Apple’s answer to Google Gemini and Samsung’s Galaxy AI won’t be part of the iPhone 16 series at launch. While the new iPhones will hit shelves starting September 20, they’ll be shipping without the much-awaited Apple Intelligence. The company has confirmed its AI will roll out in beta starting next month. You will have to wait longer for the stable version to arrive on your new iPhone. This is a surprising move, one predicted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman ahead of the launch.
Apple states that the iPhone 16 series is “built for Apple Intelligence.” The company mentioned throughout the keynote, and on its website, that the new iPhones are “built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence.” This makes the omission at launch more surprising, especially since most of the new software enhancements—such as the improved, more personalized Siri, Summaries, and more—are part of Apple Intelligence. Without this, you are essentially getting faster, more powerful iPhones with minimal use case.
That said, Apple has confirmed that Apple Intelligence will roll out in beta starting next month with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Initially, it will only be available in US English, but localized English versions for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK will arrive in December. Additional language support including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish is expected to arrive next year.
This isn’t the first time a major iPhone feature isn’t taking full advantage of the hardware at launch. The Dynamic Island felt underutilized when it debuted with the iPhone 14 in 2022 but it got better with time as third-party apps started supporting Live Activities. The Action Button followed a similar trajectory.
However, these features were waiting to be adopted by third-party apps to make your iPhone better. The Apple Intelligence scenario is different because it’s an iOS feature that’s not yet ready for you to make the most of the new processing upgrades.
How Is It Like Using Apple Intelligence?
I’ve been using Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 Developer Beta, and while the smarter Siri hasn’t been rolled out yet, I like it more than the competition. It keeps me hooked to the loading screen, which is new for AI, without making me feel frustrated by the wait for the final result.
I’ve also found myself enjoying the Notification Summary feature over time. It summarizes multiple notifications by grouping them into a single sentence. For example, if you receive several messages or one long message from someone on WhatsApp, iMessage, or Instagram, the system groups them and provides a single notification with a one-line summary. It’s been quite accurate, though it occasionally mixes two separate topics, so I wouldn’t trust it 100% just yet.
Another feature I’ve enjoyed is Memory Movies on my iPhone 15 Pro. It allows you to create a video from a single sentence within the Photos app. You can type something like, “Trip with friends from January to June with upbeat music,” and it generates a movie for you with beautiful animations. However, accuracy has been inconsistent, as it sometimes includes photos from last year or earlier when you request content from this year.
Based on my experience with the beta, Apple Intelligence seems like a strong competitor to the AI features currently available on other smartphones, though like its rivals, it struggles with accuracy. If Apple is taking extra time to improve this, I believe the delayed rollout will be worth it.
Other Apple Intelligence features include Clean Up (similar to Google’s Magic Editor), a more personalized Siri, creating emojis within Messages, ChatGPT integration, and more. In addition to the iPhone 16 series, Apple Intelligence will be available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. It will also be rolled out to iPads and Macs with M1 chips or later.
