5 Most Important New Features Coming to iOS 11

5 Peer-to-Peer Payments

Apple Pay is getting a big upgrade in iOS 11 with the addition of a new feature called Cash. With Apple Pay Cash, users will be able to send and receive peer-to-peer payments through iMessage. All the funds will be stored in a new holding account on an Apple Pay Cash card, where they can be spent at Apple Pay-accepting locations, or withdraw to a bank account.

While the feature is similar to existing services like PayPal and Venmo, it might carry a few additional benefits. For one, funds can be spent directly from the aforementioned card. It’s also built into Messages with deep Siri integration. When it launches, users will be able to tap on a monetary amount in any iMessage thread to automatically start a new transaction.

4 Siri Upgrades

Apple regularly updates Siri, but the proprietary digital assistant is slated for a big makeover in iOS 11. First off, Siri will be getting a new voice that sounds a lot less robotic and a lot more human. But while that will be a big upgrade to Siri-user interactions, the digital assistant's updates go far beyond natural language.

iOS 11 will add a plethora of advanced and contextual commands in the next-generation software. For example, Siri will automatically suggest certain responses when a user receives question-based texts in iMessage. Not only that, but the digital assistant will also be getting the ability to translate languages in real-time, with support for English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese at launch.

3 Core NFC

While Core NFC has been a rather glossed-over part of the iOS 11 upgrades, it could potentially be a major boost to Apple’s mobile operating system. Perhaps signalling an end to some of Apple's software restrictions, the new framework will allow developers to create apps that can read NFC tags. Historically, the company has previously maintained pretty tight control over the tech. And although useful for tap-and-go payments, NFC tech has a wide range of additional uses.

For example, developers could create apps that give a user additional product information and added security via NFC tags — letting them know if a product is authentic, or whether it's been opened or tampered with. Core NFC also lays the groundwork for a wide range of ways to automate certain tasks, as well as further options for a user to interact with his or her environment. That latter ability was hinted at during WWDC, when Apple announced that watchOS would be able to interface with various gym equipment to sync workout data.

2 iPad Features

iOS 11 is slated to be one of the biggest updates to the iPad’s operating system. Apple has previously marketed the iPad Pro as a viable replacement for a traditional notebook or laptop, but this fall, that marketing will ring much truer. That's because the next-generation iOS 11 software will introduce a slew of new features that will bring the iPad much closer in capabilities to a full-fledged computer.

Most importantly, iOS 11 will, for the first time, add a file-management app called Files to the operating system. The software systemwide drag-and-drop and improved multitasking. Similarly, there will be a new Mac-style Dock that will be available from anywhere in the operating system. With iOS 11, the iPad Pro could also go toe-to-toe with Microsoft's tablet-notebook hybrids, since both Notes and Apple Pencil support are also due for some significant upgrades.

1 Augmented Reality

Arguably, the most influential addition to iOS 11 is the introduction of ARKit. The development toolset isn’t even a user-facing device, technically, but it will allow for developers to create a virtually limitless range of augmented reality apps and experiences. Really, the possibilities for AR are pretty profound — and iOS 11 will be among the first major attempts at seamlessly bringing those capabilities to a mobile operating system.

When it launches, ARKit will turn iOS into the largest AR-capable platform in the world. And while AR devices already exist, iOS 11 will likely bring augmented reality to a much wider audience, specifically due to the ease-of-use and availability that Apple’s system offers. It’s already a device and operating system that many people across the world have in their pockets or in their bags. And though it may be a bit early to start placing bets, iOS 11 could be at the forefront of the AR revolution.