These Apple Intelligence features are coming with the iOS 18.1 update

Apple Intelligence, the long-awaited integration of artificial intelligence (AI) features into Apple devices, was one of the major highlights of the company’s “It’s Glowtime” event on Monday. The features were first unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June. The company is rolling them out to the iPhone 16 series that launched at the September 9 event, as well as last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models. Features such as Writing Tools, notification summarization and the object removal tool will be available in beta when the iOS 18.1 update rolls out next month.

Apple Intelligence features announced at iPhone 16 launch event

While Apple Intelligence features have been known since WWDC 2024 in June, the tech giant has announced which features will roll out with the iOS 18.1 update in beta. The features will also roll out with iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.

Apple confirmed that the AI ​​features will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with the device and Siri language set to US English. Let’s take a look at the features users will be able to try out soon.

• Writing tools: AI-powered writing tools will be available in various Apple apps such as Mail, Messages, Notes and more. These tools offer various features such as text summarization, text generation, text refinement and more. Users can also ask the AI ​​to make a message or email longer with the help of the AI. Further, users can also rewrite it in different styles by using manual prompts.
• Summary of the report: Another interesting feature introduced with the iOS 18 update is notification summarization. This feature uses Apple Intelligence to remove the clutter of a large number of notifications in two ways. First, priority notifications are automatically assessed by the AI ​​and added to the top of the stack. These notifications are also summarized, so users don’t have to dig through the details. Second, the AI ​​understands the content of the notification and only shows the notifications that require immediate attention.
• Cleaning up in pictures: The Clean Up feature is essentially an object removal feature that allows users to remove unwanted objects or people from an image. This could be people blocking the view of a famous monument or an inappropriate object placed in the background of a memorable selfie. The AI ​​can either remove these automatically or let the user highlight a specific object or person to remove them and fill in the background.
• AI search in photos: Apple Intelligence lets users search their Photos app and the images stored there using natural language queries. Users can ask questions about specific images using descriptive prompts.
• Email summary: AI can also summarize long email threads and prioritize the most important features.
• Image playground: This allows users to generate custom emojis or images using Apple Intelligence.
• Private cloud computing: Private Cloud Compute performs “stateless data processing,” where the user’s device sends data to PCC for the sole purpose of fulfilling the user’s request to make inferences. Apple also stated that the user data only remains on the server until it is sent back to the device, and that “no user data is retained in any form after the response is sent back.”

The first set of features will be available in US English. Localized English languages ​​will be added in December, and support for more languages ​​such as Chinese, Spanish, French, and Japanese will be added next year.

AI features that will be available with future updates

While the features mentioned above will be available by the end of this month, there are other Apple Intelligence features that will be available with future iOS updates. These include the ChatGPT-related features, the Siri upgrade, and Genmoji.

• ChatGPT Integration: ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot, will be integrated into Siri and the systemwide Writing Tools. It will also provide the image and document processing capabilities of various tools within the device. The main use case will be given to Siri, who with the user’s permission will have access to the chatbot and will be able to ask web-related questions as well as provide answers to questions that require deeper expertise.
• Smarter Siri: Siri, the virtual assistant for Apple devices, is also getting a major upgrade. Apple has promised a new AI-powered conversational capability that will allow the AI ​​tool to communicate with users in natural language. Siri will also be able to handle more complex tasks and perform tasks across multiple apps.
• Genmoji: Apple Intelligence will also release Genjomi, a visual tool that turns a rough sketch into a related image. Users can also upload their images and turn them into an artistic interpretation.
• Visual intelligence: Users can tap the Camera Control button to activate AI and find more information about the captured images. They can also book a reservation or tickets to a venue. It’s a visual lookup tool, similar to Google Lens. It will also integrate with ChatGPT to provide enhanced computer vision processing. Apple says users will be able to upload an image of a math problem and find solutions to it.