On Monday, Apple offered a first look into Apple Intelligence, its highly anticipated AI designed for devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Developers registered with Apple’s $99 per-year membership now have access to iOS 18.1 beta and can preview some of the AI features Apple promised in June.
According to CNBC, Monday’s preview includes features like AI-generated summaries for Mail, Messages, and voicemail, and AI text generation through Apple’s Writing Tools service. Siri also has a new look and can better understand commands, even when a speaker trips over their words.
Bigger features, like Siri being able to work within apps and integrate directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are not available in the preview.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg Says Apple’s ‘Constrained’ Platform Is the ‘Major Reason’ He’s Pushing for Open Source AI
Alon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of AI detection platform Copyleaks, says Apple’s slow but steady approach to the AI race “is a testament to its commitment to user experience.”
“Over the last year, we’ve seen that Apple is in no hurry regarding generative AI, while other larger competitors rush to the market, often resulting in course correction,” Yamin told Entrepreneur in an email. “While it may disappoint some users, this delay ultimately sets the stage for a more refined and reliable AI experience.”
Apple Intelligence. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Though Apple’s early developer preview of Apple Intelligence came out on Monday, a Sunday Bloomberg report stated that the iPhone maker will broadly roll out AI later than expected this year.
Instead of arriving with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 in September, the AI updates will roll out a few weeks later, by October, per Bloomberg. Apple has not commented on the report as of press time.
Bloomberg previously reported that two important Siri AI upgrades, Siri understanding context and working within other iPhone and iPad apps, will come out next year.
Apple Intelligence currently only works with the latest iPhone models, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, which could prompt millions of iPhone users on older phones to upgrade.
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