Apple Intelligence is here. Apple’s own artificial intelligence for the iPhone, iPad and Mac is now available with the latest software updates to offer greater convenience, efficiency, productivity and more fun.
Apple Intelligence brings with it some remarkable new tools, abilities and intelligence.
These new capabilities include removing unwanted objects from images, creating drawings and memojies and having access to a range of writing tools.
But not all Apple customers will have access to Apple Intelligence.
Customers with an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max will be able to access Apple Intelligence on their device.
iPads running A17 Pro or M1 chips and later are also compatible along with Macs with M1 chips and later.
Users with any of these devices will need to run the latest updates – iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2 – to have access to Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence has been available in the US and has now arrived for customers in Australia and New Zealand.
Here are some of the new features of Apple Intelligence:
FINDING PHOTOS
Your photo album just got a little smarter with Apple Intelligence.
We usually have thousands of photos in our albums and finding a photo can be difficult but now all you need to do is describe what’s in the photo and Apple Intelligence will find them.
For example, you might say look for “Aaron riding a skateboard at the beach” and it will look across all your photos and videos that match that description and display them.
CLEANING UP PHOTOS
The new Clean Up tool provides a way to remove elements and objects in the background that spoil the moment.
Now it’s simply a case of identifying the object you’d like removed and, boom, it’s gone. And the background behind that object or person is intelligently weaved into the image to make it seem like it was never there.
IMAGE PLAYGROUND
The Image Playground allows users to create fun and original images and include themes, costumes, accessories and places to provide even more detail to the outcome.
Users can generate animations and illustrations.
These images are deliberately not photo realistic to ensure everyone can tell they have been created and not trying to portray reality.
For example, you might want an image of a koala wearing sunglasses and holding a gift. After a few seconds there will be a few to choose from.
GENMOJI
We already use a lot of emojis and Apple Intelligence will take your emoji game to another level with the ability to create your own emojis.
Users can simply type a description into the emoji keyboard and be offered multiple versions to choose from.
WRITING TOOLS
Writing Tools will be a popular part of Apple Intelligence and it is integrated across the Apple devices’ entire operating systems.
Writing Tools can be used in any place where you enter text whether you’re writing an email, text message, party invite, real estate listing or a social media post.
There are several parts to writing tools including Rewrite which allows you to change the tone, you might want to sound more professional or friendly or you might want to shorten the text.
Writing Tools offers other things like proofreading to check grammar, sentence structure and suggest other edits.
It can also be used to make your writing more expressive or dynamic or sympathetic or happy.
Writing Tools will generate various versions and allow you to choose the one you like best.
NOTES
The Notes app has been improved to make notetaking more visual and dynamic.
The new Image Wand in the tool palette makes it easy to create images in your notes using written or visual context that’s already being captured in your notes.
Image Wand can also turn your rudimentary rough sketch into an impressive image simply by circling it.
Note users can also circle empty space and Image Wand will look at the note and gather context and create a relevant image.
Mail also had an update with Apple Intelligence and can now prioritise messages and put them at the top of your inbox like an invitation to an event that day or a boarding pass.
Users will also be able to see summaries without having to open the email.
This also works with long threads with the ability to ask for a summary to view all the important details.
And for those times when you need a quick response you can access Smart Reply which will pick up the questions in an email that need to be answered.
PRIORITISE
Apple Intelligence can help you sort through notifications and prioritise the most important ones to get your attention.
And rather than having multiple notifications from the same app, Apple Intelligence can also summarise them all into one.
SIRI
Siri has also been enhanced with Apple Intelligence.
When you ask for Siri it now creates a glowing ring around the display to show that it’s listening.
It is now a lot more conversational and can understand what you’re asking for even if you pause or stumble trying to find the right words.
There will be occasions where Siri needs to go off device and access ChatGPT to provide your answer.
Users will always be notified that this is happening and it will require their approval.
A ChatGPT account is not required and it will respect your privacy and not use your data for model training.
VISUAL INTELLIGENCE
Apple Intelligence can also work on objects and places it can see through your camera.
Users can aim their camera at a block of text so you it can summarise it, translate between languages and detect phone numbers and emails.
Users can also take a photo of an item and search Google to see what it is and where they can buy it.
