Apple’s commitment to innovation has always set it apart in the tech industry. In 2024, Apple announced its ambitious “Apple Intelligence” initiative at WWDC, promising revolutionary AI-driven features across its device ecosystem. However, as we near the end of 2024, the rollout of these features has been slow, with their full implementation expected only by March 2025. The delay has left many questioning whether the promise of Apple Intelligence is as groundbreaking as initially touted. Here’s a detailed exploration of what Apple Intelligence has delivered so far and what lies ahead.
Apple Intelligence Features: What’s Been Released?
1. Writing Tools
Among the most publicized features, the writing tools use generative AI to enhance and refine written content. Available across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, these tools offer various modes:
- Friendly Mode: Simplifies sentences and adds exclamation points for a casual tone.
- Professional Mode: Delivers concise and formal text without exclamation points.
- Concise Mode: Reduces text length by approximately 40%.
- Proofreading: Identifies capitalization errors and ensures proper nouns are correctly formatted.
- Summary/Table Generation: Attempts to condense long documents or create tables but struggles with extensive texts.
While functional, these tools have limited appeal for users who don’t frequently need professional editing or rewriting assistance. Additionally, the repetitive UI design hinders the user experience.
2. Notification Summaries
The notification summaries feature condenses notifications from apps into digestible snippets. For instance, group chat messages or long app notifications are summarized into one or two lines. Unfortunately, the summarization often fails to deliver practical results, leading to confusion or loss of important details. Many users have found the feature more amusing than useful, and it has become the subject of online memes.
3. GenMoji
This feature allows users to generate custom emojis using generative AI. By describing an emoji in text, users can create unique reactions in just a few seconds. While entertaining, GenMoji has a niche appeal and limited utility, especially for users who don’t rely heavily on custom emojis in their communication.
4. Image Playground
The Image Playground enables users to create cartoon-style images by describing a scene or object. The app offers inspiration buttons and integrates elements from the user’s photo library. However, its inability to produce photorealistic images limits its creative potential, and its usefulness remains debatable outside of casual experimentation.
5. Priority Notifications
Designed to enhance notification management, priority notifications use AI to surface important alerts while minimizing distractions during focus modes. The feature works best in Apple’s Mail app, highlighting high-priority emails. However, its functionality mirrors Gmail’s priority inbox, which has been available for years.
6. Photos App Enhancements
The Photos app now includes a background object removal tool, similar to Google’s Magic Eraser. Users can remove unwanted elements from images with precision and speed. Notably, Apple’s tool often outperforms Google’s by delivering cleaner outlines and more seamless fills, making it one of the standout Apple Intelligence features.
7. Recording Summaries
The recording summaries feature combines transcription and summarization capabilities. Users can record phone calls or meetings, generate accurate transcriptions, and view summaries in the Notes app. While the transcription quality is impressive, the convoluted workflow—requiring initiation through the Notes app—detracts from its practicality.
8. Visual Intelligence
Available only on the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, visual intelligence leverages AI to identify and analyze objects in real time through the camera. Users can ask questions about what they see or perform reverse image searches. While visually appealing, this feature isn’t groundbreaking, as similar capabilities have existed since 2017 with platforms like Samsung’s Bixby Vision.
9. Siri with ChatGPT Integration
Apple has integrated ChatGPT into Siri, enabling it to handle complex queries like creating itineraries or suggesting recipes. Users can access this functionality without needing a ChatGPT account, though advanced features require signing in. While the integration is a step forward, most new Siri capabilities remain under development, with more robust app integrations expected in future updates.
What’s Missing and What’s Next?
Apple Intelligence has a long list of promised features that remain unreleased, including deeper Siri integration for in-app actions. This has the potential to revolutionize how users interact with apps, but its absence leaves a gap in the current lineup.
Evaluating the Promise of Apple Intelligence
Strengths
- On-Device Processing: Apple’s commitment to privacy ensures that all AI computations occur locally, reducing concerns about data security.
- Improved Hardware: The initiative has led to increased base memory in iPhones and Macs, enhancing overall device performance.
- Selective Excellence: Tools like the background eraser in Photos and transcription in Recording Summaries demonstrate Apple’s ability to deliver best-in-class features.
Weaknesses
- Slow Rollout: The staggered release timeline diminishes the excitement surrounding the initiative.
- Limited Utility: Many features cater to niche use cases, failing to appeal to a broader audience.
- Repetition and Redundancy: Overlapping functionalities and inconsistent execution dilute the overall user experience.
The Bigger Question: Is Apple Intelligence Revolutionary?
While Apple Intelligence introduces incremental improvements, it largely builds on existing technologies rather than breaking new ground. Features like visual intelligence and AI-enhanced writing tools are useful but not transformative. Moreover, the reliance on AI for everyday tasks raises questions about necessity versus novelty.
As users, the decision to embrace these features often boils down to convenience versus effort. For instance, would you prefer AI-generated trip itineraries, or would you invest time in curating a personalized plan? The answer varies, but the availability of choice is undoubtedly a step forward.
Conclusion
Apple Intelligence represents a cautious but promising step into the world of AI. While it doesn’t redefine user experiences, it enhances existing workflows and demonstrates Apple’s ability to integrate advanced technologies seamlessly into its ecosystem. As the remaining features roll out in 2025, the initiative may mature into a more cohesive and impactful offering. For now, it’s a mixed bag of innovation, with potential waiting to be unlocked.
Stay tuned as Apple continues to iterate on these features, ensuring they evolve to meet user needs in meaningful ways.