At WWDC 2024, Apple unleashed a blitzkrieg of software updates to put AI, or “Apple Intelligence,” front and center in your iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
After Samsung and Google pushed AI on phones, it’s now Apple’s turn to try and flip the script to make smartphones, tablets, and laptops “smarter” by introducing an AI of its own.
If you woke up this morning hoping for some big hardware announcement, or hell, even a hint or teaser for a new phone or Mac design, it’s best you return to your comfortable cave and hibernate until the next big Apple showcase. Regarding software, Apple Intelligence will be available in most user-end apps with automatic summarizations and AI-enhanced photo editing. ChatGPT is coming to the latest iPhones as the Cupertino, California tech giant is set to make the chatbot accessible anywhere on the phone without needing the app.
If you have no interest in AI, there are a few new updates to get excited about. iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are incoming, promising some long-awaited features. One is the iPhone lock screen update, which allows users to place their widgets and icons where they want. Another is the update to Messenger that will finally enable it to use the RCS protocol. Say goodbye to those green bubbles forever.
Meanwhile, iPads and Macs are getting a few new, unexpected features, like a full-on Calculator app that supports scribbling and iPhone mirroring on macOS Sequoia. Many of these updates are slated for fall of this year, though the betas should start rolling out in the next few months.
What’s Up With ‘Apple Intelligence’
Apple Intelligence is Apple’s Big AI Product for All of its Ecosystem
First on the list is “Apple Intelligence.” The Cupertino company’s AI is just what it says on the tin: an entire ecosystem for navigating users’ lives. There’s a lot going into it, but—eventually—the software should be able to include multimodal AI vision capabilities and work within all the apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The only problem is that we still don’t know exactly when any or parts of these features should be available.
Apple Intelligence can Rewrite or Proofread Text
Apple promises the new AI writing tools can summarize your text and add an easy “TLDR” to the top of emails. Like Google’s Gemini, the rewriting feature could include different text styles to make it sound more “Friendly” or “Concise.” You also have the option to add tables, lists, or summaries to the text. This should work in pretty much all Apple apps and some third-party apps.
Apple’s Emails Will Summarize Important Points Before You Open them
The Priority feature in the Mail app will show you your most important emails or messages for when you have a lot of them coming in at once. These condensed notifications will show this right on the lock screen of your iPhone. This works with a new Focus that cuts down on the number of notifications and only shows the most important ones.
Apple Will Let You Create AI Images, Including ‘Genmojis’
Of course, Apple wouldn’t stay its hand from the AI image generation game. The new Image Playground is built into Pages, Messages, Freeform, and several other apps.
You have three styles on offer: animation, illustration, or sketch, but you have the regular prompt bar to make it create whatever (somewhat disturbing) images you desire. There are also new AI-generated emojis called ‘Genmoji,’ which will come out as a sticker or Tapback. You can also create one of your friends if you trust it enough. Apple promises all its images are generated on-device.
There’s also a new Magic Eraser-like tool in Photos to remove unwanted elements from an image before filling in those missing pixels.
The Apple Intelligence Can Pull Up Your Files and Photos
There’s a lot of big promises coming about thanks to AI. Apple claims their new AI system will eventually let the AI perform rather complex actions, like pulling up photos and files from any of your apps. It should be able to work between apps so that it will know when your meetings are and what your plans are for that day when you ask it to send a text that helps you work around your schedule.
Apple Promises Its AI Won’t Save Your Data
Some of the AI running on Apple’s devices are on-device, but those are supposed to run through Private Cloud Compute. Apple promises to maintain your privacy by determining if a request needs any off-device AI. Then, it will only send parts of the request to the cloud. Apple promises outside agencies will be able to look at Apple’s servers to verify the big privacy claims.
Siri Has a New Look and a Whole Lot More Capabilities
Poor, beleaguered Siri is finally receiving those long-rumored AI upgrades, but we may need to wait a long time to see them in action. The Siri updates will allow the assistant to interact with iPhone and iPad apps far more than it currently can.
For one, Siri now has a new logo and look, making the borders of the screen wavy whenever the assistant gets called up. Siri will maintain conversational context and will be able to work off your previous requests. Now you can type to chat to Siri as well. Double tapping on the bottom of the screen allows you to communicate with Siri directly.
Siri can also take actions happening on-screen. It can also take actions across apps, like adding a photo from the Photos app to the Notes app. Eventually, the idea is that Siri can take specific actions in more apps over time.
The digital assistant should also become more engrained with users’ “Personal Context.” Siri should know your emails, plans, calendar events, and texts to find all the necessary information.
Siri Will Be Your Best How-To Machine for Apple Products
Siri should be able to send you a how-to guide for anything related to your Apple products. This comes baked into Siri and will work with all the most commonly asked questions about Apple products.
Siri Can Use ChatGPT ‘Seamlessly’
While we don’t have a good idea when Siri will receive its most important updates, we know that the current stopgap will be ChatGPT integration directly on users’ devices. The app will be accessible straight from Siri and the new compose feature. You can use the chatbot to generate DALL-E images as well. Apple promises this integration will be powered by GPT-4o for free without paying for an account.
