Apple Launches First Set of AI Features for iPhone, iPad, Mac

A month and a half after announcing it was bringing artificial intelligence to its product line, Apple announced this week the rollout of the first set of Apple Intelligence features for iPhone, iPad and Mac users. 

The company’s Apple Intelligence will power the new models with an “easy-to-use personal intelligence system that understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy,” according to an Apple statement.

iPhone, iPad and Mac users can access the Apple Intelligence features through a free software update with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.

The company said Apple Intelligence would harness the power of Apple’s silicon servers to understand and create language and images, streamline actions across apps and use personal context to simplify and speed up everyday tasks while ensuring user privacy and security.

The availability of the first set of features was announced this week with Apple promising “many more” will be rolling out in the coming months. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook said 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.”

“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,” Cook said. “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.”

Related:Apple Unveils iPhone 16 Built for AI; Apple Intelligence Coming to Product Lineup

Alon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of Copyleaks, said the launch of Apple Intelligence marks a pivotal step in Apple’s AI strategy as it positions itself “at the vanguard of the AI revolution.”

“This strategy isn’t just about adding the next layer of sophisticated technology to their devices; it’s a recalibration aimed at rekindling consumer excitement in an increasingly competitive landscape,” Yamin said. 

“For the consumer, Apple Intelligence promises to redefine the iPhone experience, making interactions much more intuitive and personalized than they've ever been. If executed well, Apple Intelligence could transform everyday tasks in ways that competitors have been unable to.”

The first set of AI-driven features includes Writing Tools for users to enhance their text by rewriting, proofreading and summarizing text across apps including Mail, Notes, Pages and other third-party apps. 

Related:Apple Intelligence Brings Generative AI Features to iPhone, iPad, Mac

It also includes a more natural and conversational Siri, which gets a boost as it becomes “more natural, flexible and deeply integrated into the system experience,” and can be accessed by iPhone, iPad and Mac at any time and can switch between text and voice. New to Siri is the ability to follow along when a user stumbles over words, maintain context and answer thousands of questions about Apple devices systems and features.  

The photo app also becomes more intelligent. Users can create movies by typing a description using the Memories feature. Natural language could also be used to search for specific photos and to find specific moments in video clips and a new Clean Up tool can detect and eliminate objects from a photo's background without affecting the main subject.

The first set of Apple Intelligence features also brings new ways to prioritize and stay focused. A new priority messages section at the top of the inbox in Mails whose most urgent emails first (think same-day invocation or a boarding pass). Users can also see summaries without opening a message and for longer emails there’s an option to tap or click “Summarize” to view just the important details. It also offers Smart Reply which provides quick response suggestions. 

A new Focus option “Reduce Interruptions” only shows notifications that may need immediate attention.

The Notes and Phone apps also now have more power allowing users to record, transcribe and summarize audio. If a recording is initiated while on a call, all participants are automatically alerted. After the call ends, Apple Intelligence could create a summary highlighting key points.

“Apple Intelligence unlocks exciting new capabilities that make your iPhone, iPad, and Mac even more helpful and useful, from Writing Tools to help refine your writing, to summarized notifications that surface what’s most important, to the ability to search for almost anything in your photos and videos by simply describing it,” said Craig Federighi, Apple senior vice president of Software Engineering. 

“And it’s all built on a foundation of privacy with on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, a groundbreaking new approach that extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud to protect users’ information. We are thrilled to bring the first set of Apple Intelligence features to users today, and this is just the beginning.”

Apple plans to release more Apple Intelligence features in December.

This article first appeared in IoT World Today's sister publication AI Business.