Apple Intelligence - page 3

Image Wand is a new feature in Apple Notes that turns rough sketches into full images — and creates images from scratch based on text prompts. Granted, it’s powered by Image Playground, so the imagery it creates isn’t exactly state of the art. Apple’s image-making tools still lag other AI systems. But if you’re a struggling artist, it may improve your squiggles.

Image Wand is part of Apple Intelligence, the growing set of AI features that work on the latest iPhones, Macs and iPads. It runs entirely on-device, so you don’t have to worry about usage limits, tokens or setting up accounts.

Check out how Image Wand works in the article below, or watch our quick video.

Most of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 lineup may receive a significant memory upgrade that will power the next generation of Apple Intelligence features, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Thursday. The iPhone Series 17 RAM boost will even come to the rumored ultra-thin iPhone 17 “Air.”

Despite all the criticism and negative publicity, more U.S. iPhone users are willing to pay for Apple Intelligence than before. A survey conducted by Morgan Stanley found “stronger-than-expected Apple Intelligence engagement.”

The survey results also suggest that more than 80% of U.S. iPhone users tried Apple Intelligence in the last six months.

In a shake-up aimed at revitalizing Apple’s aging Siri voice assistant, the iPhone giant brought in Mike Rockwell to lead a comprehensive overhaul now in progress, according to a new report. First, the former head of Vision Pro software continues revitalizing the Siri leadership team in the Vision Pro team’s image.

Despite its flaws, Apple Intelligence packs some useful features. Among them, Writing Tools lets you rewrite, summarize, and proofread text using AI.

Sadly, you cannot use Writing Tools to draft your Facebook posts or WhatsApp chats, as Meta blocks the use of this feature in its apps.

Apple’s AI efforts don’t have to be hampered by its commitment to user privacy. A blog post published Monday explains how the company can generate the data needed to train its large language models without the privacy violations caused by Apple itself reading people’s emails or messages.

It’s an indirect, opt-in system that takes advantage of the small AIs the Apple builds into millions of users’ devices.

ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Apple Intelligence are powerful, but they all share one major drawback — they need constant access to the internet to work. If you value privacy and want better performance, running a large language model like DeepSeek, Google’s Gemma or Meta’s Llama locally on your Mac is a great alternative.

Think it sounds complicated? It’s easier than you think. With the right tools, you can run DeepSeek or any other popular LLM locally on your Mac with minimal effort.

Apple rolled out its visionOS 2.4 update as a bit of a surprise Monday. It marks a significant spatial computing platform update, introducing Apple Intelligence features and new content discovery tools for Vision Pro users.

Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.4 for Mac users around the world Monday. The upgrade brings AI-powered automatic categorization of emails in Apple’s Mail app, among other things. Plus, it makes Apple Intelligence available in many more languages and regions.

The launch came earlier than expected — Apple previously said the next macOS version would debut in April.

iPadOS 18.4 also launched Monday with the same mail categorization. Plus, iOS 18.4 reached iPhone users, and visionOS 2.4 arrived as well.

iOS 18.4, which Apple released Monday, brings several significant new features to iPhones. It is one of the biggest updates to the operating system since the initial public release of iOS 18 in September 2024.

Among other things, the update will also introduce a key Apple Intelligence feature that Apple showcased at WWDC24. Keep reading to learn about all the new features in iOS 18.4 — or watch our video. (Apple also released iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4 and visionOS 2.4, which include similar upgrades, on Monday.)

Apple seeded second release candidates of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 on Friday, a day after releasing a second release candidate for macOS 15.4. These follow-up releases likely do nothing but fix bugs discovered in the first release candidates of these operating systems, which Apple released Monday.

When the final versions go live sometime in April, the OS updates will give millions of people around the world their first access to Apple Intelligence (and bring other improvements to boot). But they won’t include the much-anticipated smarter version of Siri that Apple promised last year.

iOS 18.4 will be one of Apple’s biggest updates to iOS 18 since the operating system’s public release last September. It will pack plenty of changes and improvements, like a Vision Pro app, Apple News+ Food and new emoji.

That all sounds great, but these are the five iOS 18.4 features that I am most excited about.

The head of the team developing the promised AI-enhanced Siri had to admit the recent decision to significantly delay the release gave Apple’s reputation a major black eye, according to a report published Friday.

Robby Walker, Apple’s senior director of Siri and information intelligence, reportedly called the delay “ugly” during a recent all-hands meeting with his team. He gave an update on how close Apple is to having the technology ready, but couldn’t promise when it will ship. At present, the “smarter” Siri reportedly still fails to work correctly a significant percentage of the time.

Apple confirmed Friday that the smarter Siri promised at WWDC24 isn’t coming together as quickly as anticipated. After touting the minor Siri upgrades that already rolled out, a company statement ended on a depressing note.

“We’ve also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps,” said Apple spokeswoman Jacqueline Roy. “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”

This confirms multiple previous rumors indicating that users pining for a smarter Siri shouldn’t hold their breath.

