Apple on Monday released the first version of Apple Intelligence, its suite of artificial intelligence features that will improve Siri, automatically generate emails and images, and sort notifications, CNBC reported.
The new software called Apple Intelligence was released in the developer beta of iOS 18.1. It is also available in similar releases for iPad and Mac. It is currently only available to registered Apple developers. Apple’s developer program costs $99 a year.
In addition, users will have to register for a waitlist inside Apple’s settings app after updating to gain access to the service, which involves pinging Apple servers for more complicated requests.
Later this year, it will be released to the public, but the 18.1 version number suggests Apple Intelligence will not be released alongside new iPhone hardware, which is expected to be running iOS 18 in the fall.
9To5Mac reported Apple is rolling out the first beta of iOS 18.1 to developers today. This update is available for iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro Max and includes the first set of Apple Intelligence, such as Writing Tools, new features for Mail and notifications, upgrades to Photos, and more.
The first iOS beta is available today to registered developer beta testers. There is not a currently public beta of IOS 18.1, and there’s no timeline for when that will change. Again, the update is only available for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the only two iPhone models that support Apple Intelligence.
Wall Street Journal reported the first wave of Apple Intelligence tools won’t be in the initial iOS 18 release this fall. Instead, they’ll be part of iOS 18.1, which is expected a few weeks later.
In the past, Apple has released the new iOS in mid-September, followed by the first big update in October. Microsoft, Google, Samsung, and Meta hav already released generative-AI tools to users.
An Apple spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the exact timing.
On Monday, the company released a developer-only beta version of iOS and iPadOS 18.1 and MacOS Sequoia 15.1, which include some of those Apple Intelligence tools. Keyword: some. Text-summarization tools and some Siri enhancements are there but the promised visual tools and ChatGPT integration aren’t coming until later this year.
To test the new tools, developers will have to download the latest build of iOS 18.1 and then sign up for the Apple Intelligence wait list. This helps the company ensure sufficient server capacity, Apple said. The company didn’t say if or when Apple Intelligence would be available in the iOS 18.1 public betas.
In my opinion, it sounds like Apple has decided to jump into using AI. Apple users might be interested in what the AI can – eventually — do when it rolls out. My hope is that the AI doesn’t glitch.