Apple has been teasing its new artificial intelligence smarts for the iPhone, iPad and Mac since June but the tech giant has been slow to roll out the new tools to devices. The features are known as Apple Intelligence and include an updated Siri smart assistant, notification summaries, ways to compose, edit or summarise text and audio, as well as bespoke emoji and image creation.
Some of these features are already available in the UK, but only if you have your iPhone set to US English – otherwise the update won’t appear. But very soon you’ll be able to access Apple Intelligence even if you have your device set to UK English.
“In December, Apple Intelligence will be available for localised English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K,” Apple promised back in October.
All signs point to this promise being kept just in time for you to enjoy Apple Intelligence for Christmas, but there is a catch. Not all existing Apple devices are able to access Apple Intelligence. In fact, very few iPhones will be able to download the big free update that Apple is promising
Apple Intelligence is only compatible with the following devices:
iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later, and Mac with M1 and later.
That means even if you have an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus, both of which were released in 2023, you’re out of luck. These models have Apple’s A16 processors, and the restrictions are because Apple has decided any iPhones with this chipset or older won’t be able to cope with the processing power needed for AI.
The iPhone 15 Pro makes the cut with its A17 Pro chipset. Any new iPhones, iPads and Macs from this point forward are likely to be compatible with Apple Intelligence. Interestingly, all iPads and Macs with any series of M chips inside can run Apple Intelligence, even the M1 MacBook Air from 2020.
Express.co.uk has taken one for the team and set our iPhone to US English to dabble in Apple Intelligence prior to its official UK release. We’ve seen the new Siri design, which when called upon attractively illuminates the edges of the phone’s screen in a rainbow of colour instead of the small swirling blob that used to appear. We can’t say we’ve found Apple’s voice assistant all that more intelligent, though. Perhaps that’ll come when all the new features are fully rolled out and integrated.
Summaries of notifications have proven quite funny rather than totally useful. This feature uses AI to summarise what has been said in any messaging app if you’ve got a stack of messages unread, whether it’s from one person or a group chat. Occasionally they are accurate, but most of the time they don’t make total sense, and you have to open the stack and read all the notifications anyway. We’re hoping for some performance improvements.
If you want to dip your toe in the AI pond over Christmas but your Apple devices are not compatible, you’ll have to hope Santa will put one of the latest iPhones in your stocking.
