Apple Intelligence is here. But what can it do? Here’s some useful things you can do with it right now on iPhone, iPad and Mac…
With iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple rolled out Apple Intelligence—a bunch of new AI-driven features designed to make your Apple devices even smarter, smoother, and more productive. Think of it as a digital sidekick that helps out with everything from writing emails to managing photos, making Siri smarter, and generally just making life easier.
From upgraded writing tools to a more responsive, context-aware Siri, Apple Intelligence adds a fresh layer of customization and functionality. Here’s a rundown of the coolest features Apple Intelligence has to offer and how they make everyday tasks faster and more intuitive.
What Apple Intelligence Can Actually Do
Writing and Communication
Writing Tools
Apple Intelligence introduces powerful new writing tools that streamline content creation and editing:
- Refine Your Writing: Now you can rewrite, proofread, and summarize text directly in Mail, Notes, Pages, and even third-party apps.
- Generate Content with ChatGPT Integration: Apple has integrated ChatGPT across system-wide writing tools, allowing users to generate content with ease.
Mail and Messaging
Apple Intelligence also elevates communication by enhancing Mail and Messages:
- Priority Messages: Automatically surfaces time-sensitive emails, so you never miss urgent communications.
- Smart Reply: Provides quick response suggestions and identifies important questions to ensure every point is covered.
- Summarize Long Emails: Apple Intelligence can summarize lengthy emails, highlighting the most important information to save you time.
Audio Transcription and Summarization
Whether you’re recording a meeting or transcribing a call, Apple Intelligence brings advanced audio capabilities:
- Transcribe and Summarize Audio: The Notes and Phone apps now let you record, transcribe, and summarize audio, so you can easily recall key points.
- Auto-Summary of Calls: Automatically generated call summaries help you remember important details without taking notes.
Siri and Device Interaction
Enhanced Siri Capabilities
Siri is now smarter and more flexible, with enhanced natural language capabilities that feel more intuitive:
- Contextual Awareness: Siri can maintain context between requests, allowing for smoother, more conversational interactions.
- Type-to-Siri: Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, this feature lets users type commands to Siri for quieter environments.
- Answering More Questions: Siri now answers thousands of questions about device features, settings, and more, making it a comprehensive assistant for all things Apple.
- On-Screen Awareness: Siri can understand and interact with visible content, helping you accomplish tasks based on what’s on your screen.
- New Actions in Third-Party Apps: Siri can now perform hundreds of new actions in Apple and third-party apps, expanding its usability.
Personalized Assistance
Apple Intelligence tailors Siri’s responses based on personal context:
- Customized Recommendations: Siri can suggest recommended podcasts, provide flight information, and more based on your preferences.
- Seamless Integration with Third-Party Apps: Siri works with third-party apps to make task completion smoother and more intuitive.
Photos and Visual Content
Advanced Photo Management
Apple Intelligence also brings several powerful updates to photo management:
- Custom Movies in Memories: Create custom movies in the Photos app by describing the content you want, and Apple Intelligence will curate it for you.
- Natural Language Search: Find specific photos and moments in videos by using descriptive language.
- Clean Up Tool: Remove distracting objects from photo backgrounds to make images cleaner and more focused.
Image Generation and Editing
Apple has added new tools to create and edit images quickly and creatively:
- Image Playground: A feature for creating fun, customized images in seconds.
- Image Wand in Notes: Turns rough sketches into polished images, making it easier to illustrate ideas.
- Custom Genmoji: Generate personalized emojis by describing or selecting a photo, adding a unique touch to your conversations.
Productivity and Organization
Notification Management
Apple Intelligence makes staying on top of notifications simpler and less disruptive:
- Summarized Notifications: Get a summarized view of notifications across apps, helping you focus on what matters most.
- Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode: Only urgent notifications are displayed, allowing you to concentrate without constant distractions.
Spotlight Search Enhancement
Spotlight has been upgraded to offer more powerful search capabilities:
- Improved App Integration: Spotlight now incorporates data from apps, making it easier to find exactly what you need.
Third-Party App Integration
Developer Tools
Apple Intelligence supports third-party developers with new integration tools:
- App Intents Framework: Allows developers to bring Apple Intelligence into their apps, providing users with smarter, more integrated experiences.
