iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and watchOS 7 are coming soon, but you may be getting it early
Starting September 16...though some users can update now
It’s been a busy day for Apple, as the company has just announced the Apple Watch 6, Apple Watch SE, iPad 2020, iPad Air 4, and more, and in among that flurry of announcements it also confirmed that iOS 14 is landing tomorrow (September 16).
That’s not all, you’ll also be able to grab iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 from then, so even if you’re not planning on pre-ordering any of Apple’s new hardware, you’ll at least be able to enjoy some new software.
But some users are getting access to the software already – so check in Settings > General to see if your device is able to upgrade right now.
We've gotten sneak peeks and hands-ons with the software, and you have may have, too: while the finished versions of these operating system updates are about to land, they were announced a while ago, and have gone through a number of beta versions.
- Check out our Apple event 2020 live blog for all the action
- The iPhone 12 wasn't announced
- But Apple One was
New features and lots of improvements
As such we already had a good idea of what to expect. For iPhones, the update means home screen widgets, a new App Library, App Clips (which lets you use apps without downloading them), improvements to Apple Maps, and more.
Most of the iOS 14 features are also part of iPadOS 14, but that also includes tablet-specific features such as the ability for Apple Pencil to convert your handwriting into typed text.
With watchOS 7, you can look forward to sleep tracking, multiple complications on a watch face, Apple’s new Fitness Plus service, and more. And finally, tvOS 14 comes with multi-user support and picture-in-picture, among other things.
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So if you’ve got the relevant hardware look out for these updates, as they should definitely be worth downloading.
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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.