Here’s how to enable Apple Intelligence on your iPhone
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 the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June. The features are available on Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac, but only certain models are compatible. Until now, Apple Intelligence was only available in beta, but has now been released globally, allowing users to take advantage of AI features.
Apple Intelligence: Compatible models
Apple says its AI suite is compatible with the entire iPhone 16 lineup: 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 that support this from Apple’s previous smartphone range.
In addition to smartphones, the iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later models, and the Mac with M1 and later devices are also eligible to receive it, following the latest iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates respectively.
Apple Intelligence: 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 change the device language to a certain version if you are in India. Notably, the AI suite is not available to users in China or the EU. To enable Apple Intelligence:
- Open Settings > General and then look for the ***Language & Region*** option.
- Change the device language to English (US) by tapping Add language.
- Now navigate to the Apple Intelligence & Siri in Settings and change the Siri language to English (US).
- Tap the switch 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 are writing tools. Using AI, it can perform grammar checks, proofread documents and change the tone with three preset options: Concise, Friendly or Professional. Additionally, it can modify the text for presentation in a list-based or tabular format. The function can also summarize the text. It also gets ChatGPT integration, which opens up further possibilities for customization. Using OpenAI’s chatbot, it can rewrite the entire text based on textual clues.
Writing tools can be used in several first- and third-party apps, including Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages and WhatsApp on iPhone, iPad and Mac, according to 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 is also a Memory Movie feature that creates movies from the library based on textual clues. It also offers natural language search, which, as the name suggests, allows users to search for media in simple language.
In addition to the writing tools, Siri is also getting ChatGPT upgrades. The voice assistant can now provide more in-depth answers to questions. It can provide insight 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 that uses generative AI to create images based on textual cues. In addition, Image Playground also contains additional functionalities, namely Image Wand and Genmoji. The former can turn rough sketches into illustrations in the Notes app, while the latter can generate custom emojis based on prompts.
Currently, however, only the first set of Apple Intelligence features, including Writing Tools, Memory Movie, Clean Up, and a handful of others, are available on the iPhone thanks to the iOS 18.1 update. Apple says others, such as ChatGPT integration and Image Playground, will be available in December.
