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Apple on Monday confirmed the general availability of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. The point update is most notable for its inclusion of the first batch of Apple Intelligence features, which the company announced at WWDC back in June.
However, only select Apple devices are equipped to run the new generative AI offering. This includes iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, all iPhone 16 models, iPads with an A17 Pro chip (including the new iPad Mini) or M1 and later, or a Mac with an M1 or later.
After downloading the update, Apple will ask whether you’d like to opt into the feature. Once you do, you’ll be added to a waitlist, a process that shouldn’t last longer than a couple of hours. It’s an unusual move for the company, owing to the remote server requirement for the LLM-based offering. Essentially Apple wants to get its back end ready for some big compute demands.
Not every function requires off-board processing, however. One piece that makes the system unique versus offerings like ChatGPT is its small model approach. The new Apple Intelligence features are trained on a selective dataset aimed at specific functions, rather than the massive, black box approach employed by others.
The first batch of Apple Intelligence features includes integrated writing tools, image cleanup, article summaries, and a typing input for the redesigned Siri experience. iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 — which are currently available as developer betas — will bring another round of features.
These updates will bring an additional list of Apple Intelligence updates, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Image Wand, and ChatGPT integration. Apple has yet to announce a time frame for GA on those updates.
Brian Heater is the Hardware Editor at TechCrunch. He worked for a number of leading tech publications, including Engadget, PCMag, Laptop, and Tech Times, where he served as the Managing Editor. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Juniper.
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