Apple Intelligence is a suite of AI-powered features scheduled to come to iPhones, Macs and iPads in October 2024. The platform will utilize on-device computation as well as server-based processing.
It will enable system-wide writing tools, summarization, visual look-up, image generation, automation and more. An additional layer of functionality will be integrated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Apple Intelligence was announced during the WWDC24 keynote, but was not present in the first version of iOS 18 in September. The first Apple Intelligence features are available in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 Sequoia. Updates in iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2 add even more features.
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To preserve user privacy, Apple Intelligence works in three key ways. Apple says its unique method will produce highly personal results while maintaining the highest level of data privacy.
Apple Intelligence is powered by two foundation models, a large-language model and an image diffusion model. A system of light-weight adapters can plug into these models to power all kinds of different features.
Two versions of the Apple Foundation model (AFM) were created to run on-device and in the cloud.
The first level of AI computation takes place on the Apple device itself. For that reason, Apple Intelligence requires recent hardware. Only Macs and iPads with Apple’s M-series chips, along with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 lineup, can run Apple Intelligence.
A semantic index can tap into the data that third-party apps store on your device. This can include records of your email, conversations, files, photos, contacts and more. The semantic index will be used to power the knowledge Siri can build about you to answer more useful questions about your life, like an all-knowing assistant.
Also stored on-device is the app intents toolbox. This is a list of features and capabilities that are offered by the apps you have installed on your device. Siri will be able to control apps using features in the toolbox, expanding the voice assistant to handle many more kinds of tasks.
For tasks requiring more computing power, Apple created Private Cloud Compute. This sends the user’s query to Apple servers, with end-to-end encryption to preserve privacy.
Apple designed this off-device computing platform without persistent storage. No user information stays on Apple servers, minimizing the possibility of a data breach. Sebastien Marineau-Mes, Apple’s vice president of intelligent system experience engineering, says this unprecedented level of security in cloud computing makes it “the most advanced security architecture” for a cloud service like this.
The software images that power Private Cloud Compute servers are publicly available. This allows security researchers to analyze and verify Apple’s security claims.
ChatGPT is integrated into two Apple Intelligence features, starting with iOS 18.2. When asking Siri a general knowledge question (outside Siri’s current integration with Wikipedia, math and movie, TV and sports trivia), you can ask ChatGPT. And for text generation, ChatGPT is integrated into the system writing tools.
Each query requires explicit permission to pass the user’s info to OpenAI’s chatbot.
Anyone can use these features for free, without creating an account. If you have a ChatGPT account and want to access paid features and higher usage limits, you can sign in.
The features will be powered by OpenAI’s impressive GPT-4o. While terms of the controversial partnership between Apple and OpenAI remain confidential, no money has reportedly changed hands.
In iOS 18.1, Siri has a few new conveniences:
iOS 18.2 adds integration with ChatGPT:
A more substantial update, likely arriving early next year, will provide a more substantial revamp of versatile new capabilities:
A future update in iOS 19, likely arriving in spring 2026, will totally overhaul Siri with a more conversational dialogue.
Visual Intelligence lets you point your camera at something, press the Camera Control button, and look it up:
Visual Intelligence is available only on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models, because it’s activated by the Camera Control.
The AI-powered Writing Tools in Apple Intelligence function system-wide, including in third-party apps. They include: Rewrite, Proofread and Summarize. Similar to competitors’ AI-powered writing tools, they will give users the ability to quickly improve their written words.
When replying to text message or email, you’ll see suggested replies. It can also make sure your reply addresses every question you’ve been asked.
Image Clean Up is a new way to edit your pictures. If you have a picture that’s otherwise great, aside from one distracting thing in the background, it’s easy to remove. Just circle part of an image to have AI fill it in. It’s a new tool that you can access just by tapping the Edit button in Photos, alongside cropping, red eye and other image tools.
If you’re trying to find a specific photo or video, you can now search using natural language, like “video of Kim skateboarding wearing a blue sweater.”
You can create memory movies with a natural language prompt. Apple Intelligence understands the context of your request, the type of images it should look for, the people in your photos, the story told through the sequence of image, and even the right Apple Music track to set it to.
Apple Intelligence can generate AI images on-device from Messages, Notes and Apple’s new Image Playground app. Users enter a prompt describing the image they want, and Image Playground creates images in one of two styles: Animation and Illustration.
A similar feature, Image Wand, will let you turn your sketches or pages of notes into a drawing using a third style, Sketch.
Apple Intelligence allows users to create custom emoji called Genmoji. The highly personal emoji, created via simple prompts, can be based on photos of the user or the user’s contacts. And they can be shared using Apple’s Messages app (including as custom Tapback reactions) as well as updated third-party apps. You can create them just by typing descriptions. Users can pick people in photos and create Genmoji images that resemble them.
If you get a big string of notifications in a row, they’ll be condensed into a summary. It can give you the gist of a particularly noisy group chat without reading through every message.
If a bunch of notifications build up, Priority Notifications will make sure the important ones don’t get buried.
A new Reduce Interruptions Focus mode will intelligently choose which notifications to let through.
