What you need to know about Apple Intelligence gen AI technology

While competitors Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta are vying to take the lead in the generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) race, the world’s third-largest technology company, Apple, has been conspicuously absent. But that’s no longer the case.

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 event on Monday (June 10), Apple finally entered the battle of the AI ​​generation with the clever marketing name “Apple Intelligence.”

But Apple, two years behind the race, is in no rush to become a leader in generational AI.

The Cupertino-based company takes a balanced approach to deliver next-generation AI capabilities with user privacy at its core, and in the process, leverages Apple Silicon’s powerful multi-core Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to deliver smooth on-device AI performance while reducing reliance on cloud servers.

For image generation and other complex queries, Apple devices connect to their own private cloud computing servers powered by Apple Silicon. All private conversations with Apple Intelligence that are relayed between the cloud servers and the device remain anonymous and cannot be accessed by any organization, including Apple.

Apple Intelligence: Key aspects to know about Apple’s next-generation AI

–Tight integration of hardware and software means Apple Intelligence-based features work seamlessly across the system, including native apps like the Siri digital assistant, Notes, iMessage, Mail, and Photos, as well as third-party apps installed on all your devices, including your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

— Powered by Apple’s intelligence, Image Playground will launch in iOS/iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and enable devices to create photorealistic composite images with text prompts. It will be available as a standalone app and built into the iMessage app. It will initially offer three styles: Animation, Illustration, and Sketch.

–Apple Intelligence will also power the keyboard app’s Genmoji feature, which allows users to generate personalized emojis with text descriptions.

–Apple is also introducing the Image Wand to Apple Pencil for iPad, which can instantly transform rough artwork into visually stunning digital artwork. After drawing an object, users simply use Apple Pencil to circle it, and it is instantly transformed into a photorealistic image.

–Apple Intelligence will also be coming to the Photos app, allowing users to create custom Memory movies with text descriptions. Say, “Create a video montage of my daughter’s growth through the first two years of her life,” and it will instantly create a storyline with unique chapters based on themes you identify, stitching photos together into a narrative movie.

–Another notable addition to the Photos app is Clean Up, Apple’s version of the magic eraser found on Pixel phones, which allows users to remove unwanted objects from the frame to capture the perfect family group photo in public.

–Apple Intelligence works in the background across your system and apps to show only high-priority messages in the Notifications tab, while non-important messages are displayed in summary format on your lock screen.

The Mail app also provides an option to summarize long email threads to get a quick overview of the whole message, and the Smart Reply option helps generate email replies in seconds – users just need to proofread it and tap the send button.

— Enhancements to Apple Intelligence give Siri greater awareness of device owners’ personal attributes, the ability to take actions within and across apps, and product knowledge about device features and settings. Interactions with Siri become more like regular human conversations.

The new Siri Assistant can also provide step-by-step recipe guides on how to prepare food and suggest theme ideas for a child’s birthday.

— Rewrite, powered by Apple Intelligence, will be coming to Notes, Mail and other productivity apps, allowing users to write structured notes, correct grammar mistakes and more.

ChatGPT 4o Integration with Apple Intelligence

For those who want to experience the latest generation of AI technology on their Apple devices, the company will offer the option to interact with OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o, which will be free and will not require users to open a ChatGPT account.

It will initially be available in Siri and Writing Tools, and is free to use, but conversations you have with ChatGPT will be shared with OpenAI.

Every time a user asks Siri a question, they will be given the option to interact with ChatGPT for more refined responses, and users can also choose to receive responses from Apple Intelligence.

A list of Apple devices that can use Apple Intelligence features with Software Updates

Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, iPad Air (with M1 or later version), iPad Pro (with M1 or later version), MacBook Air (with M1 or later version), MacBook Pro (M1 or later), iMac (M1 or later), Mac mini (M1 or later), Mac Studio (M1 or later), iMac (M2 Ultra).