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This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple.

Apple’s iOS 15 has arrived. After Apple’s iPhone 13 event last week, the tech giant revealed that iOS 15 would be generally available for free download on Monday, alongside iPadOS 15. At the event, we also saw four iPhone 13 models, new iPads and the Apple Watch Series 7 all debuted. 

Not to be confused with last week’s release of iOS 14.8, which addressed a security issue, iOS 15 brings new features to several generations of the iPhone.

We got a first look at Apple’s iOS 15 update at the company’s virtual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, followed by a developer beta and then a public beta. (Here’s how to download iOS 15 now, why you might want to wait to download iOS 15, and how to check if your phone can run iOS 15.) 

While we saw a lot of new features arrive this spring and summer with iOS 14.5, iOS 14.6 and iOS 14.7, including being able to unlock your iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask, stop apps from tracking you for advertising purposes and choose from four Siri voices, iOS 15 adds even more. New iOS 15 features include the ability to start FaceTime calls with Android users, easier sharing in iMessage and better directions in Maps. Keep reading for everything we’ve learned about iOS 15 so far, including when it will be generally released, how to download it and some of the biggest new features. 

iOS 15 release date: Sept. 20

Apple initially revealed iOS 15 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, as is typical. The new OS was first available for developers to test and became available to download as a public beta on June 30. 

At the iPhone 13 event on Sept. 14, Apple announced that iOS 15 would be generally available for free download on Sept. 20. 

This follows Apple’s typical iOS release pattern, with the software typically arriving within a week of an iPhone launch event. 

And if you’ve been holding onto the same iPhone since 2015 or later, you will likely be eligible to receive iOS 15. Apple’s iOS 15 is available on the iPhone 6S and every iPhone onward.

iOS 15 new features

Here are a few of the key new features that come with iOS 15, unveiled at WWDC 2021. (And here’s an overview of all of the new features in iOS 15.)

FaceTime upgrades: Spatial audio, support for Android and Windows

FaceTime will offer spatial audio to make people’s voices appear to come from their position on the screen, making your video chats feel more natural and lifelike. FaceTime will also start to look more like Zoom, allowing you to see all participants in a grid view, schedule calls and share links to calls that can be accessed via browser on Google Android and Microsoft Windows devices.

Read more: Fun FaceTime date idea: Try Apple’s new SharePlay feature in iOS 15

iMessage sharing features

iOS 15 adds some new iMessage sharing features for photos, news articles and playlists. When a friend sends you multiple photos over iMessage, they’ll appear in a dynamic collage formation that allows you to swipe through them or tap through to view the whole bunch in your photos app. If you want to access the same photos later, you’ll find them stored in a new Shared with You folder, as well as mixed in with your own featured photos and memories. You’ll also find news articles and playlists shared through iMessage in new Shared with You tabs in your News and Apple Music apps. 

Apple Maps update: 3D street data, AR walking directions and weather warnings

Apple Maps gets an upgrade with more elevation data, road colors and driving directions, rich labels, 3D landmarks and improved night mode. In terms of public transportation, you can also pin nearby public transit stops and station information to your iPhone and Apple Watch devices, and receive automatic updates and notifications as you ride and approach your stop. When traveling on foot, a new augmented reality feature lets you scan nearby buildings in the area with the iPhone’s camera to determine their precise position for more accurate walking directions, which are also presented in augmented reality.

Maps also could factor weather warnings into suggested routes in iOS 15. Redditor ChrisSDreiling, who spotted the update in iOS 15 beta 3, says Maps will let you know if there are flash floods on your journey, and suggest alternate routes to avoid the extreme weather. Although other types of weather alerts weren’t mentioned in ChrisSDreiling’s post, it will be interesting to see if more weather warnings will be added before the iOS 15 general release. 

Facial recognition selfies to validate digital ID cards in the Wallet app

At WWDC this spring, Apple announced that it will add ID card support for the Wallet app in iOS 15, allowing you to carry digital versions of government-issued identification cards like your driver’s license on your iPhone. The ID feature isn’t in the initial release of iOS 15 and it’s still unclear how exactly it will work. (It will also only be for US users.) According to code uncovered by 9to5Mac in the iOS 15 beta 4 for developers, Apple could be using facial recognition selfies to validate your digital ID cards when adding them to your wallet. Some banking apps already use this selfie validation feature to authenticate users when logging on with new devices. 

How do you download iOS 15?

Now that iOS 15 is generally available, you likely got a notification from Apple letting you know you can update. Or you can do it manually, by going to the Settings app > General > Software Update and under the Also Available section, tap Upgrade to iOS 15. 