Apple promises your activities won’t be logged, and you can access the ChatGPT paid features if you link your account. ChatGPT integration will be coming to all the Apple ecosystem’s new updates later this year.
iOS 18 is Promising some Long-Awaited Customization Features
iOS Now Supports RCS
As a last-minute note to end its talk about iOS 18, Apple confirmed that the next version of iOS will support RCS protocol. There’s no word yet exactly what form this will take, though Android Authority first recognized that it could be RCS Universal Profile 2.4. This could be the true end to green bubble tyranny, but we’ll learn more as we get close to release.
iOS 18 Lets You Finally Rearrange Your Home Screen Apps
iOS 18 will be a big one for folks who have long demanded Android-like customizability on the iPhone. Now, you can rearrange all your apps and widgets on the home screen however you like, so you can finally frame your background wallpaper without having an app covering up your kids’ faces. Apple goes further by allowing users to set the tint and tone of the app’s icons themselves.
You Can Soon “Lock” Any App in iOS 18
The next iPhone update will allow users to lock and hide apps so anyone using your phone won’t have immediate access without biometric scanning or a PIN. Similarly, you can now hide away apps into a select hidden folder if you don’t want visitors to your iPhone to get into some of your more sensitive apps without a passcode.
Messenger Includes Full Emoji Tapbacks
Are you annoyed you can’t do full emoji reactions to texts like you can on Android? The iOS Talkback feature is receiving full emoji support, so you can respond to your friend’s queries with as many poop emojis as their messages require.
Messenger Text Effects Will Let You Emphasize Certain Words
The Messenger app in iOS 18 is expanding the ability to emphasize words. Now, instead of just emphasizing the names of people or other words, users can use Text Effects to make certain words blow up or jiggle. The app will automatically suggest specific effects for certain words. There are new effects, and you can add them to any text you want.
Messages are also gaining the ability to use text formatting, allowing you to underline, bold, or italicize words or phrases.
Game Mode on iPhone
Mac’s Game Mode is getting a version on iPhone. The mode should automatically kick in while in a game. This minimizes background tasks to put as much processing power into the game. It should improve latency with controllers or AirPods.
Messages Via Satellite
If you find yourself without cellphone service, Apple will let you use your iPhone to text friends and family when off the grid on Messages. You can still send emojis and Tapbacks, and Apple claims its E2E encrypted. This will only be available with the iPhone 14 or later, which comes with satellite support.
Apple Maps Now Allows You to Get Hiking Trail Info
Apple Maps now has access to topographic trail maps, allowing hiking loops on your phone. This will show the overall length and elevation gain of the trail or loop and the various entry points on the app.
Tap to Cash Allows You to Pay Your Friends With Your Phone
Those iPhone users keen on Apple Cash will soon be able to send money to each other using the same action you can use to send folks your contact information. Hovering both phones with the active cash app will send and receive money from your wallet. Additionally, event tickets are being redesigned to show you details about the venue and other essential information.
Photos App is Gonna Look a Hell of a Lot Different
The Photos app now has a new design that shows all your photos in a single grid. You can find different photos based on months or years and filter your photos to eschew screenshots.
The new Collections will let you section different photos into topics like People & Pets or Recent Days. This will let you see your photos in a collage. In selections like Trips, you can find your vacations or travels by date. You can also pin different collections.
The Favorites carousel now shows you a slideshow of photos from various favorite collections.
iPadOS 18 Promises Some New and Unique Features for Apple’s Tablets
Floating Tab Bar on iPad Might Make it Far Easier to Use
Apple is introducing a new floating tab bar for iPadOS 18. It essentially works as an easy-to-access menu that can morph into a sidebar for even more fine-tuned controls. It should work with most Apple apps on the iPad. There are also new animations to accompany this update. Apple added it’s working to make browsing through documents easier on Apple’s tablets.
The new SharePlay update will let you make annotations on a foreign device and act as a remote control for another person’s iPad. So, if you’re trying to describe to your mom how to access her iPad photos, you can use SharePlay and draw an arrow straight to them. Once you get frustrated enough, you can take control.
Calculator on iPad (‘Yay’)
Finally, the iPad is getting a calculator app, but it’s far more interesting than that. It may look like It also works with Apple Pencil. Math Notes comes up from the calculator button, and if you write out an equal sign, it solves it for you, updating it live depending on your different functions. It also works with lists that let you tabulate numbers rather quickly. Notes also have the same math capabilities as Calculator.
Notes’ Smart Script Will Fix Your Chicken Scratch as You Write
The AI will make your writing more legible as you go. The on-board AI should be able to take your loose handwriting and make it a bit more legible while keeping your writing “style.” You can paste it directly into the Notes app, which should mimic your handwriting style.
So, What’s New in macOS Sequoia?
macOS Sequoia Will Allow You to Mirror Your iPhone on Your MacBook
macOS Sequoia is getting a lot of the features you can find on Apple’s other products. Continuity will let you access universal apps on the rest of the Apple ecosystem. More importantly, it will let you mirror your iPhone on a Mac. Users can then select and work on any of the iPhone’s apps. The audio also comes through Mac.
