Apple Intelligence has begun rolling out for iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple's proprietary artificial intelligence tools can summarise notifications and help users to write emails and curate their photos (what do you mean your Android can do that already?)
But you might be wondering how to get access. Apple Intelligence is not available for every Apple device, and it's not automatically enabled. Here's what you need to know (First up, you'll need a fairly new Apple device –see our roundup of Apple Black Friday deals).
To access Apple Intelligence, you'll need an iPhone 16 of any kind, an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, an iPad with an M1 chip or later (or the new A17 Pro iPad mini) or a Mac with an M1 or later. The new M4 iMac, M4 Mac mini and M4 MacBook Pros announced this week were designed with Apple Intelligence in mind, but older M-chipped MacBooks will be able to run Apple Intelligence in MacOS Sequoia 15.1.
To activate Apple Intelligence on iPhone, you'll need to go to settings to download the latest operating system update: iOS 18.1. Non-US readers will need to make an additional step and change the language of their device and Siri to 'English (US)', and then restart. Only then can you go to Apple Intelligence in settings and click to join the waiting list. Apple says users should only need to wait a few hours to move through the waiting list.
So I have to use US English? For now, yes. Apple says it will add support for English localised for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK in December, and will add more languages in a software update in April, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
In some regions, things are more complicated still. For European Union residents, Apple Intelligence is available with macOS Sequoia 15.1 on supported Mac models but not for iOS 18.1 or iPadOS 18.1 if your Apple Account Country/Region is in the EU. If traveling outside of the EU, Apple Intelligence will work if your language and Siri language are set to US English. Apple Intelligence will not currently work at all on devices purchased in mainland China or if your Apple Account Country/Region is mainland China.
What is Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is Apple's self-branded AI model for its devices. It comes after Google and Samsung both released AI systems earlier this year. While that makes Apple late to the game, the company claims that Apple Intelligence's security features set it apart. Most requests are processed on device, while complex requests that need to be sent to Apple's servers will be encrypted and anonymised.
When the full version is launched in December, Siri will be integrated with ChatGPT, and Apple Intelligence will pass requests it can't answer to OpenAI's chatbot. It says users will be notified if their request is being sent out of Apple's own system.
What can Apple Intelligence do?
Apple Intelligence has writing tools intended to help users proofread, rewrite and or reformat text in a wide range of apps, from notes to emails. It can make suggestions on tone as well as grammar.
Like the AI systems already being offered by rivals, there are also tools for organising photos with natural language search and an editing tool for removing unwanted people or objects from images by tapping or circling them.
Apple Intelligence can also summarise notifications from apps and transcribe and summarize audio recordings. An update to Mail means that messages deemed to be time-sensitive or important are automatically grouped as 'Priority'. Also for email, Apple Intelligence can suggest replies based on the context of messages to make responding faster.
Is Apple Intelligence available everywhere?
Not yet. For now, Apple Intelligence is not available on any devices purchases in mainland China or on iPhones or iPads on which the country/region is in the European Union. Those in the European Union can, however, use Apple Intelligence on supported Macs. It will be expanded to iPhone and iPad next year.