If you had already installed the iOS 15 beta on your phone, you can uninstall it before downloading the final version of the OS. Here’s why you might want to wait before installing the full release of iOS 15.

For more, here’s everything to know about the iPhone 13. You can also take a look at the cool new features for WatchOS 8, the best things about MacOS Monterey and check if your computer is compatible with the new MacOS.

If you’ve been following news of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, you know that the consoles are still extremely difficult to find in stock. While retailers have been selling a handful of consoles online per week, they’ve been even rarer at physical stores. According to a new report, though, Best Buy may be preparing to sell the PS5 and Xbox Series X at some of its stores this week.

According to reporting from TechRadar, Best Buy will have stock of the Xbox Series X and the disc drive version of the PS5 in stores on Thursday, September 24, which will be for the first time in over a month. If the retailer lets customers actually purchase a PS5 or Xbox Series X in person (as opposed to ordering it online ahead of pick up), it would be one of the first instances of a major chain selling them in stores since last year.

TechRadar’s story suggests that Best Buy still has not indicated whether it will allow people to buy them in stores. Previously, the retailer has made customers buy them online and wait a few days before picking them up in person; however, Best Buy’s recent stockpiling of inventory may be in preparation for in-store shopping. Regardless, the report says Best Buy is planning on putting the consoles on sale on Thursday, September 24. This means you might have to get ready to line up Thursday morning for your shot at getting your hands on one.

The current generation of consoles has faced a challenging combination of low stock and high demand, driven in large part by worldwide microchip shortages and ongoing logistics difficulties stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Retailers tend to put units on sale seemingly randomly, and bots and scalpers have further added to the low stock. For more information on how to navigate the labyrinthian processes for buying the consoles, be sure to check our PS5 guide and Xbox Series X|S guide.

If you’ve ever thought, “hey, it would be great if I could charge my phone or tablet just by laying it on a regular desk,” then IKEA has the gadget for you. It just unveiled the Sjömärke, a $40 wireless charging pad that’s designed to work with nearly any desk or table, as The Verge has reported.

The concept is pretty clever. Sjömärke is a Wireless Qi charging pad, but you don’t place it on your desk. Rather, it installs underneath your desk and is held in place either by double-sided tape (included) or 18mm x 6mm screws (not included). Your desktop needs to be made of something like wood or plastic that won’t block the magnetic field, and must have a minimum thickness of 8mm (5/16th of an inch), and a maximum of 22.2mm (7/8th of an inch), according to the manual.

Once you install the pad, plug it in with the six-foot power cable and mark the charging point on your table with the included “X” shaped sticker, you’re ready to charge your phone or other device. With Qi 1.2.4 charging, it should supply about 5 watts for decent but not super fast charging. IKEA notes that it also comes with temperature and power monitoring so it won’t overheat — important, since it will be placed against wood surfaces. 

For $40, this might prove to be an attractive option for folks who don’t want to mess up their décor with an unseemly plastic pad. Sjömärke will arrive in IKEA’s stores and website in October 2021. 

Apple recently updated its iOS 15 features page to highlight some additional information about the software update ahead of its imminent release.

In addition to revealing that Find My network support for AirPods Pro and AirPods Max has been delayed until “later this fall,” Apple said iOS 15 allows users to seamlessly switch between phone numbers in the middle of an iMessage conversation on an iPhone with Dual SIM support, including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, and newer.

Regional updates to the page include the addition of Japanese in the list of new Voice Control languages and the addition of Singapore for countries with air quality maps in the Weather app on iOS 15. Apple has also revealed that iOS 15 has a new SF Arabic system font, and in India, users can choose from up to 10 of their most recently used UPI payment apps when they scan UPI QR codes using the Camera app for merchant payments.

As for the Maps app, Apple removed wording from the iOS 15 features page that said the app would switch to a 3D road-level perspective when approaching a complex interchange. It’s not entirely clear if the feature has been abandoned.

Apple labeled iCloud Private Relay as a beta feature last month, and the iOS 15 features page now states that when using Private Relay, some websites may have issues, such as showing content for the wrong region or requiring extra steps to sign in. This mirrors fine print added to the iCloud Private Relay section of the Settings app on iPhone.

iOS 15 will be released tomorrow following over three months of beta testing. The software update is compatible with the same iPhones as iOS 14, including older devices like the original iPhone SE and iPhone 6s.

Top Stories

Google always introduces a batch of wallpapers with its new Pixel, and it seems the Pixel 6 series will be no exception, as a fresh leak has just revealed the next batch of new designs.

