Apple Intelligence

Perhaps the most game-changing feature for iOS 18 is one that few iPhone users will be able to take advantage of. Apple Intelligence is Apple’s version of the AI features that many of its rivals have been dipping their toes into for the past few years. However, because Apple is putting its own security and privacy spin on AI, device support will be very limited.

For iPhone users, Apple Intelligence will require an iPhone 15 Pro or later model. We expect the entire iPhone 16 lineup to support it, and likely even next year’s iPhone SE. In fact, it’s unlikely Apple will ever release another iPhone that doesn’t support its core AI features, but that doesn’t mean older devices aren’t being left out in the cold on this one.

So, unless you already have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max or plan to buy the iPhone 16 when it launches next week, you won’t be missing much from iOS 18.0. However, those with supported devices will need to wait until iOS 18.1 lands before any Apple Intelligence features will be available.

Although we know that Apple Intelligence won’t be in iOS 18.0 at all, it’s hard to say right now which features we’ll even see in iOS 18.1. So far, the iOS 18.1 developer betas only include a few of the promised features, such as writing tools, summarization of messages, mail, and notifications, and, most recently, the Clean Up tool in Photos.

More exciting features like Genmoji and Image Playground have yet to arrive. It’s possible these could still appear in a later iOS 18.1 beta, but depending on when Apple plans to have iOS 18.1 ready for the public, these could be pushed off until at least iOS 18.2.

Lastly, regardless of which AI features we’re talking about, Apple only plans to have them available in US English for the initial release of Apple Intelligence. Apple is working on support for other languages but hasn’t said when that’s coming beyond “over the course of the year.”