Those who have downloaded the public beta of iOS 18 will have seen many new features, including a customizable home screen, a redesigned Photos app, and various other updates Apple previewed at WWDC 2024 Apple Intelligence features are yet to be seen, at least not yet.

That's by design; Apple made it clear from the beginning that the Apple Intelligence features available on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac would not be available anytime soon. But even then, not all promised Apple Intelligence features are ready and will remain labeled beta.

However, aside from these guidelines, there are few details about a specific Apple Intelligence release date. Nevertheless, knowing what we know about Apple's other software and device release plans for the fall, we can make some reasonable guesses about how we will be able to try Apple Intelligence ourselves.

As a caveat, even if your Apple device can run the upcoming software (iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia), you may not have a device with the hardware muscle to support Apple Intelligence. For current iPhones, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max fit that bill; a Mac with M1 can support it, as can an iPad Pro or iPad Air tablet with M1.

In other words, if your hardware does not meet these requirements, you will not be able to try Apple Intelligence, whether during the software beta process this summer or when a full software update is released in the fall.

It is safe to assume that any additional hardware Apple releases this year will support Apple Intelligence. For example, the company plans to release a new phone in September, and one would imagine that any iPhone 16 model will have the necessary chipset.

Developer betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia appeared at WWDC 2024 in June, and public betas for each software update arrived about a month later. As noted at the beginning of this article, there are no instances of Apple Intelligence to be found in either the developer beta or the public beta.

As of this writing, iOS 18 beta 4 is available to developers. (For context, a third beta developer formed the basis for the iOS 18 public beta release.) Given Apple's track record with beta releases, this update will be available to the public soon, but it also lacks Apple Intelligence features, so these features likely not be confirmed until August at the earliest.

Even if the beta is released, it is unclear how many Apple Intelligence features will be available as beta; Apple does not always include all preview features at once, and Apple Intelligence may be treated the same way.

Although the Apple Intelligence functionality is not yet available in beta.

That said, we imagine that new writing tools and image generation features will be included in whatever Apple chooses to preview in the beta; Siri improvements are another story; we'd like to see some sort of new design for Siri; and we'd like to see some sort of new way of using the software. For example, a glowing light will surround the iPhone screen when engaging with Siri, and iPhone and iPad users will be able to type queries after double-tapping the bottom of the screen. It is possible that this will be included in the beta version before then.

More elaborate changes to Siri - the assistant will soon recognize what is on your screen and understand more of your personal context - have not arrived until later. It is unlikely to appear as a beta version this summer.

Speaking of assumptions, since the developer beta features will most likely appear in the public beta, we imagine it will follow with any Apple Intelligence beta test.

Even though Apple is preparing a full release of its iPhone, iPad, and Mac software for everyone with a qualifying device, Apple Intelligence features are still labeled as beta, suggesting they are still work in progress We are not yet ready to release these yet beta versions, but we will keep that in mind. But we expect these still-beta features to be part of the iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia releases.

Who knows when these will be released, but perhaps we will get a better idea after Apple's fall hardware event. (Incidentally, our best guess on the iPhone 16 release date for when Apple will unveil the new phone is September 10, so the software release date should become somewhat clearer around that time.)

Software updates tend to debut just before newly announced hardware hits retail stores, so we expect Apple's software updates, including some features of Apple Intelligence, to be ready for the public by the end of September

Here is one example.

One caveat here: in recent years, Apple has sometimes released macOS updates a few weeks after iOS and iPadOS releases. For example, macOS Sonoma came out on September 26, eight days after the launch of iOS 17. whether history will repeat itself with macOS Sequoia and iOS 18 remains to be seen.

If you're the type of person who likes clear timelines, there's bad news. It is unclear how long it will take for all of the promised Apple Intelligence features, specifically those related to Siri and its ability to better understand context, to reach your Apple device. Apple has indicated that this process will continue beyond the software release date later this year; Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Siri upgrades to continue through next year.

In other words, when Apple says Apple Intelligence is still in beta, one should assume the company is not kidding.