The folks over at XDA, pulling from a source who supposedly has the phone in hand, published several wallpapers that will apparently be the default wallpapers on Pixel 6 Pro. The theme for Google this year seems to be plants and flowers. Acting as corroboration for these wallpapers is Google’s own marketing push, which has shown these wallpapers in some cases.

These various wallpapers are based on images taken by photographer Andrew Zuckerman and come in both “light mode” and “dark mode” versions. The plants and flowers featured include Cattleya Orchid, Echeveria ‘Blue Prince,’ Hellebores, Moth Orchid, Persian Lily, and Pincushion Protea. Each wallpaper apparently comes with the description “Bloom one by one. Grow together.”

The 15 total wallpapers mainly focus on yellow, red, green, silver, and purple colors. Presumably, these are to match the various colors of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, and should play very nicely with Android 12’s Material You. XDA also claims these wallpapers will be used to match each color variant of the Pixel 6 Pro. The wallpapers come in a mix of 1440×3120 and 2160×2400 resolution. We’ve embedded previews in the gallery below, but you’ll want to click here for the full-size versions.

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As announced at Apple’s “California Streaming” media event on September 14, the public release of iOS 15 will be on Monday, September 20. iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 will be arriving on the same date, while a release date for macOS 12 Monterey has yet to be announced.

While we know iOS 15 is coming on September 20, Apple has not specified exactly what time of day it will be released. We can, however, make an educated guess as to the release timing.

The most frequent time of day for Apple software releases is right around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. In some parts of the world, this corresponds to times early in the morning of the following day, and Apple’s regional websites for some of these countries do list the release date as September 21 rather than September 20.

Based on this information, it seems very likely that ‌iOS 15‌ will indeed be released right around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday, September 20. For the local time in your area, we’ve put together this list covering some major cities in time zones around the world:

• Honolulu, Hawaii — 7:00 a.m. HAST
• Anchorage, Alaska — 9:00 a.m. AKDT
• Cupertino, California — 10:00 a.m. PDT
• Phoenix, Arizona — 10:00 a.m. MST
• Vancouver, Canada — 10:00 a.m. PDT
• Denver, Colorado — 11:00 a.m. MDT
• Dallas, Texas — 12:00 noon CDT
• New York, New York — 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Toronto, Canada — 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Halifax, Canada — 2:00 p.m. ADT
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — 2:00 p.m. BRT
• London, United Kingdom — 6:00 p.m. BST
• Berlin, Germany — 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Paris, France — 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Cape Town, South Africa — 7:00 p.m. SAST
• Moscow, Russia — 8:00 p.m. MSK
• Helsinki, Finland — 8:00 p.m. EEST
• Istanbul, Turkey — 8:00 p.m. TRT
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 9:00 p.m. GST
• Delhi, India — 10:30 p.m. IST
• Jakarta, Indonesia — 12:00 a.m. WIB next day
• Shanghai, China — 1:00 a.m. CST next day
• Singapore — 1:00 a.m. SGT next day
• Perth, Australia — 1:00 a.m. AWST next day
• Hong Kong — 1:00 a.m. HKT next day
• Seoul, South Korea — 2:00 a.m. KST next day
• Tokyo, Japan — 2:00 a.m. JST next day
• Adelaide, Australia — 2:30 a.m. ACST next day
• Sydney, Australia — 3:00 a.m. AEST next day
• Auckland, New Zealand — 5:00 a.m. NZST next day

Apple has on occasion released software updates closer to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, but that does not line up with the information on Apple’s Indian site, which specifies a September 20 launch. In order for that to be the case, a release would need to happen before 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

Device Compatibility

‌iOS 15‌ is compatible with the same iPhones as iOS 13 and iOS 14, including older devices like the original iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. ‌iOS 15‌ compatible devices are listed below.

‌iPadOS 15‌ is compatible with all of the same devices that were able to run iPadOS 13 and iPadOS 14, which include:

‌watchOS 8‌ can be installed on Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, Series 5, and Series 6 models, as well as the Apple Watch SE. It is not compatible with the original first-generation Apple Watch, Apple Watch Series 1, or Apple Watch Series 2.

tvOS 15 is designed to run on the Apple TV 4K (1st and 2nd generation ) and the ‌Apple TV‌ HD (originally called the 4th generation ‌Apple TV‌). It is not compatible with earlier versions of the ‌Apple TV‌, as those models do not support tvOS.

The next Pixel phone won’t charge as slowly as previous models. Starting with the original Pixel in 2016, Google has shipped an 18W USB-C charger in the box with each Pixel phone. Google, like Apple and Samsung, has been averse to shipping faster chargers, instead opting to stick with the same 18W USB PD charger year after year. That will likely change this year with the launch of the Pixel 6 Pro, as XDA can confirm that at least one model supports 33W wired charging.