The iPhone stays locked while you mirror it and works with Standby mode. When your phone is connected to the laptop, iPhone notifications will also appear on Mac, and when you click on them, your iPhone mirror will open up.
You Can Place Your Mac Windows into Tiles, Like Windows 11
macOS Sequoia is adding a few new tiling features to make organizing your desktop more seamless. Bringing a window to a corner of the screen should automatically reorient and morph to fit a clean style.
You Can Preview Your Camera When Doing a Facetime
Before hopping into a video meeting, Macs will let you preview what you look like on camera. It is better to help you fix your makeup or remember to put on a shirt. There’s also a built-in background replacer if you can’t access one in whatever app you use.
Passwords App Will Show All Your Stuff
There’s now an all-new Passwords app to act as your one-stop shop for your keychains and important, sensitive information. It should be present across the entire Apple ecosystem. This should contain everything from WiFi passwords to verification codes to Passkeys.
Safari Reader Function Summarizes Text
The new updates to Safari introduce several new AI functions. At the top of the list are AI-generated summaries for the content on web pages. The Reader mode changes the website’s look and brings up a table of contents. There’s no look whether it also removes ads while it’s at it.
Game Porting Toolkit 2 Adds Better Windows Compatibility
Apple first announced its Game Porting Toolkit last WWDC, and now there’s a sequel that promises to make porting more hardcore titles easier to Apple’s framework. The company detailed several new games coming to Mac, including Frostpunk 2 and Control. Assassins Creed: Shadows is also coming to iPad, and Prince of Persia: Shattered Crown is coming to Mac.
How About watchOS 11 and AirPods?
AirPods Can Sense Your Head Nods For Saying Yes to Siri
If you’d rather not be that asshole in the elevator talking on your Bluetooth headset, AirPods will soon get a feature that should track your head movements. If there’s an incoming call, you can nod or shake your head to respond yes or no to taking it. After it rolls out to AirPods, we’ll have to see what other uses this gesture has.
Apple Watch’s watchOS 11 Gets Training Mode
There are a few new features on the Apple Watch for those fitness fans. With Training Mode, an AI algorithm tells you what kind of effort you made during your recent exercise. This might tell you if you were going too soft or too hard on your recent workout. Plus, you can customize your Fitness app to see what kind of data you want to see at a glance.
The Next watchOS Update Includes a Vitals App
The Vitals app will look at your entire health data to check all your health metrics and even tell you whether your drinking has impacted your health. This might show your heart rate and tell you whether that’s in your typical range. If it’s not within normal levels, the app should give you a rundown of what’s happening and what could be causing the issue.
Apple Watch Will Open Up Different Widgets Depending on Context
Apple’s smart stacks will automatically add weather or translation widgets to your main screen if it thinks you need them. This might come up when it looks like it’s about to rain or if you’re traveling around a foreign country.
The Apple Watch Will Determine Which Photos Work Best for Your Home Screen
Like its new TV update, Apple Watches will look through your photos and select those with enough blank space to fit the time. It should also be able to stick the time in front or behind certain photo elements, making it look far more like the photo belongs on the home screen.
If you’d rather not be that asshole in the elevator talking on your Bluetooth headset, AirPods will soon get a feature that should track your head movements. If there’s an incoming call, you can nod or shake your head to respond yes or no to taking it. After it rolls out to AirPods, we’ll have to see what other uses this gesture has.
AirPods Pro Now Have Voice Isolation and Spatial Audio in Gaming
AirPods Pro is getting an update that will add voice isolation to remove background noise for the sake of whoever’s on the other end. Additionally, developers can access an API to add spatial audio for games. This will add a surround-sound type experience to the game, first coming to Need for Speed Mobile.
Is There Anything New Coming to Apple TV+ and Vision Pro?
AppleVision OS 2, the Squeekquel, Will Let You Project Your Mac Screen Into nearly 180 Degrees
Apple released Vision Pro in February, and its first major update of the year is a sequel to the first visionOS coming down the pike just a few months later.
The big new update includes several new spatial photo updates. The Vision Pro can turn 2D images into 3D-ish Spatial photos. You can share those spatial photos with SharePlay. Apple is adding a few new gestures to tap to open the home view or open the control center by turning your wrist. Later this year, Apple plans to update the OS to add better Mac screen integration. This will expand the total view of your projected Mac screen, and with dynamic foveation, it can create a wraparound screen that travels nearly 180 degrees.
InSight on Apple tvOS Will Offer a Few Details on What You’re Watching
Apple’s new InSight feature on Apple TV+ is essentially Amazon’s X-Ray. It lets you get a quick summary of the content you’re watching, plus information about the actors on screen and perhaps a little trivia about the scene as it plays. Plus, there are a few new screensaver animations, like one from Peanuts’ Snoopy, but your photos will now reframed to fit with a timestamp and look like they belong on-screen.
Kyle Barr
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