Expected to be at a turning point in artificial intelligence, Apple presented its AI system, Apple Intelligence, on June 10.
At Apple, AI is not used as an acronym for “artificial intelligence”, but for “Apple Intelligence”. This is the name of the generative AI model unveiled by the company this Monday, June 10, during its WWDC.
Available for free on iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, this system “will transform what users can do with our products – and what our products can do for our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
Apple Intelligence “harnesses the power of Apple silicon to understand and create language and images, take actions in apps, and leverage personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks,” Apple said.
A smarter Siri
The main new thing with Apple Intelligence is Siri, which will (finally) become more intelligent. “With richer language understanding capabilities, Siri is more natural, more contextually relevant and more personal,” Apple assured. Benefiting from a new design, iPhone owners will be able to communicate with it by voice, but also by text.
According to Apple, this new Siri will be able to understand the user even if he stumbles over certain words. Integrated into a greater number of applications, the voice assistant will be able to act in them at the user’s request. For example, he will be able to add a new address communicated in iMessage to a contact. Siri can also launch a podcast or provide information to the user, such as the arrival time of a loved one’s flight.
With built-in access to ChatGPT in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, the assistant will additionally have the ability to draw on OpenAI’s chatbot expertise to help users.
New writing tools
With this new system, users will benefit from new writing tools to “rewrite, proofread and summarize texts almost anywhere they write, including in Mail, Notes, Pages and third-party apps”. For example, Rewrite will help them find the right words for a party invitation or a cover letter.
Proofread will check the grammar, word choice and sentence structure to suggest modifications. Users will also be able to select a text to be summarized with key points, a table or even a list using the Summarize tool. ChatGPT will also be integrated into its writing tools and users will be able to use it for free.
As rumors said, it will be possible to generate emojis in messages with iOS 18. Using Apple Intelligence, users will only need to enter a description for a “Genmoji” to be created. They can even use their photos to create Genmojis of their friends or family members.
With “Image Playground”, iPhone owners will also be able to create images in seconds, in messages and elsewhere. The Mail application will offer a new function called “Smart Reply” to allow users to respond quickly to emails. According to Apple, this tool will also be able to identify all the questions in an email to ensure that the user answers each of them.
Limited access
Apple Intelligence will also bring new features to notifications. On iPhone, users will be able to see key details of long or stacked notifications right on the lock screen. The most important, or “priority”, notifications will also appear at the top of the stack.
Users will also be able to use a “Reduce Interruptions” mode to stay focused. This will only bring up “notifications that may require immediate attention.”
As rumors said, Apple Intelligence processing will be done locally. However, “more complex queries requiring greater processing power will be executed in the cloud, with private servers called “Private Cloud Compute”.
Note that Apple Intelligence will not be available in France immediately. The system will be launched next fall, only in English and in the United States. We will have to wait until 2025 to use it in France. And you will need to have an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, an iPad or a Mac from the M1 chip to use it.
