Apple Intelligence is Apple's personal artificial-intelligence system announced at WWDC 2024 (10 June 2024) and rolled out with iOS 18.1 (28 October 2024). It integrates deeply with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro and Apple Watch, using the Neural Engine on Apple silicon and — for harder queries — Private Cloud Compute infrastructure also running on Apple silicon. Through 2025 and 2026 it expanded to additional languages (Chinese Simplified and Traditional, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese) and introduced a new generation of the assistant — "Siri AI", set to launch in fall 2026.
At the core are Apple's own foundation models — a small on-device model (~3B parameters) running on the Neural Engine, and a larger server-side model hosted on Private Cloud Compute. For queries requiring broader world knowledge, the system can optionally hand off to ChatGPT (OpenAI GPT-4o / GPT-5) — always with explicit user consent, IP addresses obfuscated and OpenAI not retaining queries. Third-party developers tap into the same on-device model via the Foundation Models Framework — no per-request cost, offline capable.
End-user features include: the new Siri AI (back-and-forth conversations, personal context, in-app actions, dedicated Siri app with conversation history, CarPlay mode), Write with Siri (proofreading, tone rewriting, drafting, matching the user's own style), Image Playground with Genmoji and Image Wand, photo editing (Spatial Reframing, Extend, enhanced Clean Up), Visual Intelligence in the iPhone camera and across iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro (dish recognition with nutrition facts, bill splitting, Apple Wallet cards), Live Translation in Messages, FaceTime, Phone and AirPods, Call Context, notification summarisation, priority messages, improved Dictation, Shortcut and Calendar creation from a description, Safari automatic tab grouping and Safari Notify Me, one-tap weak-password updates, HomeKit AI features (camera-clip analysis, event description) and Workout Buddy on Apple Watch.
Privacy is a core architectural pillar — most features run on-device, and Private Cloud Compute introduces a verifiable privacy promise: the code running on the servers is publicly available for independent auditors, user data is not stored, is used only for the current request, and no content is logged. Apple states that no Apple or OpenAI employee has access to queries processed through PCC.
Compatibility: iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max, all iPhone 16 models (16e/16/Plus/Pro/Pro Max), iPhone 17 (17e/17/Air/Pro/Pro Max), iPad Pro/Air with M1 or later, iPad mini with A17 Pro, Apple Vision Pro with M2 or later, MacBook Neo with A18 Pro, MacBook Air/Pro/iMac/Mac mini with M1 or later, Mac Studio with M1 Max or later, Mac Pro with M2 Ultra. Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2, SE 3 support selected features when paired with a compatible iPhone. Apple Intelligence is free and included in the operating system — no subscription. The new Siri AI launches in English in fall 2026 and will not be initially available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS.
