Overnight, Apple released the first betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 for select iPhone, iPad, and Mac models. The most notable addition is the beta of Apple Intelligence.
Testing Apple’s personal intelligence system for Mac, iPhone and iPad, which combines the power of generative models with the individual context of the user, is not easy. For example, there is a waiting list, not all features are available and it only works in English in the United States.
What is Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is a personal intelligence system for Mac, iPhone and iPad that combines the power of generative models with the individual context of the user. It uses the power of Apple Silicon to understand and generate language and images, take action in appropriate apps, and understand the individual context of the user.
This makes things you do every day a lot faster and easier. With Private Cloud Compute, Apple sets a new standard for privacy in AI. The company does this by flexibly distributing computing capacity between operations on the device itself and larger models running on special Apple servers. For more information about Apple Intelligence, we would like to refer you to our FAQ with all the details.
Apple Intelligence Beta
Want to test Apple Intelligence in advance? Then there is bad news for residents of the European Union. Apple has confirmed that AI is only available in the United States and not in the EU for the time being due to European legislation. In addition, Apple works with a waiting list, so testing the new features is not an option.
Apple Intelligence in EU
Some time ago, Apple presented their new software updates for the fall with a lot of new iOS 18 features. Unfortunately, there is bad news to report for users living in the European Union. Some features will not appear immediately in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act law.
Apple has added to the Financial Times announce that three new iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia features will not be coming to the EU this year. This concerns iPhone MirroringSharePlay Screen Sharing (remotely control iPhone or iPad) and Apple Intelligence.
Because the Mac is not covered by the Digital Markets Act, you can still try out Apple Intelligence on a Mac with Apple silicon. To do this, after installing the beta, change the language and region to English (US) via ▸ System Settings ▸ General ▸ Language & Region. You can then join the waitlist via System Settings ▸ Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Only in English
Apple Intelligence will initially be available in English only, and possibly only in the United States. Changing the language and region of your iPhone or iPad will not have any effect because Apple can block location-based features. On a Mac, you can do this via ▸ System Settings ▸ General ▸ Language & Region. You can then join the waitlist via System Settings ▸ Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Waiting list for beta
Want to get started with Apple generative language models? You’ll need to sign up for the beta via the Settings app. Apple is maintaining a waiting list so that the features can be rolled out slowly. Developers can sign up to test Apple Intelligence on their devices starting with test versions iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. This software version is only available for supporting devices.
Not all AI features available
Unfortunately, testers can’t get started with all the features of Apple Intelligence right away, some features will only be added in a later version of iOS, iPadOS and macOS. The following features are still available not present in the test version of Apple Intelligence.
- Thanks to Priority Notifications the most important notifications appear on top of the stack.
- A new focus ‘Reduce Interruptions’ lets you focus more on what you’re doing, because only notifications are shown that you might need to respond to immediately.
- With the Image Playground feature Create fun images in no time, choosing from Animation, Illustration or Sketch styles.
- Image Wall generates images in your notes based on context and is powered by Image Playground
- With the help of AI you can create your own Genmoji create. Give a description and the model will make an emoji out of it.
- Automatically generated categories in Mail that automatically sort your incoming messages
- A Clean Up Tool in Photos finds and removes distracting objects from your photo without accidentally changing the subject of your photo.
- Siri is able to understand on-screen content, personal context, and the ability to take more actions within and across apps
- ChatGPT integration in Siri
Features that users can already test:
- The writing aid ‘Writing Tools‘ helps you rewrite, check, and summarize text wherever you type.
- Of Summarize you can select text and have it automatically summarized into one clear paragraph, just the main points, a table or a list.
- With the Rewrite feature you can choose from different variations of what you have written yourself, for example to adjust the tone or to ensure that the text is well suited to the target group.
- A Proofread feature checks your text for language errors, word choice and sentence structure.
- Search in natural language in photos, among other things, by describing a moment
- Looking back making with AI
Download Beta
Before you can receive the betas, you must first activate the beta program on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. You can read more about how to do this here . In addition, anyone can sign up for the developer betas.
Once you’re signed up, you can download the beta on your iPhone or iPad by going to Settings ▸ General ▸ Software Update. The macOS beta downloads by going to ▸ System Settings ▸ General ▸ Software Update. Click here for more information about updating on other devices.