What devices and features will actually be supported?

Apple Intelligence is coming, but not for every iPhone. In fact, to take advantage of many of the features showcased during the Apple Intelligence portion of WWDC 2024, you’ll need a device with an A17 Pro processor or an M-series chip. This means only iPhone 15 Pro owners (and those with an M-series processor iPad) will receive Apple Intelligence (AI?) updates related to iOS 18, such as Genmoji, Image Playground, a redesigned Siri and writing tools.

Why won’t iPhone 14 Pro get Apple Intelligence?

It’s unclear why older devices using the A16 chip (like the iPhone 14 Pro) won’t work with Apple Intelligence, given that its neural engine seems more than capable compared to the M1. A closer look at the specifications of these two processors shows that the main differences seem to be in memory and GPU performance. In fact, all supported devices have at least 8GB of RAM, which may indicate why your iPhone 14 Pro won’t be able to support creating Genmojis.

While it may not seem entirely fair that owners of the brand new iPhone won’t be able to take advantage of Apple Intelligence features, you’ll still receive a significant number of updates via iOS 18. Here’s a quick overview of what’s coming in iOS 18 and what will only be available when , when your iPhone supports Apple Intelligence technology.

What iOS 18 features will be available on iPhones?

Basically everything covered during the iOS portion of yesterday’s WWDC 2024 keynote will be available on all iPhones. This includes a customizable home screen, Control Center, a dedicated Passwords app, a redesigned Photos app, new Tapback emoji reactions, text effects, scheduled sending, and more. Satellite Messaging is only available on iPhone 14 or later and allows you to send text messages, emojis, and Tapbacks, but not photos or videos.

You’ll also be tied to the same satellite service plan you received when you purchased the iPhone 14. If you purchased the iPhone 14 in January 2024, you received a free two-year subscription to use emergency SOS service via satellite and other communication features satellite which now includes text messaging. This means that to continue sending text messages via satellite after January 2026, you will need to start paying for a subscription.

There’s a whole host of updates coming with iOS 18 that Apple didn’t include in its keynote either, and I’ll be posting a separate guide on that in a moment. Suffice it to say, however, that apps like Maps, Safari, Calendar, and Diary are getting new features that, along with the other changes mentioned so far, add up to a solid OS update.

What Apple Intelligence features are missing on older devices?

In short, all of them. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPad with an M-series chip, you’ll get a redesigned Siri, Genmoji, and Image Playground, as well as writing tools built into the system. This means that tools like proofreading, summarizing, or tone assistance in apps like Mail, Notes, and Keynote are limited to AI-enabled devices. If you don’t have any of these devices, you won’t receive any of them.

The redesigned Siri, which is only available through Apple Intelligence, will be able to understand what’s on your screen to answer your questions contextually. If you’re texting a friend about which baseball player is the best, you can ask Siri (by long pressing the power button or just saying “Hey Siri”) “How many homeruns did he hit?” The assistant will know who “he” is in this context and will understand that you mean the athlete and not the friend you are talking to.

Apple Intelligence also provides the ability to type in Siri – you can invoke this keyboard to talk to the assistant by double-tapping the bottom of the screen.

This also means that the new glowing edge animation that appears when Siri is activated is limited to devices that support Apple Intelligence technology. When you talk to an assistant on an iPhone 14 Pro or earlier, you’ll still be looking at that little ball at the bottom of the screen.

We’ll continue to add to this story as we learn more about Apple Intelligence and iOS 18 during WWDC 2024 this week.

Here you will find all news from Apple’s WWDC 2024.

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