These Apple Intelligence features are now available with iOS 18.1 update
Apple announced Monday that its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features – called Apple Intelligence – are now generally available for the iPhone, among other devices, following the iOS 18.1 update. The features were first previewed at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June, but the Cupertino-based tech giant kept them from a public release even after the introduction of iOS 18 in September. Apple’s latest iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates include additions like Writing Tools, Cleanup, and automatic movie creation.
Notably, this development comes after months of testing of Apple Intelligence features conducted by Apple through developer and public beta updates.
Compatible models with Apple Intelligence
According to For Apple, Apple Intelligence is available for the entire iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Additionally, the iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later models, and the Mac with M1 and later devices are compatible with the Cupertino-based tech giant’s AI suite. It was added as part of the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates.
Apple Intelligence features
One of the most notable additions of the iOS 18.1 update consisting of Apple Intelligence is Writing Tools. As the name suggests, the feature uses AI to proofread documents with spelling and grammar checking, summarize them and rewrite text in different tones: concise, friendly or professional. It can also present the text in table or list format depending on the user’s preference. Writing tools can be used in a variety of first- and third-party apps, including Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages, and WhatsApp on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The Photos app on iPhone has also been upgraded with Apple Intelligence capabilities for automatic movie creation. Users can now take advantage of the Memory Movie option to automatically create movies related to their prompts. In addition to the app’s extensive visual overhaul, it also gets natural language search, which, as the name suggests, allows users to search for media in simple language. Apple Intelligence brings a new Clean Up tool in the same app, an object removal tool. The company says it can remove unwanted objects or people from images.
The update also introduced the new Siri UI that glows along the edges of the screen when the voice assistant is enabled. It also offers a type-to-Siri functionality that allows users to talk to the voice assistant via text in addition to voice prompts. Apple says it has increased visibility and can now respond to queries related to device management.
The company is also bringing a call recording feature to the Phone app. The recorded conversations can be found in the Notes app, along with an option to get their transcription.
Apple says expanded Apple Intelligence features, such as ChatGPT in Siri, Image Playground, Image Wand, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence With Camera Control, will roll out in December.
