Apple Officially Releases iOS 12.1 with 6 Exciting New Features

Apple officially released iOS 12.1, the first major update to the company’s iOS 12 mobile operating system. iOS 12.1 packs a handful of significant features, including several additions that unlock promised capabilities for the company’s iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR devices!

iOS 12 was officially released earlier this year without some of Apple's most hyped new features. Not only that, but the official iOS 12 release contained a few serious bugs that affected some, but not all iOS devices.

iOS 12.1 has been bestowed upon us to rectify those issues and bring us the most exciting features Apple teased earlier this year including Group FaceTime, dual-SIM capabilities, real-time depth control and  much more.

Here we'll describe all of the most noteworthy changes in iOS 12.1 and give you the full breakdown on why you should install iOS' latest update today.

Continue reading to learn about all of the exciting new features in iOS 12.1.

6 Group FaceTime

iOS 12.1 reintroduces Group FaceTime to the mobile operating system. The feature, which was cut from the final release of iOS 12, allows up to audio and video chatting with up to 32 participants. iOS 12.1 also integrates Group FaceTime seamlessly into group chats in Messages, making starting a group call easier than ever before.

5 Dual-SIM Capabilities

The new update also adds support for the eSIM embedded in 2018 iPhone models. Essentially, that means owners of those devices can take advantage of dual-SIM capabilities — though only if their carriers have also implemented support for the functionality.

4 No More "Beautygate"

Apple has also adjusted the Smart HDR algorithm on its iPhone XS, XS Max and XR handsets to mitigate aggressive noise reduction and skin smoothing. While this wasn’t necessarily a bug, Apple has obviously taken note of the fairly negative response some users had to the look of selfies taken on the new devices.

3 Real-Time Depth Control

iOS 12.1 also introduces real-time Depth Control for 2018 iPhone users. Previously, Portrait Mode on the new devices only allowed users to edit the depth-of-field after a photo was taken.

2 New Emoji

There are also 70+ new emoji in the new update, ranging from bald, curly-haired and red-haired characters to new expression, superhero, revised bagel with cream cheese and others.

1 Bug Fixes and Improvements

As usual, iOS 12.1 also features a number of under-the-hood changes, bug fixes, and security vulnerability patches. If you skipped iOS 12.0.1 you should know that iOS 12.1 addresses the slow Wi-Fi issue and the bug behind the “Chargegate” controversy.

iOS 12.1 should now be available as a free over-the-air update for users with compatible devices. You can find it in Settings > General > Software Update.