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Apple has rolled out the iOS 18.1 update for the iPhone, which brings Apple Intelligence—the suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features that the company previewed at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June. The features are available on Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but only select models are compatible. Until now, Apple Intelligence was only available in beta but has been globally released, enabling users to take advantage of AI features.
Apple Intelligence: Compatible Models
Apple says its AI suite is compatible with the entire iPhone 16 series: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the models supporting it from Apple’s previous smartphone lineup.
In addition to smartphones, the iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later models, and the Mac with M1 and later devices are eligible to receive it, following the latest iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates, respectively.
Apple Intelligence: How to Enable
Apple Intelligence can be accessed on the iPhone by updating it to the latest software version, which is iOS 18.1. However, there are a few caveats, such as requiring the user to switch the device language to a particular version if you’re in India. Notably, the AI suite is not available for users in China or in the EU. Here’s how to enable Apple Intelligence:
- Open Settings > General and then find the ***Language and region*** option.
- Switch the device language to English (US) by tapping on Add Language.
- Now, navigate to the Apple Intelligence & Siri in Settings and change Siri language to English (US).
- Tap on the toggle to enable the AI features.
- You can further enable individual settings such as ChatGPT in Siri and the Image Playground.
Apple Intelligence: Features
One of the most notable additions to the iPhone with Apple Intelligence is Writing Tools. Leveraging AI, it can perform grammar checks, proofread documents, and change its tone with three preset options: Concise, Friendly or Professional. Furthermore, it can change the text for presentation in a list-based or tabular format. The feature can also summarise the text. It also gets ChatGPT integration, which opens up further options for tweaking. Using OpenAI’s chatbot, it can rewrite the entire text based on textual prompts.
Writing Tools can be used in various first and third-party apps including Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages, and WhatsApp on iPhone, iPad and Mac, as per Apple.
Apple Intelligence has been added to the Photos app, which now gets a new Clean Up tool that can remove unwanted objects or people from images. There’s also a Memory Movie feature which creates movies from the library, based on textual prompts. It also gets natural language search, which as the name suggests, allows users to search for media in simple language.
In addition to the Writing Tools, Siri also gets ChatGPT upgrades. The voice assistant can now provide more in-depth responses to queries. It can provide insights into photos and documents, and also generate images based on voice prompts using Siri.
Another notable highlight of Apple Intelligence is Image Playground. It is a standalone app which leverages generative AI to create images based on textual prompts. Apart from that, Image Playground also includes additional functionalities, namely Image Wand and Genmoji. The former can turn rough sketches into artwork in the Notes app, while the latter can generate customised emojis based on prompts.
However, only the first set of Apple Intelligence features, comprising Writing Tools, Memory Movie, Clean Up and a handful of others, are currently available on iPhone courtesy of the iOS 18.1 update. Apple says others, such as ChatGPT integration and Image Playground will be available in December.