The budget iPad, one of Apple’s most popular tablets, now comes with a faster A16 processor, and the base model packs twice the storage capacity. However, for the most part, the iPad 11 — which Apple quietly released Tuesday — stays the same as its predecessor. While Apple made incremental changes to the iPad lineup, there is growing anticipation around MacBook Air rumors, suggesting a significant update is on the horizon.

And, in a surprise move, the tablet did not join the club of devices that support Apple Intelligence.

A week after the first iOS 18.4 beta dropped, Apple released the second beta build. It packs even more changes and brings an iPhone 16 feature to the iPhone 15 Pro lineup.

Below are all the changes we have discovered in iOS 18.4 beta 2 and previous builds so far.

Despite big promises, the Siri experience in iOS 18 is nowhere as good as it should be. An improved Siri reportedly will arrive with iOS 18.5 in May this year, one that is much smarter. However, don’t expect Siri to become like ChatGPT or Gemini until at least 2027.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: A new leak of CAD files gives us our supposed first look at the full iPhone 17 lineup. And, looking further into the future, it sounds like Apple ironed out the final wrinkle that was holding back a folding iPhone. We discuss the latest iPhone leaks and rumors, digging into what sounds good and what sounds bad. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an action-packed gaming experience, Smoke Lara takes you on a thrilling adventure—check out our Guardian of Light iPhone review to learn more.

Also on The CultCast:

• What’s new in the first iOS 18.4 beta? Griffin gives us the rundown on new iPhone features coming soon.
• iPhone 15 Pro users can look forward to Visual Intelligence, one of Apple’s more useful AI tools.
• New MacBook Airs should be coming our way in the very near future.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

You can get Apple Intelligence right now on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. All you have to do is update to the latest developer beta release. You’ll get access to Visual Intelligence, Image Playground, Genmoji and more.

The developer beta of iOS 18.4 enables Apple Intelligence in the European Union for the first time. visionOS 2.4 brings the featureset to the Vision Pro.

Apple Intelligence is compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro and the new iPhone 16 lineup. Unfortunately, older devices (or even the iPhone 15) don’t have enough RAM to support Apple’s Foundation models. Luckily, you can also try it out if you have an iPad or Mac with an M-series or A17 Pro chip.

Here’s how to get it all.

iPhone 16e vs. iPhone 16 — it’s decision time for anyone considering an affordable iPhone. The iPhone 16e, Apple’s newest addition to its iPhone 16 family, costs $599. It iPhone replaces the iPhone SE 3 to become the cheapest Apple smartphone with an A18 chip.

At first glance, the iPhone 16e seems quite similar to the iPhone 16, despite a $200 lower price. So, how does the iPhone 16e compare to the iPhone 16? Should you save your money and get Apple’s newest iPhone? Or pay extra and go for the iPhone 16? If you’re wondering which device best suits your needs, our iPhone for life guide breaks it down in detail.

Apple’s budget iPhone SE morphed into the new iPhone 16e Wednesday, bringing a thorough redesign with a larger screen, longer battery life, a more robust camera, and a processor that can handle Apple Intelligence tasks. It’s a whole new “budget” iPhone, and it comes at a 40% price increase over the iPhone SE 3, at $599.

This is iPhone 16e with our latest-generation Apple silicon, breakthrough battery life, an incredible high-resolution, two-in-one camera system, and the powerful features of iOS 18, all in a durable and beautiful design,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a video about the new entry-level iPhone. However, unlike the standard model, the 16e lacks some premium features like the iPhone 16 Dynamic Island, which enhances user experience with interactive notifications and multitasking improvements.

“iPhone 16e joins the iPhone 16 family as its most affordable member,” he added. “And it has Apple Intelligence, our powerful personal intelligence system with features that help you save time, quickly get more things done, and express yourself in new ways.”

A major visionOS update in April will add Apple Intelligence to the Vision Pro. It will reportedly also introduce an updated guest mode and a new spatial content app.

Apple will roll out these features with visionOS 2.4 in April. The beta will drop as early as the week beginning February 16th.

Apple might push back the launch of a new AI-powered version of Siri after running into unexpected problems during development.

Rather than releasing the upgraded voice assistant in April, Apple might delay the smarter Siri several months or more. Some reports suggest that Apple is adjusting its broader AI strategy, which could also impact other anticipated releases, such as spring loading Mac updates. Read more about the latest developments here.

In the meantime, users looking for a Siri picture of how the AI assistant is evolving can check out the latest updates on its development here.

Apple will rely on Alibaba to bring Apple Intelligence to China. While the Cupertino giant launched its AI features with iOS 18.1 late last year, they are yet to go live in China.

Apple reportedly held talks with several Chinese companies, including Baidu and ByteDance, to power its AI services in the country.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple pulls the plug on a secret AR glasses project. What does this mean for Vision Pro?

Also on The CultCast:

• Erfon discusses the pros and cons of the 13-inch iPad Pro.
• Apple’s latest earnings call yields some astonishing factoids.
• Apple still plans to fix Siri — and to roll out the delayed CarPlay 2.
• We end with a laugh at one of the craziest iPhone cases we’ve ever seen.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.