In Mail, instead of seeing a preview of the first two lines of an email, you’ll see a one-sentence summary of the contents. Emails for two-step verification codes, for example, will always show you the code right in the notification banner.
Mail will also have your most important emails put at the top of your inbox.
For software developers, Apple Intelligence brings AI-powered code completion to Xcode, the company’s integrated development environment for Mac. Apple trained Xcode 16’s AI model on the Swift coding language as well as the company’s APIs. It should simplify app development by using AI to properly complete code.
A larger and more powerful cloud-based model, called Swift Assist, will enable fast prototyping of apps. It can generate code as well as sample data that devs can use as they create apps.
No Apple Intelligence features are present in iOS 18.0.
iOS 18.1, released on October 28, 2024, introduced the following features:
iOS 18.2, released on December 11, 2024, adds more features:
The following features will be added in a future update to iOS 18:
In iOS 19, Siri may have a total LLM-powered overhaul to be more conversational.
As many Apple Intelligence features run locally on-device, only the latest devices will support it. Apple Intelligence only runs on Apple silicon chips with a recent Neural Engine and 8 GB of unified memory.
Apple Intelligence runs on iPhones with an A17 Pro chip or later.
Apple Intelligence runs on iPads with an M-series or A17 Pro chip.
Apple Intelligence runs on any Mac with Apple silicon.
In iOS 18.1, Apple Intelligence is only available in U.S. English. Support for other regions will roll out over time.
Apple Intelligence will become available in English localized to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in iOS 18.2.
In 2025, Apple will expand this list further by supporting Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese languages.
In European Union member countries, Apple Intelligence will only be enabled on the Mac. Users can circumvent this by setting their iPhone or iPad’s region to any non-EU member country and their language to any of those supported.
Apple’s 7-inch smart home hub may not arrive as early as initially rumored. While reports initially pointed to a late Q1 release, it could launch later in the year.
The delay is due to a key iOS 18 feature not being ready for release yet.
One of the top Apple Intelligence features is a new set of system-wide AI writing tools. You can invoke these intelligent writing helpers anytime, anywhere to help you compose, edit, rewrite, summarize, reformat or proofread text.
In my experience, they can really streamline reformatting a document and can be helpful for making your written communication better. Here’s how to make the most of Apple Intelligence writing tools.
After facing pressure to remove its AI news summaries after multiple reports of false headlines, Apple plans to tweak how the feature works.
Apple will update notification summaries to highlight when they are generated using Apple Intelligence.
Imagine a Siri capable of opening your preferred email client on your iPhone and sending an important email seamlessly. Picture an Apple-branded smart home hub, elegantly wall-mounted in your kitchen, equipped with Apple Intelligence for instant access to smart home controls and a conversational voice assistant. Envision an iPhone just 6mm thin, standing out for its ultra-sleek, stylish design.
All of this could turn into a reality in 2025, with Apple already working on these devices and services for launch next year.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Some new iPhone 17 Pro renders make us ponder whether Apple will (or should) create such a device. We discuss the pros, cons and alternative theories.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
International journalism organization Reporters Without Borders called Thursday for Apple to remove its new artificial intelligence-powered news notifications, following a complaint from the BBC over a wildly inaccurate news summary. Apple Intelligence’s notifications summary feature generated a misleading BBC News headline last week about a high-profile murder case in the United States, falsely stating the accused shooter had shot himself.
The iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 release date is here. They bring in the second wave of Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, the Image Playground, optional ChatGPT integration and more.
watchOS 11.2, tvOS 18.2 and visionOS 2.2 also went out, though these don’t include any AI features.
Monday isn’t the iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 release date, as some had hoped. Instead, Apple sent out another round of pre-release versions for testing, a slightly unusual step.
UPDATE: Apple just announced that iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 are set to launch on Wednesday, December 11. They are not yet out at the time of this writing, and the most likely time is 10 A.M. Pacific/1 P.M. Eastern.
UPDATE 2: It’s here!
When they debut, these operating systems bring to iPhone, iPad and Mac a new collection of Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, the Image Playground and more, so there’s plenty of anticipation.
The new Visual Intelligence feature in iOS 18.2 provides a quick way to find information just by pointing the iPhone 16’s camera at an object in the real world. Then you can ask ChatGPT to explain what you’re looking at, do a reverse image search to find products and look things up visually, get information on a business as you walk down the street, and quickly add events to your calendar.
Here’s how it works.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone SE 4 might bring significant camera upgrades to the budget phone, with plans to incorporate a 48-megapixel main camera and a 12MP TrueDepth front-facing camera, according to a new report.
That, plus other improvements, marks a substantial upgrade over the iPhone SE 3. Unfortunately, that means you can expect the new handset to come with a bit of a price increase, too.
iOS 18.2 drops a huge number of new features onto the iPhone. The second major iOS 18 update, available now, expands the capabilities of Apple Intelligence — and adds plenty of goodies for everyone else, too.
Keep reading or watch our video on the new features awaiting iPhone owners in iOS 18.2.
iOS 18.2 will make searching on Apple Music and Apple TV much easier with natural language support. This means you can use natural language to describe and search for TV shows or music you are looking for.
