At WWDC 2024, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, its new generative AI initiative, designed to prioritize both safety and personalization. This highly anticipated feature is fully integrated across Apple’s ecosystem.
“Apple Intelligence is designed to understand your routines, relationships, and communications,” said CEO Tim Cook. “It’s more than just artificial intelligence—it’s personal intelligence, with privacy built in from the start.”
Apple Intelligence will be embedded into iOS, macOS, and visionOS, with much of the processing taking place on-device, thanks to Apple silicon. For more complex tasks, Private Cloud Compute will ensure sensitive data is handled securely in the cloud.
SVP Craig Federighi emphasized that Apple Intelligence taps into personal data from apps like Calendar and Maps to enhance the user experience. It uses advanced large language models, performing most computations locally, while cloud support is used for heavier tasks.
A key update comes to Siri, which now allows users to type queries in addition to voice commands. The familiar Siri icon will be replaced by a blue glowing border when in use. App Intents will enable deeper integration with both first-party and third-party apps, enhancing multitasking capabilities.
Apple Intelligence will streamline cross-app functions, such as scheduling meetings without switching between Calendar, Mail, and Maps. It will also help compose messages in Mail and other apps, using Smart Replies—similar to Google’s AI-powered suggestions in Gmail.
New features like Genmoji, a text-based emoji generator, and Image Playground, an on-device image generator in apps like Messages and Keynote, highlight Apple’s creative focus. The Magic Wand tool for Apple Pencil allows users to generate images by circling text, similar to Google’s Circle to Search feature.
Enhanced natural language search capabilities will make it easier to find content in apps like Photos, and Apple Intelligence will help create slideshows with simple prompts. The feature will be available with the latest OS updates—iOS and iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and visionOS 2—and will be supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and M1-powered Macs and iPads.
Apple also announced a partnership with OpenAI, integrating GPT-4 into Siri and other services for image and text generation, without requiring a subscription. The company is expected to collaborate with additional large language model providers, with Google’s Gemini likely to be among them.
