Apple has released the first beta version of iOS 18.1 to developers – it is available only for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and includes the first set of Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence features: writing and editing text, enhanced email tools, new Photos capabilities and much more.
Image source: apple.com
The first beta version of iOS 18.1 is available only to registered developers, and the release date for the public version has not yet been announced; and you can install it on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – only these phones currently support Apple Intelligence. iPad iPadOS 18.1 has also been released – exclusively for iPad models with the M1 chip and later.
After upgrading to iOS 18.1, users can request access to Apple Intelligence by joining a waitlist in Settings and will be notified once access is available. Not all AI functions work yet, but the list of available ones is quite extensive. It includes writing tools: AI can rewrite, edit, and summarize text in almost any application that works with text. When Siri is running, the edges of the screen light up; you can switch between voice and text interaction with AI; the assistant can now give hints on how to operate the device with any application running and answer any question on how to do something on iPhone, iPad and Mac; it also supports saving context across multiple requests.
A new section has appeared at the top of the Mail application screen – the most urgent letters, for example, invitations for the day or boarding passes, go here. Instead of previewing the first lines of each email in your list, you can request a summary of the emails without opening the entire email. The Smart Reply feature offers quick response options and flags all questions in an incoming email, helping you make sure you don’t miss any. The mechanism for the Focus function has been updated – it will help display only notifications that require immediate attention.
The Photo application has received new features. You can use natural language to search for a photo, and when searching for a video, you can jump straight to the desired fragment. You can also create a whole story from photos and videos, describing it to the system: Apple Intelligence, based on this description, will select the best materials and organize them into a coherent movie. Finally, summaries of text transcripts are supported. Many Apple Intelligence features remain unavailable for now: Image Playground, Genmoji for creating images and emoticons, respectively; notification priority feature, Siri intelligence and ChatGPT integration.