The revamped Photos app gained support for similar search capabilities with the iOS 18.1 update.
Apple uses Amazon Web Services’ custom artificial intelligence chips to power its search services. The company is also evaluating if it can use Amazon’s latest AI chips to pretrain Apple Intelligence models.
Apple’s Benoit Dupin, senior director of machine learning and AI, made these revelations Tuesday in a surprise appearance at Amazon’s annual AWS re:Reinvent conference in Las Vegas.
A rumor from early November said the iOS 18.2 launch day would be the week of December 2, but that’s now impossible. There are steps that must take place before the operating system can be introduced, and not all of them have happened yet.
The release will probably be in the second week of December. Right now, the earliest likely date is December 10, though December 11 is looking increasingly likely.
Whenever the launch finally happens, it’ll usher in some of the most-anticipated new Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, the Image Playground and more.
Update: The much-anticipated release candidates for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 went out December 5, which means Apple Intelligence phase 2 will likely launch December 12.
Using Genmoji, you can create custom emoji when you can’t find the exact right one to express yourself nonverbally. An Apple Intelligence feature coming in iOS 18.2, Genmoji generates emoji on the fly based on your description.
Finally, you can enhance your conversations about ostriches or shovels or tissues boxes with your own emoji. Or make an emoji that matches your pet, like a white cat or a Pomeranian dog. You can even make emoji versions of the people you know.
Here’s how.
Image Playground is the free app coming to your iPhone that will let you generate unlimited AI images for free. You can generate images based on your friends, from a text prompt or totally from scratch, in a wide variety of themes and styles.
It’s part of Apple Intelligence, the growing set of AI features that work on the latest iPhones, Macs and iPads. Image Playground is one of the most hotly anticipated features — here’s how to use it.
With iOS 18.3 due for release in early December, Apple continues beta testing the OS. The third beta build is now out for developers, bringing some small changes and enhancements.
Below is a roundup of all the new features and changes in iOS 18.2 beta 3.
UPDATE: These became available to all beta testers on Tuesday. Just be aware that this is the only second round of public beta testing and the updates are labeled as such. Nevertheless, public beta 2 is the same as developer beta 3.
iOS 18.2 brings exciting new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration. These flashy new tools let users create images and custom emoji, look up information using the iPhone’s camera and tap into one of the hottest AI chatbots around.
How well do they work? Keep reading or watch our hands-on video to see iOS 18.2’s new Apple Intelligence features in action.
Apple reportedly will switch its servers that power Apple Intelligence to M4 chips next year. Currently, these servers use the M2 Ultra, the same chip found inside the Mac Pro and Mac Studio.
Apple is also reportedly in talks with Foxconn to manufacture AI servers to enhance the company’s AI processing capabilities.
Apple apparently plans to release iOS 18.2 in early December, introducing several new Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone.
In an indication that iPhone users are eager to try out Apple Intelligence, the iOS 18.1 install rate is twice as high as iOS 17.1 was a year ago, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The AI features in iOS 18.1 provide a big impetus for people to update their iPhones, Cook said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
The new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips Apple unveiled Wednesday for new, higher-end MacBook Pro models will bring more than enough power to handle Apple Intelligence and plenty of other complex computing tasks, Apple said. M4 Pro actually made its debut Tuesday with the redesigned M4 Pro Mac mini. The new chips may find their way into other machines, like Mac Studio, next year.
“Apple silicon has taken the Mac to unprecedented heights, and the rapid pace of innovation continues with M4 Pro and M4 Max,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With the world’s fastest CPU core, immensely more powerful GPUs, and the fastest Neural Engine ever, the power-efficient performance and capabilities of the M4 family extend its lead as the most advanced lineup of chips in the industry.”
Apple Intelligence brings the long-awaited new Siri … but not quite yet. The Siri improvements so far include extensive knowledge of Apple products, integration with ChatGPT, a brand-new design and the ability to text Siri your questions rather than speaking them aloud.
The even-more-powerful Siri that will be able to see your screen and take actions on your behalf inside apps is still on the road map for next year — and a fully conversational LLM-powered Siri may not arrive until 2026. But there are quite a few neat things you can try out now, if you’re willing to board the Apple Intelligence train. Here’s what the new Siri can do.
Apple launched its AI-powered Apple Intelligence features in the EU on Monday, despite warning earlier that it might not.
In the European Union, the rollout began for Macs, while iPhone and iPad users will have to wait. That’s not true elsewhere. But there’s a significant language limitation for all.
The wait for Apple Intelligence is over. iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1 and iPadOS 18.1 can all be installed now, and they all include Apple’s AI-powered features.
“Apple Intelligence introduces a new era for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, delivering brand-new experiences and tools that will transform what our users can accomplish,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release Monday. “Apple Intelligence builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of our devices, giving our users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy. Apple Intelligence is generative AI in a way that only Apple can deliver, and we’re incredibly excited about its ability to enrich our users’ lives.”
But that’s not everything coming out of Cupertino today. watchOS 11.1, tvOS 18.1 and visionOS 2.1 went out, too — alongside upgraded iMacs powered by Apple’s M4 chip.