Apple Publishes iOS 12.1 User Guide, Confirms Group FaceTime and Dual-SIM Support Incoming

BY Evan Selleck

Published 26 Oct 2018

iOS 12.1 will add Group FaceTime support

There is a strong possibility that Apple is going to launch iOS 12.1 to the public next week, more than likely after its iPad Pro and Mac event wraps up on Tuesday, October 30.

Ahead of that, Apple has gone ahead and updated its digital iPhone User Guide, which is available as a free download from the Apple Books Store. The user guide goes over the general use cases an iPhone owner might run into, including features like Messages, FaceTime, and other elements. But what’s interesting this time around is the fact that the updated digital material also confirms a couple of features will arrive in iOS 12.1.

Specifically, we now know that Apple is planning on launching dual-SIM support with the release of iOS 12.1, and that the company is also penciling in Group FaceTime with the public launch of the software as well. We have known about Group FaceTime, which supports the inclusion of 32 different people on a single group call, for quite some time. Apple actually removed it from the iOS 12 beta, saying they’d add it back to the mix later in the fall.

Unless you own specific older iPhone models. The user guide does note that the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus will only support the Group FaceTime feature up to 32 people in audio only. No video calls with more than two dozen people on those older models.

The user guide also confirms that dual-SIM support is arriving on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, along with the iPhone XR. (Here’s how to make it work when it does go live.)

So, if you’ve been waiting for the arrival of either one of those features, it looks like iOS 12.1 will finally see them arrive on devices out in the wild.

[via Apple]