iOS 18.1 Update for iPhone Rolling Out With First Set of Apple Intelligence Features: What’s New

Apple on Monday announced that its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features — dubbed Apple Intelligence — is now widely available for iPhone, in addition to other devices, following the iOS 18.1 update. The features were first previewed at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June but the Cupertino-based tech giant held them back from a public release, even after the introduction of iOS 18 in September. Apple’s latest iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates include additions such as Writing Tools, Clean Up, and automatic movie creation.

Notably, this development comes after months of testing of the Apple Intelligence features carried out by Apple via developer and public beta updates.

Apple Intelligence Compatible Models

According to Apple, Apple Intelligence is available across the entire iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Additionally, the iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later models, and the Mac with M1 and later devices are compatible with the Cupertino-based tech giant’s AI suite. It has been added as part of the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates.

Apple Intelligence Features

One of the most notable additions of the iOS 18.1 update comprising Apple Intelligence is Writing Tools. As the name suggests, the feature leverages AI for proofreading documents with spelling and grammar checks, summarising it and rewriting text for different tones: Concise, Friendly or Professional. It can also present the text in a tabular or list format, depending on the user’s preference. Writing Tools can be used in various first and third-party apps including Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages, and WhatsApp on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

The Photos app on iPhone has also been upgraded with Apple Intelligence capability related to automatic movie creation. Users can now take advantage of the Memory Movie option to create movies related to their prompts automatically. In addition to the extensive visual overhaul of the app, it also gets natural language search, which as the name suggests, allows users to search for media in simple language. Apple Intelligence brings a new Clean Up tool in the same app which is an object removal tool. The company says it can remove unwanted objects or people from images.

Following the update, the new Siri UI that glows around the edges of the screen has also been introduced, when the voice assistant is enabled. It also brings a type-to-Siri functionality where users can converse with the voice assistant via text, in addition to voice prompts. Apple says it has enhanced understanding and can now respond to queries related to device management.

The company also brings a call recording feature to the Phone app. The recorded calls can be found in the Notes app, along with an option to get its transcription.

Apple says more extensive Apple Intelligence features, such as ChatGPT in Siri, Image Playground, Image Wand, Genmoji, and Visual Intelligence With Camera Control, will be rolled out in December.