In This Story
Apple has given developers the first preview of the company’s highly anticipated artificial intelligence features.
The first version of Apple Intelligence was released to registered Apple developers on Monday in the beta version of iOS 18.1, CNBC reported, adding that developers also have access to the features in the beta versions of the iPad and Mac operating systems. The company announced Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered features for apps including its voice-assistant Siri and Safari, at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
The company was planning to integrate Apple Intelligence into its devices through the iPhone iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 releases in September, but is now pushing the roll out back to October, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple is allowing software developers to test the features for stability and bugs. Developers will have to join a waitlist in the settings app to gain access to Apple Intelligence, CNBC reported.
Some of the features in the preview include improvements to Siri’s responses and ability to understand less-clear commands, and AI-generated summaries for native apps, including Mail and Messages.
Bank of America expects “this iPhone cycle to remain strong for longer as AI feature sets (software and possibly hardware) improve in the C25 iPhone (iPhone 17),” research analyst Wamsi Mohan said in a note on Monday. “Given the staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence across regions, we expect the US to be the first to upgrade and then EU/China to follow later in the cycle.”
The release of Apple Intelligence is anticipated to propel the company forward in the AI race, which it has fallen behind in. Apple’s partnership with OpenAI to put ChatGPT-4o into its operating systems is also expected to help it catch up with rivals Google and Microsoft. But while ChatGPT will be offered to Apple users for free, the company reportedly doesn’t plan to pay for the chatbot, and thinks exposure to OpenAI’s technology is equal to or even greater than the money.