Easily the hottest feature of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 is Apple Intelligence, the brand Apple has chosen for its own particular suite of mostly-on-device, privacy-protected, personal AI features.
But when you update your devices this September, you’ll probably be left scratching your head as to where all the AI features are. First, because Apple Intelligence is only going to run on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (or iPhone 16) and M-series Macs and iPads, but also because many of the cool features you’ve heard about just aren’t there.
The best parts of Apple Intelligence aren’t coming at launch. Some will come later in 2024 through some software updates, and others will come in 2025. It’s sort of a slow rollout of AI features through the lifespan of iOS 18, and we’ll probably be downloading updates with new AI features until it’s nearly time for next year’s WWDC.
Here’s a breakdown of which features are coming, and when.
Updated November 12: Apple seems to have quietly removed the “sketch” style option from its image generation tools. It’s not in the iOS 18.2 beta and has been scrubbed from the website. November 13: Apple may launch iOS 18.2 on December 9 if an advisory from U.K. carrier EE is linked to the availability of the new software.
Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.1
- Released October 28
None of the Apple Intelligence features arrived with iOS 18 on September 16. The first features rolled out with iOS 18.1 on October 28.
Siri’s new interface: A glowing edge around the whole screen, and the ability to type requests to Siri.
Siri natural conversation: Siri’s ability to understand you better, even when you mess up what you’re saying, and remember context from previous requests.
Clean-up tool: Remove unwanted background items in Photos.
Writing support: Re-write passages and create summaries or lists.
Call recording and transcription: Record a call, see a transcript of it, and generate a summary.
Some Mail features: Summaries of emails in notifications and the inbox, priority emails on top, and the ability to create a summary of emails and email threads.
Safari summaries: From within reading mode, summarize a web page.
Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18.2
- Coming in December, possibly December 9
iOS 18.2 is expected to arrive in December. The new update could be made available on December 9, based on a notice from EE indicating to its customers that from December 9 “Wi-Fi calling on other supported iCloud-connected devices” will be discontinued.
The following features are expected in iOS 18.2:
Visual Intelligence: For iPhone 16 owners, press and hold the Camera Control button to get AI help with whatever you’re pointing the camera at. Get business details, recognize phone numbers and addresses, translate text, or ask ChatGPT for more info or perform a Google image search.
Additional English languages: AI features will support localized English for UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Image generation: Genmoji and other image generation, including the Image Playground app and Image Wand.
Advanced Mail app features: Automatic categorization of emails and the creation of digests for groups of similar emails.
Swift Assist programming companion: An AI coding tool in Xcode that helps you write code or answer coding questions (Mac only).
ChatGPT integration: Get more advanced general knowledge questions answered by ChatGPT, or use the tool to general more elaborate text.
There are some other general iOS 18 features, not related to AI, that are coming after the initial launch. You can read all about the features that didn’t arrive with iOS 18 here.
Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18.3 or 18.4
- Coming around March 2025
The first half 2025 is when Apple Intelligence is really going to shine, with the addition of some core Siri features that will take it to the next level. This big update will likely be released around March, with a beta more than a month earlier.
Apple has announced that this is when Apple Intelligence features will first become available in the European Union.
Siri on-device context awareness: The ability for Siri to give sensible answers based on data found in Messages, Mail, Contacts, and other on-device information.
Siri on-screen awareness: Siri will be able to see what is on your screen when you ask it to perform a task and take that information into account.
Siri application control: A big expansion of App Intents, which lets Siri perform actions in your apps. Currently limited to things like playing music or getting directions, there will be hundreds of actions Siri can take in apps. This will start with Apple’s own apps and expand to third-party apps over time.
Other Apple Intelligence features coming later in 2025
Additional languages: Apple’s AI features will expand to support German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, “and others” throughout 2025, according to Apple. Apple has still not committed to a date for when Apple Intelligence will be available in the EU, or which features will be supported.
Of course, all of this is subject to change depending on how smoothly Apple’s AI development goes, and how beta testing progresses. These features and dates are subject to change, and we will update this article as we learn more.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor, Macworld
Jason has written about technology for more than 25 years - first in the gaming press, then focusing on enthusiast PCs and general technology. He enjoys learning how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.