- Enhanced Siri Interactions: Siri can now invoke app menu items and access on-screen text in third-party apps, allowing for more natural, versatile interactions.
Privacy and Security
Private Cloud Compute
Apple continues to prioritize privacy while delivering powerful AI capabilities:
- Balanced Processing: By combining on-device processing with server-based models on dedicated Apple silicon servers, Apple Intelligence maintains user privacy without sacrificing performance.
Additional Features
ChatGPT Integration
Apple Intelligence provides access to ChatGPT’s knowledge base and capabilities across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS:
- Generate Content and Images: ChatGPT’s tools can now generate text and images, complementing your workflow with new creative possibilities.
Visual Search
Visual Search enables new ways to interact with the real world:
- Turn Real-World Scenes into Queries: Using the camera, you can convert real-world scenes into actionable queries—available on the iPhone 16 lineup.
Our Take on Apple Intelligence…
With Apple Intelligence and the new OpenAI integration, Apple’s AI-powered features might sound like a dream come true for multitaskers—but not everyone’s thrilled about the trade-offs. Let’s talk about the not-so-great side of Apple Intelligence, starting with privacy concerns and some corporate vibes that feel a little too close for comfort.
Privacy and Security Concerns: Just How Private Is This?
Apple’s decision to bring in OpenAI’s ChatGPT has raised a lot of eyebrows, and not all for good reasons. For one, privacy advocates—and even some high-profile names like Elon Musk—have slammed this integration as a potential “security violation” and even “creepy spyware.” Why? Because ChatGPT and similar tools collect massive amounts of data, and let’s be real—OpenAI hasn’t exactly earned a spotless rep for data privacy in the past. Apple assures us that everything’s secure, but critics worry that OpenAI’s track record might let some sensitive info slip through the cracks.
Data Handling: Who Gets Access to What?
One big question here is around data transparency. Apple hasn’t exactly broken down what data is sent to OpenAI or how OpenAI is handling it on their end. For a company that’s traditionally preached privacy, it feels a bit off to bring in a third-party AI that operates more like a black box. Without clear guidelines on data handling, some experts are wondering if Apple is starting to bend its own privacy rules to keep up in the AI race.
Corporate Concerns: Will Companies Even Allow Apple Intelligence?
For companies in sectors with strict data regulations (think finance, healthcare, government), Apple Intelligence might actually be a dealbreaker. Having ChatGPT and other AI tools deeply integrated into macOS and iOS raises a ton of compliance questions. Companies don’t want employees casually chatting away to ChatGPT with sensitive corporate data, yet Apple’s OS-level integration makes it easy to do exactly that. A recent study even found that a huge chunk of data submitted to these AI systems by employees is classified as “sensitive.” So, for businesses, this could actually be more hassle than it’s worth.
Transparency and Trust: Can We Really See What’s Happening?
Apple’s talking big about “verifiable transparency” for its Private Cloud Compute setup, which sounds reassuring on the surface. But when you dig deeper, some skepticism lingers. Apple says its system is auditable, but will this model really deliver the openness that enterprises need to trust it? It’s one thing to say data is protected in the cloud—it’s another to prove it. Until companies actually get their hands on this model, it’s fair to question how much visibility they’ll really have.
Tech Limitations: Why Is Apple Relying on OpenAI, Anyway?
If Apple’s such a powerhouse, why lean so heavily on OpenAI? The partnership highlights a surprising gap in Apple’s own AI tech, making it clear that they need to rely on third parties for features they can’t build in-house—at least not yet. This reliance not only raises privacy questions but also suggests Apple’s not entirely in control of the AI show, leaving users to wonder just how “Apple” their AI experience really is.
So, while Apple Intelligence comes with a lot of exciting new features, it’s worth approaching with some caution. The AI-enhanced future looks promising, but it’s hard to ignore the questions around data handling, privacy, and how well Apple can manage this growing partnership with OpenAI without compromising the very principles it’s long been known for. The jury’s out on whether Apple can balance innovation with its promises of privacy, but for now, let’s just say I’m watching this one closely.
