Apple announced AI features and major updates across its operating systems at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Apple's AI system, Apple Intelligence, will put powerful generative models at the core of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It will enable new capabilities across Apple's native apps, such as the ability to generate images or summarize text. Apple Intelligence will be available for free on the iPhone 15 Pro and on iPads and Macs with an M1 or later chip. Other announcements at the event include more customization in iOS 18, RCS support for the iPhone, a Passwords app to keep track of logins, and a Calculator app for iPadOS 18.
Apple's new Apple Intelligence system will use Private Cloud Compute to ensure any data processed on its cloud servers is protected in a transparent and verifiable way. Many of Apple's generative AI models can run entirely on a device powered by an A17+ or M-series chip. When a bigger model is required to fulfill a generative AI request, Apple Intelligence only sends relevant data to complete the task to special Apple silicon servers. Customer data will not be saved for future server access or used to further train models. The server code used for Private Cloud Compute will be publicly accessible.
Apple has unveiled its "Apple Intelligence" AI suite, which has features like a conversational Siri, AI-generated "Genmoji," and GPT-4o integration for complex requests. The capabilities will be exclusive to newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs. They will roll out in English with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia this fall. Apple has emphasized privacy with on-device processing and "Private Cloud Compute" for off-device tasks and allowed independent privacy verification.
Apple introduced "Apple Intelligence" at WWDC 2024. Apple Intelligence is an AI system integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia that features advanced generative models for various everyday tasks like text refinement, notification summarization, and image creation. Emphasizing responsible AI development and user privacy, this system combines on-device and cloud capabilities to enhance user experiences across Apple products.
Apple is focusing on extending device longevity and using AI and software innovations like Apple Intelligence to drive customer upgrades and new revenue streams amidst slower hardware innovation. This strategy aims to shift the company's growth focus from hardware sales alone to more sustainable software-driven services (which also have the benefit of being subscription-based).
Apple Intelligence is being delayed to give Apple more time to fix bugs. The company now plans to start rolling out the feature several weeks after the launch of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. There is concern about the stability of the feature and developers need more testing time. Apple Intelligence will still be made available to software developers as soon as next week with the first betas of iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1.
Apple said that the artificial intelligence models underpinning Apple Intelligence, its AI system, were pre-trained on processors designed by Google.
Apple introduced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, focusing on integrating AI features into existing apps like Mail, Messages, and Siri. The platform uses large language models for tasks such as text summarization and image generation, aiming for a seamless user experience. A beta version will roll out in the U.S. this October, with broader international support planned for 2025.
Apple has released public betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 that feature new Apple Intelligence tools like text rewriting and photo cleanup. Only the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and M1 iPads and Macs support these AI features. Final versions are expected in October.