THE’Apple “It’s Glow Time” eventheld yesterday at the Steve Jobs Theater from Cupertino, in addition to revealing the new features of the new iPhone 16 (and other products from the “bitten apple”) has brought the spotlight back on AppleIntelligencethe artificial intelligence system of the company led by Tim Cook available on compatible devices from next month. The innovations introduced with Apple Intelligence are various and some of these could potentially revolutionize the way users use their smartphone. Among the most interesting functions is “Clean up” (useful for removing unwanted elements in photos in a few taps) and the creation of automated summaries at the end of calls, available in the Phone app. Even more interesting, Apple’s AI is applied to the entire operating system, making its use particularly proactive and integrated. Apple Intelligence will be available from October 2024with the launch of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 And macOS Sequoia 15.1 on compatible devices. It will initially be available in US English, with other English variants to follow in December 2024, and additional languages including French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese starting in 2025. Apple Intelligence will not be available in the EU due to DMA restrictions.
Apple Intelligence: Main Features
AppleIntelligence stands out for its ability to merge generative models with the personal context of users, creating a highly personalized experience. At the heart of this innovation are the Writing toolswhich lets you rewrite, correct, and summarize text anywhere there’s a typing field. You don’t need to open specific apps, because as you start typing, Apple Intelligence will suggest improvements in real time.
In the’Photo appthe “Memories” function allows you to create videos based on simple text descriptions, while photo and video search becomes extremely powerful thanks to the use of natural language. For example, you can search for a photo by describing the scene, even if it is related to a specific moment within a video rather than a shot. With the “Clean” functionfurthermore, it will be practically unnecessary to resort to the use of professional photo editing apps to remove unwanted subjects present in the background of your shots, as Apple Intelligence will automatically identify them and allow their removal.
Other important features include the Audio management and synthesis in the Notes and Phone apps: Apple Intelligence not only automatically transcribes conversations, it also summarizes them, giving you a clear picture of the main points. For those who are constantly inundated with notifications, the “Less interruptions” function summarizes only the truly urgent ones, while “Priority” in Mail highlights the most relevant messages.
Even the voice assistant Siri receives a major update, becoming more flexible and better able to understand natural language. Not only that: Siri can now answer thousands of questions about how to use Apple devices and recognize the visual context on the displaytaking smarter, more relevant actions, like adding an address you receive in the Messages app to a family member or friend’s contact card.
Additionally, features like “Image Playground” And “Image Wand” expand the concept of digital creativity, allowing you to transform sketches into detailed images or generate expressive Genmoji starting from a simple description (for the record, Genmoji or Generative Emoji These are emojis generated with Apple Intelligence).
Thanks to the integration with ChatGPT, it will also be possible to access a vast knowledge directly through Siri and other tools, without ever compromising privacy, since Apple obscures IP addresses and guarantees that user data is not stored on OpenAI servers (this happens, obviously, if you do not connect your ChatGPT account to the Apple device in your possession, since in the latter case the OpenAI privacy policy would be applied).
Apple Intelligence: Availability
As regards the Apple Intelligence availabilityApple has said that its artificial intelligence system will launch with a limited set of features and will be made available in beta version starting from October 2024To be able to use it, the following conditions must be met minimum requirements:
- Hardware requirements: iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max (or later), iPad, and Mac with M1 chip (or later);
- Software requirements: iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 (or later).
Apple also specified that initially there will only be support forAmerican English and, starting from December 2024support will be offered to other English variants (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa). Starting from 2025 (Apple did not specify a more precise timeframe), Apple Intelligence will also support other languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese And Spanish.
However, those residing within the EU territory will not be able to use the Apple Intelligence features, at least until further notice, due to the DMA (Digital Markets Act).
