- RCS support will arrive as part of iOS 18 this fall.
- This is expected to be the RCS Universal Profile 2.4, which differs a little from Google’s current version.
In a blink and you’ll miss it moment, Apple confirmed RCS messaging support will officially arrive as part of iOS 18 later this fall. The new standard will replace SMS as the default protocol when communicating between Android and iPhone devices, hopefully putting an end to the dreaded green bubble drama. In fact, Apple didn’t talk about it all, simply adding a reference to RCS support into a single slide about iOS 18.
It’s no shocker that Apple isn’t making a song and dance about this. It’s been dragging its feet on embracing RCS, despite nudges from the EU and various other regulatory heavyweights. Late last year, it finally caved, admitting it would adopt RCS eventually but gave us the bare minimum on the details. It was largely expected Apple would reveal RCS details here, but Apple events are usually more about the cheers than the jeers. Frankly, Apple doesn’t want to highlight what feels like a concession, so they opted for a slide mention — smooth, Apple, real smooth.