Apple Intelligence Arrives in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1

As expected, Apple has released the first wave of AI-based Apple Intelligence advances to its core OS platforms, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

“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 CEO Tim Cook said. “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.”

iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 are, of course, free software updates, and should be available now on all supported devices, though only the most recent of those devices that meet specific hardware requirements will get the Apple Intelligence features: These include Phone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, any iPad with an A17 Pro or M1 or newer processor, and any Mac with an M1 or newer processor. There are also language limitations–for now, the device and Siri language must be set to U.S. English–though Apple says it will expand support for additional languages starting in the December. And there are regional limitations, as Apple Intelligence isn’t shipping in Europe or China for now.

If you meet those requirements, the first Apple Intelligence features include:

System-wide Writing Tools. The new Writing Tools are “deeply integrated” into each platform, Apple says, and provide rewriting, proofreading, and text summarizing capabilities virtually everywhere you can write, including third-party apps. The Rewrite feature lets you choose from different versions of what you’ve written and adjust the tone to suit the work. A Proofread feature checks grammar, word choice, and sentence structure, and suggests edits while providing explanations of its suggestions. You can also select text to summarize it in a short paragraph, bulleted list, table, or unordered list.

Siri. Apple’s original personal digital assistant is now more natural and conversational, and it appears with a glowing light animation around the screen edges that is curiously enjoyable. Siri now accepts text input in addition to voice, has richer language understanding, can answer thousands of questions about the features and settings in Apple’s products, and remember context between conversations.

Photos. The Photos app is getting a big upgrade too, with natural language search that works with photos and videos and smart completion suggestions. There’s a Magic Eraser-like Clean Up tool for removing unwanted objects from photos. And a new Memories feature that helps you create movies from your photos and videos by typing a simple text prompt.

Mail. The Mail app has a new Priority Messages feature that puts important messages at the top of your inbox, and a new Smart Reply feature that suggest replies to messages. Mail also provides summaries so you can see what’s happening without opening a message or email thread.

Notifications. Notifications includes similar prioritization capabilities via notification summaries on the Lock screen and a new Focus feature that reduces interruptions by only surfacing the most important notifications.

Audio recording, transcribing, and summarization. The Notes and Phone apps can now record, transcribe, and summarize audio. And when you record a phone call, all users are automatically notified.

Interestingly, Apple is also highlighting the second wave of Apple Intelligence features and confirming that they will arrive in December, with more following in “the coming months.” These include Genmoji generative emoji creation, the Image Playground generative image creation app, an Image Wand image creation feature for Notes, new Writing Tools, ChatGPT integration, a Visual Intelligence feature that integrates with the Camera app and identifies real-world objects in the viewfinder, more Priority Notifications and Siri features, and more.

Apple is likewise highlighting that all the advances are made without sacrificing its customers’ privacy using on-device processing and, only when needed, Private Cloud Compute that never stores or shares user data.