First Apple Intelligence features ship in iOS 18.1

Background

Apple Intelligence is the name Apple gives to its artificial intelligence (AI) features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. It is not one app but a set of tools built into the operating system, covering text, photos, notifications and the voice assistant Siri. Developers had been testing it since the iOS 18.1 betas began on 29 July 2024 ^[2], so the features were already in testing before the public release.

What happened

On 28 October 2024 Apple released the first Apple Intelligence features as a free update to iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 ^[1]. People with a supported device received them through the normal software update, and the update cost nothing.

The first release included Writing Tools, a Siri that keeps context and accepts typed requests, natural-language photo search, Clean Up, Memory Movies, notification summaries and a Reduce Interruptions Focus ^[1]. Some of these names explain themselves. Natural-language photo search, for example, lets a person find pictures by describing them in ordinary words rather than scrolling through albums. For the exact behaviour of the other features, the official announcement from Apple is the best guide ^[1].

Key details

Siri received the most visible change. It keeps context, which means it can carry the thread of an earlier request into a later one, and it accepts typed requests as well as spoken ones ^[1]. Earlier versions of Siri were mainly used by speaking a command, so typing gave people a second way to reach the assistant.

The features ran only on newer hardware. Apple listed the iPhone 16 series, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPads with the A17 Pro chip or an M1 chip and later, and Macs with M1 and later ^[1]. The names refer to Apple's own processors, so a device that is older than these lists cannot receive the features even if it can install the same iOS version.

Language was another limit. At launch the features worked only when both the device language and the Siri language were set to US English ^[1]. People in other regions and users of other languages had to wait for later releases.

Apple also gave a timetable for what would come next. It said that integration with ChatGPT and Visual Intelligence would follow in December, that English would be localised for more regions that month, and that more languages would arrive in April ^[1]. The announcement did not give the year for these dates, so readers should check the release notes for each later update.

Impact

The launch was the first public step in Apple's AI rollout. It put text tools, a conversational Siri and photo search into the hands of ordinary owners of Apple devices, and it showed how the company planned to deliver AI through its own operating systems rather than as a separate product. Because the release was free and reached devices through the standard update channel, it reached a large number of people at once. Readers who want to understand later Apple AI features should read this launch first, since it set the pattern that the later releases followed.