Apple launched its new iPhone 16 series on September 9, 2024. Exactly a week later, the Cupertino tech giant released the stable version of iOS 18 to the public, but it doesn’t have any Apple Intelligence features yet. As Apple has already mentioned, the first set of Apple Intelligence features will arrive with iOS 18.1, which is scheduled for October in US English. Apple’s suite of AI features will continue to roll out in iOS 18.2 and beyond. Mark Gurman shared a planned timeline for Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.
Apple Intelligence features will be available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any other iPhone 16 models. Initially, users will need to set the device and Siri language to US English on their AI-enabled iPhones. Let’s see how and when Apple plans to launch Apple Intelligence in different countries.
iOS 18.1
When Apple first announced the release date for Apple Intelligence, it said the first set of AI features would not be available to the public until American English via an iOS 18 release that will arrive in October. Apple could squash all critical bugs in iOS 18.1 by early this week, so we can expect a stable version of iOS 18.1 by mid-October.
Here are all the features we’ll see in iOS 18.1:
- Writing tools for rewriting, rereading, and summarizing a text.
- Some Siri improvements like better understanding of follow requests and when you stumble over certain words.
- Suggest replies in the Mail and Messages apps.
- Notification summaries in Mail, Messages, and more.
- Cleanup tool in the Photos app that can identify and remove distracting objects from a photo.
- Summarize web pages in Safari.
- A completely new mode of concentration that reduces interruptions.
- Recording and transcription of telephone calls.
- Create Memories in the Photos app by entering a description.
iOS 18.2
Apple has been testing iOS 18.2 internally for a few months now. With the iOS 18.2 upgrade, the giant will extend Apple Intelligence features to localized English in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa plans to reach bug-free status by early November, so we can expect iOS 18.2 to arrive sometime in December.
Here’s what iOS 18.2 will bring:
- Genmoji: Previewed at WWDC, Apple’s AI-powered emoji creation feature is finally coming to iOS 18.2. Genmoji lets you create custom emojis for any occasion on your device using Apple Intelligence. All you need to do is enter a simple description like “smiley relaxing with cucumbers.”
- Image Playground: With a dedicated Image Playground app, you can generate fun and original AI images on your compatible devices.
- ChatGPT Integration with Siri: With user permission, Siri can interact with ChatGPT to retrieve answers for you. Apple has built ChatGPT into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, and it will be a system-wide feature, accessible through Siri and many other first-party apps.
Other iOS 18.2 features are also in development, including notification prioritization on the lock screen and a new Mail app interface.
iOS 18.3
According to Mark Gurman, iOS 18.3 will likely be a minor update that will be released shortly after the holiday season in the US. It is unclear at this time whether iOS 18.3 will add major Apple Intelligence features. Gurman adds that there are many new Siri features planned for iOS 18.3, so we could see a more polished and refined Siri.
iOS 18.4
Mark Gurman has always believed that some of the announced Siri features, like personal context understanding, on-screen recognition, and deeper per-app controls, might not be available until March 2025. He mentioned that these impressive Siri features will be reserved for iOS 18.4, which is expected to arrive in March.
Apple plans to expand its upcoming AI system to India (English), Singapore (English), Italy (Italian), Germany (German), Vietnam (Vietnamese), South Korea (Korean), and Portugal (Portuguese) in 2025. Based on this timeline, it can be assumed that support for these languages will be added in the iOS 18.4 update.
While it’s not uncommon for Apple to delay some new features, this time around, things have taken a bit of a strange turn. The staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence features is a turnoff. Things are made even worse by the fact that the AI features aren’t even available out of the box on the new iPhone 16 series, which is specifically designed for AI.
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