Apple Intelligence: Here's what's changing on iPhone screens

Apple Markets Apple Intelligenceits host of AI features specific to iPhone, Mac and iPad, such as AI for Others. But how will AI work on the iPhone?

Apple is taking a slow but steady approach by adding new writing features, Siri improvements and AI-powered photo editing with its iOS 18.1 update this week.

Apple CEO Tim Cook rated Apple Intelligence earlier this month, stating that he used it to condense long emails and it saves him time.

“It has changed my life,” he said Wall Street Journal.

These features are a taste of what Apple AI is expected to do – a beta version of the upcoming update, iOS 18.2, unpacks more AI to come, like ChatGPT integration with Siri. iOS 18.2 will be available for general release on December.

For now, iOS 18.1 offers a glimpse of what Apple envisions by bringing AI to the iPhone. Here are some key iOS 18.1 features that will be rolling out this week.

Writing help from AI

If you write an email using the Mail app on your iPhone and highlight the message, a Writing Tools option will appear in the tab containing Copy, Paste, Add Link, and AutoComplete.

Apple's writing tools help users rewrite an email in a “friendly”, “professional” or “concise” way by adjusting for tone and providing suggestions that you can accept or reject.

The feature is available from the same ribbon that contains the copy and paste functions.

The tool also has an option for debugging or summarizing, which can also be applied to Notifications, Messages, and the Notes app. One iPhone user shared in a viral post that Apple Intelligence summarized a sharing text for him in a way that “it felt unreal and dystopian.”

Siri redesigned in iOS 18.1

Siri has a new look: Instead of a glowing orb at the bottom of the screen, Siri will appear as a light around the edge of the iPhone, wrapping around the edges of the screen. You can continue to use your iPhone while talking to Siri and the light will move in response to your voice.

Siri has also been programmed to understand more context. Saying something like “Siri set a reminder—wait, I mean an alarm” won't stop Siri—the voice assistant will set the alarm.

^{iPhone 16 Plus. Photo Credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

Apple has also trained Siri for training documents, so it can now help with tech support and answer questions like, “How do I share my WiFi password?” or “How do I do a screen recording?”

Double-tapping the bottom of the iPhone screen brings up Siri now, and with a keyboard, you can type to ask Siri questions and switch between text and voice. Apple has made typeable Siri available for years an accessibility featurebut AI means that the keyboard can better predict what you might type with AI suggestions.

Photo editing gets an AI boost

Apple has a new Clean Up tool that edits out people or objects from a photo. The AI detects someone or something in the background, erases it, and then fills in the area so it looks like that person or thing was never there.

The tool also applies to shadows and reflections.

This is it The Apple version of Google Magic rubber tool, which does the same and is available for Pixel phones.

How do I enable Apple Intelligence?

The update applies to iPhone 16s and iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Siri device and language should be set to US English.

Go to the Settings app and tap on Apple Intelligence & Siri. Then select Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist.

Can I opt out of the update?

You can opt out of Apple Intelligence at any time, even after you've been waitlisted and approved.

Navigate to Apple Intelligence & Siri in the Settings app and select optout.

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