Explained: Apple Intelligence, the new AI coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs

Apple says that the new Apple Intelligence is ‘deeply integrated’ into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and MacOS Sequoia. The company claims that Apple Intelligence harnesses the power of Apple Silicon to comprehend and create language and images, works across applications, and draws inspiration from personal context to simplify and enhance everyday tasks.

Apple Intelligence is backed by Private Cloud Compute, which is claimed to be a new standard for privacy in AI. The Private Cloud Compute makes it easy for Apple Intelligence to scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple Silicon servers.

Apple’s Private Cloud Compute (PCC) has been designed to address security and privacy challenges in cloud AI. According to Apple, PCC is the most advanced security architecture ever deployed for cloud AI compute at scale.

What can Apple Intelligence do?

Apple Intelligence lets users improve their writing and communicate with more ease. Apple is bringing systemwide Writing Tools that are built into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. These tools will allow users to write, rewrite, proofread, and summarise text almost anywhere they write including Notes, Pages, Mails, and even third-party apps.

Apple says that ‘Writing Tools’ backed by Apple Intelligence will help users feel more confident in their writing. For example, the ‘Rewrite’ feature shows users different versions of what they wrote. These versions adjust the tone to suit their audience and the task at hand. On the other hand, the ‘Summarise’ feature lets users select text and have it condensed into easily consumable paragraphs, bulleted points, tables, or a list.

When it comes to ‘Mail’, Apple Intelligence makes it easier to manage emails. Features like Priority Messages show a new section at the top of the inbox with the most urgent emails. Owing to AI integration, users can now see summaries of emails without needing to open them. Another feature, ‘Smart Reply’ gives suggestions for quick responses and it will also identify questions in an email to ensure everything is answered.

AI for communication and expression

Perhaps, the most recognisable aspect of AI is its ability to create images from scratch using prompts in natural language within seconds. Apple Intelligence is not only making communication effortless, it is also enabling users with creative ways of expression. Apple’s Image Playground lets users amplify their creativity by allowing them to create images in seconds. They can pick from three styles: animation, illustration, or sketch. The new Image ‘Playground’ feature is built into apps including messages.

It also has a dedicated app that allows users to experiment with images and they can choose from a wide range of concepts from categories such as themes, costumes, accessories, and places. One simply needs to type a description to define an image, choose someone from their personal photo library to include in their image, and pick their favourite style.

Apple introduced an image generator that focuses on emojis. Known as Genmoji, users simply need to type a description to create emojis.

Apple Intelligence makes searching for pictures on the iPhone more convenient. The company claims that users can use natural language for searching specific photos. For example, one can search images using simple prompts like ‘Katie with stickers on her face’. This is also applicable in videos as users will be able to find specific moments in clips. Also, the ‘Clean Up’ tool can identify and remove objects in the background of a photo.

Apple Intelligence makes Siri the ideal assistant

With Apple Intelligence, Siri is now more contextually aware and comes with richer language-understanding capabilities. Powered by AI, the virtual assistant is more natural, contextually relevant, and more personal. Apple claims that Siri can follow along if a user stumbles over their words and it can maintain context from one request to the next. Also, now Siri comes with a brand-new design with glowing light around the edge of the screen to indicate Siri is active.

Apple Intelligence also brings something known as ‘onscreen awareness’ to Siri. This essentially means Siri can take actions with all that is visible on the screen. For example, if a friend sends the user their new address, the user can simply say “add this address” to their contact card and Siri will follow.

What about security?

Contextual awareness means that Siri will be aware of all your activity, and that brings to the question of privacy and security. Apple has said that Apple Intelligence has been designed to protect user privacy at every step. It is integrated right into iPhone, iPad, and Mac through on-device processing.

Apple Intelligence is aware of a user’s personal information without collecting it. With Private Cloud Compute, Apple Intelligence is capable of drawing on larger server-based models that run on Apple Silicon to manage more complex requests for you while protecting the user’s privacy.

As of now, Apple Intelligence is only available for developers. Apple developers can see some Apple Intelligence features on the latest macOS 15 Sequoia, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18. Those who have signed up for Apple’s public beta programme, Apple Intelligence will be available in the beta platforms. However, it is unlikely that it will have all the features. The official version of Apple Intelligence will be available to users in the latter half of the year. Apple usually launches new versions of iOS along with the new iPhone models. Therefore, Apple Intelligence may arrive with iPhone 16 in September this year.