What is Apple Intelligence, when is it coming and who will get it? WWDC 24
- 10/10/2024 12:13 PM
After months of speculation, Apple finally revealed Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, dispelling concerns that the tech giant had fallen behind in the generative AI race. As companies like Google and OpenAI raced ahead with high-profile AI advancements, Apple remained characteristically quiet—until now.
Contrary to the perception that Apple was late to the party, it turns out the company had been carefully crafting a uniquely Apple approach to AI, one that’s pragmatic, deeply integrated, and reflective of the company’s ethos of enhancing user experiences without overwhelming them. Apple Intelligence, or AI for short, is not a standalone feature but a behind-the-scenes technology designed to work seamlessly across existing Apple products.
AI-Driven Features Integrated into Apple's Ecosystem
Apple Intelligence isn’t about splashy, standalone apps or services. Instead, it enhances the features users already know and love. The large language model (LLM)-driven technology is embedded into existing applications like Mail, Messages, and Pages, improving their functionality with capabilities like writing assistance, text summarization, and real-time translations.
Apple’s iPhone 16 event in September 2024 revealed more about these AI-powered features, from translation on the Apple Watch Series 10 to visual search on iPhones, alongside improvements to Siri. These AI advancements will roll out in beta in the U.S. this fall, with broader international support coming through 2025.
“AI for the Rest of Us”: Apple’s Unique AI Approach
Apple Intelligence is branded as “AI for the rest of us,” signifying the company’s goal to make generative AI accessible and practical for everyday users. Apple is not reinventing the wheel but is instead leveraging proven AI technologies like text and image generation to enhance user experiences in a thoughtful, non-intrusive manner.
One of the key features, Writing Tools, is integrated across Apple’s apps, assisting users by summarizing long texts, proofreading, and even composing messages based on prompts. Meanwhile, image generation allows users to create custom emojis, dubbed Genmojis, and visual content through the Image Playground app, which can then be used across Apple’s ecosystem in apps like Messages and Keynote.
A Siri Renaissance Powered by Apple Intelligence
Perhaps one of the most significant improvements brought by Apple Intelligence is the overhaul of Siri. Once a leader in voice-activated assistants, Siri had become somewhat neglected in recent years. Now, with Apple Intelligence at its core, Siri is more deeply integrated into Apple’s ecosystem, providing a seamless, context-aware experience across apps. Users can, for example, ask Siri to edit a photo and insert it into a message without leaving the app—creating a smoother, frictionless user experience.
Siri also benefits from onscreen awareness, meaning it can provide more relevant responses based on the content users are actively interacting with. This is a major leap forward for Siri’s functionality and usability.
Who Will Access Apple Intelligence and When?
Although the features showcased at WWDC are impressive, most users will have to wait to experience them. Apple Intelligence will launch in beta in October, exclusively for U.S. users, with support for English. Additional languages and regions—including localized English in Australia, the U.K., Canada, and South Africa—will follow later in 2024, with more global rollouts planned for 2025.
Initially, Apple Intelligence will be available only on certain M1-powered devices or higher, such as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad Pro, and MacBook Pro (M1 or later). Notably, only the Pro versions of the iPhone 15 will support Apple Intelligence, likely due to the processing demands of its AI functions.
A Tailored Approach with Private Cloud Compute
Apple’s approach to AI model training is refreshingly tailored. Rather than following the more resource-intensive methods employed by other tech giants, Apple focuses on bespoke, task-specific datasets to train its AI models. This strategy allows many AI tasks to be performed on-device, reducing the need for large-scale cloud computing.
However, for more complex queries, Apple offers Private Cloud Compute, running on Apple’s own servers powered by Apple Silicon. This infrastructure ensures that even remote AI processing adheres to the same privacy standards as on-device tasks, maintaining Apple’s commitment to user data protection.
Partnerships and the Future of Apple Intelligence
One surprising takeaway from Apple’s WWDC announcements was the revelation of an OpenAI partnership. Although some had speculated that OpenAI would be a core part of Apple Intelligence, it turns out that the partnership is more about providing an alternative platform for tasks Apple’s AI isn’t designed to handle. For instance, users will be able to access ChatGPT alongside Apple’s own AI tools, with premium features available to those with paid OpenAI accounts.
Apple has also hinted at additional partnerships with other generative AI services, with Google’s Gemini rumored to be next in line for integration.
Conclusion: Apple’s Pragmatic AI Vision
With Apple Intelligence, the company has taken a careful, considered approach to generative AI. Instead of chasing headlines with flashy new AI features, Apple has focused on integrating AI into its existing ecosystem in ways that are genuinely useful and user-friendly. Whether through enhancing Siri, improving writing tools, or offering seamless image generation, Apple is ensuring that its AI serves to enhance the user experience—without the complexity or resource drain that can come with other AI platforms.
As Apple continues to refine and expand its AI offerings, the company is poised to lead in delivering AI-powered tools that feel intuitive, seamless, and, above all, designed for everyday use.
