We've learned from Tim Cook's comments and countless reports that Apple is working on AI features for all of its devices and platforms. And we are almost sure that the tech giant will unveil it during the WWDC 2024 keynote.
Now, however, we have an idea of how Apple will name the AI features, and no, it won't be artificial intelligence or “Absolutely Awesome,” as Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, teased in a post on X (formerly Twitter ).
According Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, it will be called “Apple Intelligence”, which certainly sounds great. It will apparently be the central location to opt for the new features built into iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15. As predicted, it will probably be about integrating AI functionality into current apps and services, which someone could use daily and provide value .
As Gurman notes, “the company is less focused on innovative technologies (such as imaging and video generation) and is instead focusing on features with broad appeal.”
These are likely to become summary powers for navigating a crowded inbox or grasping the essence of a web page on the fly. Like Samsung's Galaxy AI or Google's Gemini feature set, they will extend to summarizing notes, automatically transcribing voice recordings, and even providing a simple summary of notifications.
In Messages, the suggested responses should be updated and Siri will apparently get the equivalent of a new brain, hopefully making it much more useful. The update could integrate a large language model to allow the virtual assistant to control functions and features within applications and multi-step queries. The latest Bloomberg report also notes that Apple will partner with OpenAI and that its tools will be used to power some features.
The report notes that the “Apple Intelligence” features will be completely optional and will not be enabled by default; Additionally, they may be labeled as “a beta version.” This hint suggests that Apple plans to improve them over time and potentially add additional features.
It sounds like you'll need a Mac or iPad with an M-Series chip or newer. For the iPhone, it will reportedly be compatible with the next models presented in 2024, as well as the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. The requirement is likely to be the A15 Bionic or later, but it will be interesting to see if it is required for all features or just specific items.
Like other services, processing will be done on a device or in the cloud; The latter would be a change for Apple, which always focuses on user privacy and security. To that point, the report notes that WWDC will focus on “precautions” Apple is taking, such as the “security features of the chips it uses in its data centers,” and that no user profiles will be created based on in customer data.
With either processing path, it's clear that privacy will be front and center, and Apple will use it to differentiate itself from its competitors. It could also help drive more people to opt for Apple Intelligence, and that, along with really useful features that are considered useful, could help turn the tide here. After all, useful updates to the apps and tools we use every day can help speed up workflows and make tasks easier.
We'll have to wait and see what Apple presents at the start of WWDC 2024 and how it positions AI, err, Apple Intelligence. You can see the five things we expect Apple to reveal, including a summary of all our news leading up to the launch at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on June 10 (3am AEST, June 11).
If you've been waiting for a Calculator app for iPad, it looks like this is the year. VisionOS 2.0 will also bring more environments to Vision Pro and apparently we'll also get new wallpapers for Mac, iPhone and iPad, a dedicated app for managing passwords and the ability to create emojis on the fly.