Last month, leaker Yogesh Brar told 91Mobiles that the upcoming Pixel 6 series will support 33W charging, so this may not be the first time you’ve heard this news. However, it’s the first time we’re reporting on it, because the evidence presented in the 91Mobiles report was a bit shaky. The leaker claimed that their “sources at Google” spotted 33W charging bricks at the company’s HQ in Mountain View, but they didn’t explicitly confirm if those chargers were actually for the new Pixel phones. Furthermore, the leaker doesn’t have an established track record when it comes to Pixel leaks, so we were hesitant to take him at his word. Thanks to our own source, who we can confirm has access to a real Pixel 6 Pro, we can now corroborate that the phone will indeed support 33W charging.

Many countries have regulatory agencies that oversee the sale of electronics with communications capabilities. Without their stamp of approval, phone makers can’t ship their phones with certain radio frequency bands enabled. In the U.S., this process is overseen by the FCC, while in Taiwan, the equivalent regulatory agency is the NCC. While certifying the Pixel 6 Pro for use in Taiwan, Google seemingly had to also submit the phone’s supported charging speeds. The phone’s supported charging speeds will appear in the regulatory label found in Settings > About Phone or on the box.

On the left, you can see the regulatory label that certifies the Pixel 6 Pro for use in Taiwan, and on the right, you can see the (currently redacted) certification filing from the NCC’s website. At the bottom of the regulatory label, we can see that the Pixel 6 Pro will support the following charging speeds: 5V/3A (15W), 9V/2A (18W), 9V/3A (27W), and 11V/3A (33W).

Below, you can see the regulatory labels for all 3 models of the Pixel 6 Pro. Only one of these models was certified by the NCC, so we can’t explicitly confirm if the other models will also support 33W charging. However, it’s unlikely for there to be a difference in charging speeds between these 3 models, so it’s safe to assume they all will support 33W charging.

Regardless of the model you buy or what region you live in, Google won’t be shipping a 33W charger in the box with the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro. The company will likely sell the 33W charger separately, though we don’t know how much it’ll cost. Rumors suggest that Google will also be selling a new Pixel Stand alongside the Pixel 6; the new wireless charger could offer 23W wireless charging speeds, according to a listing from a retail database spotted by AndroidPolice last month.

While the new 33W wired and 23W wireless chargers are relatively slow compared to the chargers offered by other smartphone makers like Xiaomi, there’s an argument to be made about the deleterious effects of ultra-fast charging on a phone’s battery. By sticking with the tried-and-true USB PD PPS standard and a slower 33W charging speed, the Pixel 6 Pro’s 5000mAh battery likely won’t need to be replaced for years to come. Couple that with the rumored five years of software support thanks to the Google Tensor chip, and the Pixel 6 Pro is shaping up to be a phone that lasts for years.

Featured image: Silver Pixel 6 Pro next to Google’s 18W USB-C Charger

On Thursday, we got a look at the print campaign Google is running for its upcoming flagship. Additional Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro billboards highlight how the design — especially the screens — between the smaller and larger models diverge. 

The latest billboards from photographer David Urbanke show off the phones in almost every color — there’s no black Pixel 6 Pro. When possible, Google is advertising the 6 and 6 Pro together, though the larger phone appears first — either on top or at the left. It remains interesting that Google is marketing these devices individually rather than as part of a family/line. Meanwhile, each billboard advertises a different feature in the upper-right corner of the phone: Google Lens, Maps, Chat, or Camera.  

These side-by-side shots help demonstrate how the Pixel 6 Pro’s 6.7-inch display is curved at the edges versus the flat 6.4-inch screen on the Pixel 6. The latter ends up having noticeably thicker bezels when looking at the device head-on, especially at the corners.

This effect is further highlighted by the regular 6 having black matte rails. In comparison, the Pro has a matching (black, silver, or gold) aluminum frame that helps distinguish the screen from the body, especially at the top and bottom.

Overall, the differences are minute, but serve as a continuation of how Pixel design has historically differed between sizes. While the original Pixel and Pixel 4 were visually identical across the regular and XL variants, the Pixel 2 and 3 drastically differed. In fairness, Google is not advertising the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro as the same device as the specs (camera lenses, refresh rate, etc.) have to differ.

I never thought I’d be able to walk around NYC and see my photos being put up on buildings. Again, thank you so much to @Google for allowing me to shoot your Pixel 6 campaign. This has been such a special experience and I’ll never, ever forget it. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/bc35u0ujuw

— David Urbanke (@davidurbanke) September 18, 2021

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