After two years of silence on its AI developments, Apple finally shared its latest projects with the public at its annual developer conference, World Conference on Womenin June. At the event, Apple unveiled several features that will have a significant impact on your device experience, but only if you have one of The newest iPhone models.
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The new experiences will require iOS 18, which is launching in September. If you want to experience Apple Intelligence when it launches, you may want to upgrade your iPhone to one of the ones below soon. You can also start testing out some AI features through Apple’s iOS 18.1 developer beta, which is rolling out to select devices starting today.
What new AI features are coming with iOS 18?
iOS 18 probably won’t launch with Apple Intelligencebut Later versions of iOS 18 should feature many new AI featuresincluding:
- Siri improved
- New summary tools for email, Keynotes, third-party apps, and more
- Writing tools (including rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text features)
- Apple’s Image Playground
- Genmoji
- Priority Notifications
- AI-generated photographic memory movies
- Search in videos
- Photo editing with artificial intelligence technology
- Image wand in Notes app
In addition to these AI features, iOS 18 will also offer a Improved Control Centernew privacy options like locking or hiding apps, Scheduling messagesnew Satellite messagesthe ability to link phones to exchange Apple Cash and more.
Which iPhone models support these new AI features?
You will need a iPhone 15 Pro (or a newer model coming out this year) to use these features.
Requiring Apple’s latest hardware to experience these new features may seem like planned obsolescence or an attempt to make money, and it’s probably both. However, Apple claims the provision is due to the processing hardware needed to support its new AI features, especially for tasks that require on-device processing.
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Processing AI tasks on-device offers two key benefits: it keeps information more secure and ensures lower latency. Apple says not all iPhones, especially older models, have the processing power needed to perform such tasks. The new AI features will rely on both on-device and cloud-based processing, depending on the complexity of the task.
Specifically, Apple claims that these tasks require Apple’s A17 Pro SoC, which is currently only found in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro MaxEven the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus won’t support AI upgrades, as those phones only have Apple’s A16 Bionic SoC.
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If you don’t have the iPhone 15 Pro and don’t plan on upgrading anytime soon, don’t worry — you may still be able to enjoy some Apple Intelligence features, specifically those that run in the cloud. However, if you want the full experience, you may want to start preparing for a new iPhone.
Which Mac and iPad models are compatible with Apple Intelligence?
The good news is that you won’t need the newest model if you’re a Mac or iPad user. To use AI features on a Mac or iPad, your device will need at least an M1 chip; considering that Apple currently makes iPads with M4 chips and Macs with M3 chips, many users with older devices should have some wiggle room.