Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence is an artificial intelligence platform developed by Apple Inc. Relying on a combination of on-device and server processing, it was announced on June 10, 2024 at WWDC 2024 as a feature of Apple's iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia operating systems, which were announced alongside Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence will be free for all users with supported devices. It is scheduled to enter into a developer beta in the United States in late 2024 and will fully launch in 2025.

Models
Apple Intelligence consists of an on-device model as well as a cloud model running on servers using Apple silicon. Both models consist of a generic foundation model, as well as multiple adapter models that are more specialized to particular tasks like text summarization and tone adjustment.

According to a human evaluation done by Apple's machine learning division, the on-device foundation model beat or tied equivalent small models by Mistral AI, Microsoft, and Google, while the server foundation models beat the performance of OpenAI's GPT-3, while roughly matching the performance of GPT-4.

Apple's cloud models are built on a Private Cloud Compute platform, designed heavily with user privacy and end-to-end encryption in mind.

Writing tools
Apple Intelligence features writing tools that are powered by AI, including Rewrite and Proofread. These features help enhance users' writing to make it more friendly, concise or professional, similar to Grammarly's AI writing features. It can also be used to generate summaries, key points, tables, and lists from an article or piece of writing. ChatGPT will be available as part of Writing Tools.

Image Playground
Apple Intelligence can also be used to generate images on-device with the Image Playground app. Similarly to OpenAI's DALL-E, it can be used to generate images using AI, using phrases and descriptions to create an image with customizable styles such as Animation and Sketch. In Notes, users can access Image Playground on iPad through the Image Wand tool in the Apple Pencil palette without having to open the Image Playground app. Rough sketches can be transformed into images.

Genmoji
Using Apple Intelligence text-to-image models, users can create original Genmoji images by typing descriptions. Users can pick people in photos and create Genmoji images that resemble them. Similarly to emoji, Genmoji can be added inline to text messages and can be shared in Messages and in supported third-party apps as stickers or Tapback reactions.

Siri overhaul
Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, has been updated with enhanced capabilities made possible by Apple Intelligence. The latest iteration features an updated user interface, improved natural language processing, and the option to interact via text by double tapping the home bar without enabling the feature in the Accessibility menu. In addition, Apple Intelligence adds the ability for Siri to use personal context from device activities to make conversations feel more natural and fluid.

Mail
Apple Intelligence adds a feature called Priority Messages to the Mail app, which shows urgent emails such as same-day invitations or boarding passes, with AI generated summaries of the email.

Photos
Apple's Photos app includes a feature to create custom memory movies and enhanced search capabilities. Users can describe a story, and using Apple Intelligence, selects matching photos and videos. It organizes these into a movie with a narrative arc based on identified themes. Additionally, users can search for specific photos or videos by description and/or keyword, and Apple Intelligence can pinpoint particular moments within video clips.

Code completion
Apple Intelligence is integrated into Apple's Xcode IDE, starting with version 16. This includes a predictive code completion feature, similar to GitHub Copilot, that runs on-device, using a model specifically trained on the Swift language and APIs. A new Swift Assist chat feature, using cloud models, generates and edits Swift code based on a user's prompt. The on-device code completion feature requires a Mac with at least 16GB of memory to run.

ChatGPT integration
As a result of the company's partnership with OpenAI, Apple Intelligence also includes a system-wide integration with ChatGPT, allowing Siri to determine when to send certain complex user requests to ChatGPT. This system-wide integration is powered by GPT-4o. ChatGPT integration is opt-in by default, with users being prompted before any data or photos are sent to ChatGPT servers and IP addresses being obscured when requests are sent to OpenAI's servers. Using ChatGPT features are free for all users without needing to sign in, however paid subscribers can sign in to gain access to paid features systemwide. Apple plans to integrate other models such as Google's Gemini into the system in the future.

Background
Apple first implemented artificial intelligence features in its products with the release of Siri in the iPhone 4S in 2011. In the years after its release, Apple engaged in efforts to ensure its artificial intelligence operations remained covert; according to University of California, Berkeley professor Trevor Darrell, the company's secrecy deterred graduate students. The company started expanding its artificial intelligence team in 2015, opening up its operations by publishing more scientific papers and joining AI industry research groups. Apple reportedly acquired more AI companies from 2016 to 2020. In 2017, Apple released the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X with the A11 Bionic processor, which featured its first dedicated Neural Engine for accelerating common machine learning tasks. Despite its investments in artificial intelligence, Siri was criticized both by reviewers and internally at Apple for lagging behind other AI assistants.

The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence and the release of ChatGPT in late 2022 reportedly blindsided Apple executives and forced the company to refocus its efforts on AI. In an interview with Good Morning America, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that generative AI had "great promise" but had some potential dangers, and that it was "looking closely" at ChatGPT. It was first reported in July 2023 that Apple was creating its own internal large language model, codenamed "Ajax". In October 2023, Apple was reportedly on track to release generative AI features into its operating systems by 2024, including a significantly redeveloped Siri. In an earnings call in February 2024, Cook stated that the company was spending a "tremendous amount of time and effort" into AI features that would be shared "later that year".

Supported devices
All Macs and iPads with an M-series Apple silicon processor will support Apple Intelligence with the release of macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18. iPhones with at least an A17 Pro or later will also be supported with the release of iOS 18. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculates that the RAM requirements of the on-device model prohibits Apple Intelligence from running on older iPhone models.

Macs

 * MacBook Air (M1, 2020) or later
 * MacBook Pro (M1, 2020) or later
 * Mac mini (M1, 2020) or later
 * Mac Pro (M2 Ultra, 2023)
 * Mac Studio (M1 Max/Ultra, 2022) or later
 * iMac (M1, 2021) or later

iPads

 * iPad Air (5th generation) or later
 * iPad Pro (5th generation) or later

iPhones

 * iPhone 15 Pro
 * iPhone 15 Pro Max