iOS 18 may have a fun surprise for longtime iPhone fans

Ajay Kumar
·2 min read
Apple iPhone 6S
Jessica Lee Star / Digital Trends

If you’ve been a longtime iPhone user, you’ve probably seen every default wallpaper iOS has to offer — and you’ve likely had a few favorites that you miss. The good news is that, according to the latest news about Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024, Apple is set to bring back many old-school wallpapers dating back to the early days of the Mac and iPhone.

“Apple’s devices are getting new wallpaper packs, including Mac versions that reference old-school icons and slogans,” said Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in a report. “The iPhone wallpapers will have options that look similar to early ones on the phone.”

It’ll still be a bit before we have confirmation on which wallpapers will be available, but some of the popular ones include the famous clownfish wallpaper on the original iPhone, which came back in iOS 16 beta 3, the Earth from Space wallpaper from the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 6s’ live wallpapers. We also especially liked most, if not all, of the wallpapers on the iPhone 6, like the mountain and night sky, wintry forest, and close-up of the moon.

iOS wallpaper.
iOS wallpaper.
iOS clownfish
iOS clownfish
iOS earth wallpaper
iOS earth wallpaper
Mountain night sky iOS wallpaper
Mountain night sky iOS wallpaper

Others are less memorable. For instance, I was never a fan of the weird liquid bubble thing the iPhone 7 came with, and the iPhone 8 wallpapers were downright unmemorable. The iPhone X wallpapers were interesting since they came with multiple colors and some options that took advantage of the OLED screen. The newer wallpapers haven’t felt quite as memorable to me, with the iPhone 15 Pro’s abstract wallpapers looking dull and uninteresting.

The Bloomberg report also detailed many of the other features Apple is going to bring to iOS — and the big one is obviously AI. The new AI system is expected to be called Apple Intelligence, and it should come to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the latest iOS update. We’re talking AI-created custom emojis, new apps for the Vision Pro, AI integration into various Apple first-party apps, and much more.  Aside from AI, there should be various UI changes and features that come with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, RCS support in iMessage, and various customization options.

WWDC 2024 begins June 10 and runs until June 14. Digital Trends will cover the keynote and all the biggest announcements for iOS 18, macOS 15, visionOS 2, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18. You can check out our overview of what to expect next week.

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