Apple first previewed Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, showing off features such as the revamped Siri personal assistant, new writing tools, and image generation capabilities While developers were able to access the beta version of iOS 181 over the summer to try out Apple Intelligence, the public will now have the opportunity to try out the AI tool prior to the official version of iOS 181, which is scheduled for next month
A handful of iPhone owners will be able to try out Apple Intelligence in the iOS 181 beta released today (September 19), as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the only models that can support the new feature iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the only models that can support the new feature However, that number will expand tomorrow when the iPhone 16 is officially launched All four iPhone 16 models announced by Apple have the silicon and RAM necessary to handle most of the Apple Intelligence features on the device
In addition to the iOS 181 beta, Apple also released public betas of iPadOS 181 and macOS Sequoia 151 today These betas include Apple Intelligence features for the iPad and Mac, respectively
Not all of the features Apple previewed in June are included in the iOS 181 beta The Visual Intelligence feature that Apple previewed at the iPhone 16 launch will also be included in the iPhone later this year (Visual Intelligence works with the new iPhone's camera control buttons to pull information from photos, look things up, and add information to your calendar) But there are a number of features you can try if you have a compatible phone
The writing tools included in Apple Intelligence should work through iOS 18 Essentially, you should be able to write from anywhere on your iPhone and have access to these AI-powered features
For example, the Rewrite feature can create an alternate version of your writing and replace the parts you feel are stronger; the Rewrite tool also makes suggestions on tone to rephrase your writing for a specific audience
The Rewrite tool includes a proofreading feature that checks for spelling and grammar, and a summary tool that creates a summary of selected text
One of the biggest additions in terms of photo editing features offered by Apple Intelligence is the Photo Cleanup tool, which sounds like Apple's take on Google's Magic Editor With Photo Cleanup, users can remove objects or people that are in the way or that have been in the photo After removing the person or object, the tool fills in the background to make everything look natural (We actually used Photo Cleanup when the tool was introduced as part of the iOS 181 developer beta)
A feature added to the Photos app allows users to create what Apple calls a Movie Memory by entering text about the types of photos and videos they want to see in a slideshow (For example, “Show me a movie of your last vacation in Hawaii, set to a tropical song”) Apple Intelligence assembles the photos, videos, and library into a movie
Another way Apple Intelligence can take advantage of natural language queries is to support natural language search with photos Simply enter a description of the photo you are looking for, and Apple Intelligence will locate that photo and even find specific moments in the video that match the description
Siri has been significantly revamped in iOS 181, and thanks to Apple Intelligence, the digital assistant has a new look: when you invoke Siri, the area around your iPhone screen lights up and pulsates as you speak, indicating that the digital assistant is listening to you This indicates that the digital assistant is listening to you
Siri should also be better able to understand your request if you stumble over a word or correct what you are asking mid-sentence Additionally, Siri will understand the context of your next question, so if you are asking for more information about a particular team, you will not have to repeat the team name over and over again
Further Apple Intelligence improvements to Siri include the ability to type requests for when you don't want to speak out loud and broader product knowledge The latter improvement means Siri will be able to answer questions about specific tasks using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac
We spent a little time with the iOS 181 developer beta to get first impressions of the Siri changes
Mail will be reorganized in iOS 18, with different inboxes dedicated to personal messages, receipts, deals, and newsletters, but that will come later this year iOS 181 will focus on the message summary Instead of seeing the first few lines of an email in the inbox, a summary will be displayed that gives the gist of the message
In addition, Apple Intelligence supports priority messages in the Mail app; if the AI detects a call to action in a message that is time sensitive, the email will be placed at the top of the inbox
Finally, Gmail's longstanding Smart Reply feature is coming to Apple Mail as part of the iOS 181 update, allowing users to choose from AI-provided replies, and Apple claims that Smart Reply will include an option to answer specific questions in the message to which you are replying Apple claims that it will include the option to answer specific questions in the message to which you are replying
The Phone app in iOS 181 gained the ability to record phone calls and provide transcripts of those recordings; Apple Intelligence can also summarize the content of those calls
In addition, the Notes app already has a built-in recorder that produces transcripts of recordings However, iPhones that support Apple Intelligence will also be able to retrieve a summary of those recordings
The iOS 181 public beta is accessible in the same way as the previous iOS 18 beta iOS 181 beta downloads require registration in Apple's beta program, which can be found in the Software Updates section of the iPhone's Settings app You can find it in the Software Updates section of the Settings app on your iPhone
Once the beta is installed, return to Settings and select Apple Intelligence & Siri from the menu From there, select Join Apple Intelligence Waitlist If the process goes as well as it did in the Developer Beta, you should be approved within a few hours
Apple Intelligence will launch in the US first, with localized English versions added in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK by the end of the year Support for languages specifically called out by Apple, including Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, will be rolled out over the next year
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