One of Apple’s buzziest new features this year won’t quite be ready to go when the latest iOS model launches with the iPhone 16 this September.
Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI tools that marks Apple’s entrance into the overheated artificial intelligence industry, will be included in iOS 18.1 — rather than being available with the initial rollout at launch.
It’s a minor hiccup in the release of Apple’s new software and won’t stop the generative intelligence takeover itself. Here’s what to know about the delay, as well as how Apple Intelligence will soon be impacting your own iPhone and Mac use.
Beta Versions of Apple Intelligence May Be Available This Week
The news is out from a Bloomberg report, which says that the launch of Apple Intelligence will be pushed back a month, from September to October 2024. This gives the company time to continue squashing bugs. The beta will be opening a lot sooner, though: Software developers will be able to access the beta versions of iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 as soon as this week.
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It’s an unusual decision to release a beta version of a 0.1 follow-up software update before the initial version is even available to the public, so this choice seems to indicate that Apple’s pulling out all the stops in order to get its LLM-powered tools bug-free and available as soon as possible.
All the software associated with the iOS 18 launch will need to be ready weeks ahead of the release date, since Apple needs time to install it in the new devices while they’re in the factory.
Apple Intelligence Includes ChatGPT Integrations
The term “Apple Intelligence” covers a broad swath of AI updates: It’ll include an AI-powered re-prioritization of elements like notifications, summaries of web pages and voice notes, a retooled Siri, and integrations with OpenAI’s famed ChatGPT.
Some details have yet to be filled in on the extent of the ChatGPT integrations. As we covered last month, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi has already addressed data privacy concerns during the WWDC keynote.
“Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests. ChatGPT’s data-use policies apply for users who choose to connect their account.” – Craig Federighi
More Apple Intelligence Tools Will Keep Debuting for a While
Even when the iOS 18.1 rollout does debut the Apple Intelligence suite for the first time in October, a few features will still be missing. Siri won’t be able to parse its on-device data in order to custom-fit its answers, and it won’t be able to contextualize its responses by checking what’s on the screen, according to Bloomberg.
Apple’s iPhone innovations have been slow in recent years, and this year’s model won’t be bucking the trend: Physical advancements are minimal, so the main selling point are the software upgrades. The silver lining in the lagging updates to Apple Intelligence, then, is that Apple will continue debuting new software features for months to come after September ends.
