At the latest press conference, Apple announced that it will join the ranks of artificial intelligence. There are many questions to be answered about the latest release of Apple Intelligence, some of which we are still waiting for Apple to answer. But this is an important moment - we are about to carry a more powerful Siri in our pockets, which could change our way of life, just like the release of the first-generation iPhone many years ago. Welcome to the era of Apple Intelligence.
What is Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is Apple's new cross-platform artificial intelligence enhancement, which will be applied to the latest iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and is expected to be equipped on every new product in the future.
So far, we have seen generative AI writing like Co-Pilot and ChatGPT (which are usually clumsy), and we have seen the six-fingered monsters that AI image generation can create. However, we are also amazed by the overall rapid progress of this technology.
History tells us that Apple is not afraid to be the first to bring a product to the market, but when it finally unveils its own product, it becomes a major part of our lives, regardless of whether other companies have launched it first or done it better.
iMessage, Apple Maps, Siri, and even Apple Home have become simple and effective tools in our daily lives. If Apple can make Apple Intelligence equally useful for us, it is likely to exist forever, and it is difficult to see it disappear.
What is Genmoji?
Genmoji refers to an image generation technology. In terms of image generation, Apple did not give us a blank prompt line to create anything, instead, it gave us Genmoji! Now we can ask it to generate emojis in any style, and it will generate them. "Chihuahua eating Mexican food" sounds good.
Apple's main focus on image AI seems to be analyzing photos and videos taken by yourself and playing a role in this regard. If you want to find a video of your child scoring the winning goal in a cup final in 2016, it will do it for you. Perhaps it is best to avoid pure image generation because other companies are constantly improving their products almost every week, and Apple Intelligence can easily fall behind.
Siri will become more realistic and will remember what you asked it before. It will have contextual awareness and even be able to see what's on your screen. Siri is basically being reshaped into a useful AI personal assistant here, and Alexa will start to panic.
You will be able to ask Siri where your Uber is or how long your flight is delayed. Yes, you can check it yourself, but now you don't have to.
Privacy concerns of Apple Intelligence
We live in an era where all information privacy needs to be protected. Generative AI is learning from everything you have. Why do you want Apple to have access to everything you do on your phone, tablet, or laptop?
Apple has anticipated this issue. For years, it has touted itself as the king of mobile privacy. End-to-end encrypted messages, refusal to assist law enforcement, etc. - Apple positions itself as the controller of your data. It even allows you to register things with temporary email addresses so that you won't be constantly harassed by spam.
But generative AI is another matter because the processing is usually done at a powerful computer level. Apple says that most AI will be executed on the device - that's why you need the performance of the new phone. More complex AI tasks will be pushed to a private AI cloud, and all content will be encrypted, so no one can access your privacy.
ChatGPT raises questions about this because OpenAI will be doing the training. But your iPhone will hide your IP address. However, we still need to see how this works in practice.
When will Apple Intelligence be released?
Apple Intelligence is now available to developers in beta versions of iOS and macOS. It is speculated that it will be released with iOS 18 in September this year, usually about a week before the release of the new phone. If you have registered for the public beta version, you may be able to test some features in advance.
Can my iPhone/iPad run Apple Intelligence?
There is a limitation here. Most iPhones on the market right now may not be able to run it. Technically, your device needs an M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip, or an A17 Pro chipset.
What does this mean for non-professionals? If you have the current iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, you will get Apple Intelligence with the update of iOS 18. But if you have a regular iPhone 15 or lower, it's time to upgrade.
Current iPad Air and Pro will also get Apple Intelligence because their internal configurations are powerful enough, but the basic-level iPad will not enjoy this feature.
Apple Intelligence is a feature that more and more people will be able to use over time as the upgrade cycle continues. Apple hopes to provide enough content in this area to keep you in its ecosystem for many years to come.
