Much of the talk about the new iPhone 16 has revolved around how it can support Apple Intelligence – but there are still many questions about when exactly all the cool new AI features will be available.
Apple has touted the iPhone 16 as a phone “designed from the ground up for artificial intelligence.” It launched on Friday, but Apple Intelligence won’t arrive in iOS 18 until October – and it will still be in beta, Bloomberg reported.
And at first, it will have few features. Some of the AI tools showcased at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June and in subsequent ads won’t be available on iOS until 2025.
Apple itself has not yet provided a clear timeline for the rollout of Apple Intelligence. The fine print at the bottom of the website states that some features are “coming over the next year.”
Here is an estimated timeline for the US-English Apple Intelligence release, based on what experts on Apple have said since WWDC.
The first beta test of Apple Intelligence will take place in October.
Since the iOS update is a beta, iPhone users may be at risk of performance issues and security vulnerabilities. But the excitement around AI will likely encourage some iPhone 16 users to jump at the chance to try out Apple Intelligence.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, here’s what’s coming in the first drop.
- Updates to the Messages app, including more comprehensive reply suggestions
- A new section of the Mail app that categorizes high-priority messages.
- Reduce interruptions focus mode – similar to Do Not Disturb, but your phone allows notifications for messages it deems urgent.
- Email and text summaries in notifications.
- Writing tools that help summarize, proofread, and edit body text.
- A new Siri animation and interface that lights up the edge of the device screen, as well as a “Tap in Siri” feature.
- Short summaries of web pages when using Reading Mode in Safari.
More could be added in November and December.
Even more colorful features could follow later in the fall.
- Genmoji are emojis that can be personalized using a photo and AI to create a mini avatar of a person.
- The Image Playground app allows users to create AI-generated photos.
- ChatGPT from OpenAI will also be integrated into suitable iPhones.
The new Siri and additional languages are coming in 2025 and beyond.
Apple is promoting a “more personal Siri,” but Gurman reports that it won’t be available for another six months.
In a clip from Apple, actress Bella Ramsey asks Siri to remember the name of a man they met months ago. The revamped Siri assistant immediately reminds Ramsey of the man’s name, which is impressive, but won’t be available on the iPhone 15s or iPhone 16s until 2025.
According to the company, Apple Intelligence will initially be available in US English and will “quickly expand to other English-speaking countries” in December, including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and the UK.
Apple said more languages will be added “over the next year.” So far, they include Indian English, Singaporean English, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and more.
