Updated July 31 with details in regards to the iOS 18.1 beta rollout.
Apple plans to delay the launch of its artificial intelligence features. The release is now expected after the announcement of the iPhone 16 and iOS 18 in September.
Accordingly BloombergApple is anxious in regards to the stability of Apple Intelligence features and wishes more time to repair issues. Apple’s AI tools are expected to be available on iPhones running iOS 18.1 in October, a couple of weeks after the iPhone 16 launch.
Before then, Apple plans to make early builds of iOS 18.1 and iPad OS 18.1 available to developers so that they can test features and fix bugs. This could occur as early as this week.
This implies that the very first iPhone 16 buyers could have to go without a few of Apple’s latest AI features that the corporate announced at WWDC last month, including Rewrite, Image Playground, Genmoji, audio transcription, web page summaries, and a revamped Siri.
Apple has some catching as much as do in developing mobile AI with Samsung, which has already rolled out its Galaxy AI suite of features to tens of millions of current and legacy Galaxy phones. The Korean company’s upcoming update, One UI 6.1.1, is anticipated so as to add much more camera-based AI tools to phones released as much as two years ago.
Google also plans to double down on Gemini features for the Pixel 9, which can launch next month. A recent leak revealed that Gemini’s ability to investigate images and answer questions, make suggestions, or perform actions might be built into the device’s operating system. Read my story about it here.
As Bloomberg points out, the stakes are high here. Despite Apple’s popularity amongst smartphone buyers, a botched rollout of the next-generation technology could live long in users’ minds. Apple AI might be the primary real introduction to generative AI for a lot of iPhone users, and the corporate will wish to avoid one other Apple Maps mess.
Publishing aside, considered one of the interesting points of contention between Apple, Google and Samsung is how much these tools will cost consumers. Apple told me that “they’re free” once I asked the corporate if there is perhaps a charge for AI tools now or in the longer term.
Google has a premium AI tier tied to its cloud storage subscription service Google One, but has long provided AI tools to its Pixel phones at no extra cost. Samsung’s Galaxy AI toolset is currently free, but the corporate has repeatedly said that it’s going to only be free until 2025, without offering any further explanation about what happens after that. If Apple doesn’t plan to charge for its AI tools, it could possibly be ahead of the competition, despite being late to the party.
Update 31 July: The The iOS 18.1 beta is now available for early testers and we will see how Apple plans to bring its AI tools to iPhones within the near future. According to 9To5MacSafari advantages from Apple Intelligence-based summaries of web articles via Reader Mode.
On iPhone, summaries appear at the highest of the article, while on iPad they seem in a sidebar next to the story. Summaries have to be requested by the user; they usually are not robotically generated.
Siri has also undergone some changes elsewhere. It now understands contextual questions. For example, for those who ask Siri to set a five-minute timer, you’ll be able to reply, “Actually, change it to three minutes,” as 9To5Mac The full context of your request doesn’t should be included in every command. This is a feature that Gemini and ChatGPT have long boasted about.
Interestingly, Siri may answer complex questions on Apple products. The company trained the chatbot on a model that features many Apple support documents, so in theory it ought to be easier so that you can navigate the devices and resolve any issues you’ll have.