Apple Intelligence: Everything You Need to Know.

What Is Apple Intelligence?

If you recently upgraded to a new iPhone, you may have noticed Apple Intelligence appearing in apps like Messages, Mail, and Notes. Introduced in October 2024, Apple Intelligence (AI) integrates across Apple’s ecosystem to compete with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others in the AI space.

Apple markets it as “AI for the rest of us”, designed to make everyday tasks easier. It uses generative AI for text and image creation, offering smarter features within Apple devices.

How Apple Intelligence Works

Like other AI models, Apple Intelligence relies on large information models and deep learning. This allows it to understand and generate text, images, video, and even music.

Writing Tools

Apple Intelligence’s text features, powered by LLM technology, appear as Writing Tools. These tools can:

Summarize long texts
Proofread emails and notes
Rewrite or draft new content based on tone and prompts

Available in apps like Mail, Messages, Pages, and Notifications, Writing Tools help users save time and improve clarity.

Image Tools

Apple has also introduced image generation:

Genmojis: Custom emojis created with prompts in Apple’s style
Image Playground: A standalone app for generating images, usable in Messages, Keynote, and social media

Siri Gets Smarter

Apple Intelligence also brings a major upgrade to Siri. Instead of the usual icon, users now see a glowing light around the iPhone screen when Siri is active.

Key improvements include:

Cross-app integration: For example, you can ask Siri to edit a photo and insert it into a message.
Onscreen awareness: Siri understands the context of what’s on your screen to provide better responses.

Although Apple teased an even more advanced Siri at WWDC 2025, the update is still in development. Apple says this version will use personal context (like relationships and routines) for more tailored answers.

New Features: Visual Intelligence and Live Translation

At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled two new AI tools:

Visual Intelligence: Lets you search for information about images you’re viewing.
Live Translation: Provides real-time translation during conversations in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps.

Both features are expected to launch in 2025 with iOS 26.

Timeline of Apple Intelligence

WWDC 2024: Apple officially announced Apple Intelligence.
September 2024: During the iPhone 16 event, Apple showcased AI-powered features, including translation on the Apple Watch Series 10, visual search on iPhones, and Siri improvements.
October 2024: First rollout with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.
2025: Expanded language support will include Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more.

Who Can Use Apple Intelligence?

First Release: October 2024

The first rollout of Apple Intelligence came in October 2024 through updates to iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.
These updates introduced:

Writing Tools
Image Cleanup
Article Summaries
A redesigned Siri with improved typing input

Second Release: iOS 18.2 and Beyond

A second wave of features arrived with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2.
New tools included:

Genmoji
Image Playground
Visual Intelligence
Image Wand
ChatGPT integration

Compatible Devices for Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence is free to use if you have supported hardware. Devices include:

iPhone

All iPhone 16 models
iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro)
iPhone 15 Pro (A17 Pro)

iPad

iPad Pro (M1 and later)
iPad Air (M1 and later)
iPad mini (A17 or later)

Mac

MacBook Air (M1 and later)
MacBook Pro (M1 and later)
iMac (M1 and later)
Mac mini (M1 and later)
Mac Studio (M1 Max and later)
Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

Notable Limitation

Only the iPhone 15 Pro models support Apple Intelligence, due to chipset requirements. Standard iPhone 15 devices are excluded. However, the entire iPhone 16 lineup is fully compatible.

How Does Apple Intelligence Work Offline?

When you ask GPT or Gemini a question, the request is processed on external servers, which requires an internet connection. Apple, however, uses a smaller, custom-trained model.

The advantage of this method is that many tasks are less demanding and can run directly on-device. Instead of relying on massive datasets like GPT or Gemini, Apple trains models in-house for specific functions, such as drafting an email.

Not all features work locally, though. For more advanced requests, Apple uses Private Cloud Compute. These remote servers, built on Apple Silicon, are designed to maintain the same level of privacy as Apple’s consumer devices. Users won’t notice whether a task runs locally or in the cloud — except when offline, where cloud-based actions will show an error.

Apple Intelligence and Third-Party Apps

Apple Intelligence and Third-Party Apps

Apple’s Partnership with OpenAI

Before the launch of Apple Intelligence, there was speculation about Apple’s partnership with OpenAI. In reality, the deal was not about powering Apple Intelligence directly but about offering an alternative platform for tasks Apple’s system is not designed to handle. This highlights the limitations of Apple’s small-model approach.

Apple Intelligence is free, and so is basic access to ChatGPT. However, paid ChatGPT users will continue to receive premium features, such as unlimited queries.

ChatGPT Integration in Apple Devices

ChatGPT integration debuted with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2. It serves two main purposes:

Supplementing Siri’s knowledge base
Expanding the Writing Tools features

When enabled, Siri may ask users for permission to access ChatGPT for certain queries, such as recipes or travel planning. Users can also directly instruct Siri to “ask ChatGPT.”

Another feature, Compose, is available within any app that supports Writing Tools. Compose allows content creation from prompts, alongside existing tools like Style and Summary.

More AI Partnerships Ahead

Apple has confirmed its intention to partner with additional generative AI services. Google Gemini is expected to be among the next integrations.

Developers and Apple’s Foundation Models

At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced the Foundation Models framework, allowing developers to use Apple’s AI models offline.

This framework enables third-party developers to build AI-powered features into their apps using Apple’s systems. For example, an app could generate personalized quizzes from a user’s notes without relying on cloud services, keeping data private and reducing costs.

The Future of Siri

Apple plans to release a new Siri overhaul in 2026. Development delays mean Apple may need to collaborate with external partners to accelerate progress. Reports suggest Apple has been in discussions with Google, its main smartphone competitor, about a potential partnership.ChatGPT-5 Integration Set to Power Apple Intelligence on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 26