Users of iPhone, Mac, and iPad share initial thoughts on Apple's Intelligence feature
In a groundbreaking move, Apple has unveiled Apple Intelligence, a suite of over 20 new features designed to significantly enhance user experience across the iPhone, Mac, and iPad ecosystem. The update, available as a free software update for iOS 18.1, MacOS Sequoia, and iPad OS 18.1, brings about a more intelligent, context-aware, and personalized experience.
Communication Enhancements
The update introduces several communication-enhancing features. Live Translation for Messages and Calls enables two-way automatic translation in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps, allowing real-time transcription or spoken translations across supported languages. Messages Poll Suggestions automatically create polls based on the conversation, while Conversation Backgrounds with Image Playground let users customize chat backgrounds with AI-generated images. Natural Language Search in Messages helps find texts, photos, and links more intelligently, and Voicemail Summaries automatically summarize transcribed voicemails for quick review.
Expanded App Integration and Language Support
Apple Maps now features an upgraded AI-powered search for more effective location discovery. The Shortcuts App gains AI-driven actions across writing tools and image creation. Auto-Categorizing and Suggestions in Reminders organize to-dos automatically and suggest new reminders based on content from emails, websites, or notes. Apple Wallet can now automatically track orders by extracting information from your emails. Support for new languages such as Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese broadens accessibility.
Content Creation and Productivity Tools
Improved Writing Tools available in Mail, Notes, and Messages allow rewriting, proofreading, summarizing text, tone adjustment, and error correction effortlessly. Genmoji enables creating custom emojis from textual descriptions or mixing existing emojis. Image Playground AI image creation has been upgraded to generate higher-quality animations, sketches, and illustrations, useful directly within apps like Messages and Keynote.
Privacy-Respecting AI Ecosystem
Apple Intelligence emphasizes on-device processing for most tasks, augmented by secure Private Cloud Compute for complex operations, ensuring user data privacy without sacrificing performance.
Siri and Visual Intelligence
Enhanced Siri capabilities include better contextual awareness and visual intelligence, allowing users to point their camera at objects or images to retrieve related information or perform actions like adding events directly to the calendar from event posters. Siri can now also open documents or notes using natural language referencing content inside them.
Other Notable Features
Mail's new Priority Messages feature highlights urgent emails at the top of the inbox. The Intelligent Photos App searches for photos and videos, allowing users to search for specific moments and jump directly to them. Apple Intelligence selects the best photos and videos for Memories, organizes them by themes, and builds a cohesive narrative. For iMac users, Apple Intelligence's flexibility to organize the desktop with customizable Siri icons is a standout feature. Users can view message summaries without opening them and tap Summarize for quick insights on long threads.
The 18.1 update is available for iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 series, M1 to M4 iPad, and Mac users. Early impressions of Apple Intelligence among iPhone, iMac, and iPad users are positive, with users appreciating the powerful new writing and summary tools in Notes and Mail, and iPhone users enjoying an improved, more natural Siri and the Focused Messages feature in Mail.
[1] Source: Apple Press Release [2] Source: Apple Developer Blog [3] Source: TechCrunch [4] Source: Wired [5] Source: MacRumors
- With the introduction of Live Translation for Messages and Calls, users can now enjoy real-time conversational translations on their smartphones, enhancing communication across multiple languages, thanks to the advancements in technology.
- The upgraded Image Playground in Messages and Keysnote, driven by AI technology, allows users to generate higher-quality animations, sketches, and illustrations, turning their smartphones into mini-gadgets for creating visually stunning content.
