrive. Apple describes that as "coming soon", though based on previous releases it will probably come later this month.

(Anyone can sign up to receive the beta version of the software, at any point before the full one comes out. That can be done from Apple's special site, which allows you to sign up for the iPad, Mac, and Apple TV betas too.)

And then the full version of the software will come out, in Autumn. Most likely, that will happen some time in mid-September, around the same time that the new iPhone arrives.

All of the above is true for the Apple TV and iPad, too. MacOS will also be available in the developer and public betas at the same time, though it will probably be released at a different point, and the Apple Watch doesn't have a public beta programme.