Apple 'Intelligence' is now available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Apple Intelligence

Tech Giant Apple has just announced the launch of Apple Intelligence, a new personal intelligence system powered by Apple silicon. This system is designed to understand and create language and images, perform actions across apps, and utilize personal context to simplify daily tasks. Apple claims this is a significant advancement in AI privacy. The first set of Apple Intelligence features is available now through a free software update with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.

Key Features of Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence introduces a variety of new features and enhancements to existing apps:

1. Systemwide Writing Tools: These tools are integrated across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS and enable users to refine their writing with features like rewrite, proofreading, and summarizing. Users can adjust the tone of their writing and quickly accept or review suggested edits.
2. A More Natural and Conversational Siri: Siri boasts a new design and the ability to understand richer language. Users can now type to Siri and switch between text and voice seamlessly. Siri is also more knowledgeable about Apple products and can answer a wider range of questions about features and settings.
3. An Even More Intelligent Photos App: The Photos app now has a natural language search function for photos and videos. Users can search for specific moments by describing what they are looking for, like “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt.” The new Clean Up tool uses Apple Intelligence to remove distracting objects or people from photos. The Memories feature can now create movies based on user descriptions.
4. New Ways to Prioritize and Stay Focused: Apple Intelligence introduces Priority Messages in the Mail app, showing the most urgent emails at the top of the inbox. Users can also see message summaries without opening them. Smart Reply offers quick response suggestions and identifies questions in emails. Notification summaries allow users to quickly scan notifications on the lock screen. A new Focus feature, Reduce Interruptions, only shows notifications requiring immediate attention. Users can now record, transcribe, and summarize audio in the Notes and Phone apps.

Coming Soon

• New Visual Expression Tools: In December, Apple Intelligence will introduce new tools for visual expression, including Genmoji creation, Image Playground, and Image Wand for notes.
• Enhanced Writing Tools and ChatGPT Integration: Also in December, Writing Tools will gain the ability to apply specific changes to text based on user descriptions. Users will also be able to access ChatGPT within Writing Tools and Siri.
• Visual Intelligence and Camera Control: A new visual intelligence experience will launch in December, leveraging the new Camera Control on the iPhone 16 lineup. Users will be able to instantly learn about objects and places and interact with information. Camera Control will also provide access to third-party tools like Google and ChatGPT.
• Even More Capable Siri: In the coming months, Siri will become even more capable, utilizing personal context to deliver tailored intelligence. Siri will also gain onscreen awareness and be able to perform hundreds of new actions in Apple and third-party apps.

Privacy Focus

Apple emphasizes that Apple Intelligence is designed with privacy in mind. Many of the models run directly on the device. For tasks requiring more processing power, a new system called Private Cloud Compute is used, which extends device privacy and security to the cloud. With Private Cloud Compute, user data is not stored or shared with Apple and is only used to fulfil the user's request. Independent experts can inspect the code running on Apple's servers to verify this privacy promise.

Users have the choice to enable or disable ChatGPT integration. Accessing ChatGPT does not require an account, and privacy protections are built in. IP addresses are obscured, and requests are not stored by OpenAI. If users choose to connect their account, OpenAI’s data-use policies apply.

Availability

The first set of Apple Intelligence features is available now as a free software update with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. In most regions around the world, users can access Apple Intelligence when their device and Siri language are set to U.S. English.

One of the coolest things about Apple Intelligence is that it's super focused on privacy. Many of the features work right on your device, and even when they need to use the cloud, your data is protected.

Apple Intelligence is available on the following devices:

• iPhone: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPad: iPad models with an A17 Pro chip or M1 chip and later
• Mac: Mac computers with an M1 chip or later

The availability of Apple Intelligence features may vary depending on the region and language settings. For example, Mac users in the EU can access Apple Intelligence in U.S. English with macOS Sequoia 15.1, while iPhone and iPad users in the EU will have to wait until April for the rollout. Additionally, Apple Intelligence is rapidly adding support for more languages, with expanded language support coming in December and April.