Apple iOS 18 AI features leaked ahead of WWDC 2024 – Augustman MY

May 30, 2024

18 3 minutes read

It is only a matter of weeks now before iPhone users get a glimpse of the biggest update to iOS in the iPhone’s history. iOS 18 was always expected to shake things up and based on rumours from industry insiders, it seems Apple is sharpening its tools to beat Google and Samsung at their own game.

Generative AI has long been linked to iOS 18 but we all assumed that Apple would introduce it slowly and steadily, as it has done in the past. Based on a new tip from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman though, Apple is going all in on generative AI with iOS 18 and intends to make the iPhone smarter than ever.

But will the iPhone 15 series and its successors beat Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 series as far as Gen-AI is concerned? That’s a comparison we would love to do later in the year once the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 series make it to the shelves.

For now, let’s look at all the leaked Apple iOS AI features and how they could change the way you use your iPhone.

Apple iOS 18 update: Betting big on AI features

With iOS 18, the iPhone will finally embrace generative AI as part of its core operating system. However, a big non-AI change is also coming to iOS 18 and for long-time iPhone users, it is substantial.

Representational Image / Credits: Courtesy Sebastian Bednarek via Unsplash

Homescreen customisation

Ever since the first iPhone broke cover in 2007, Apple has never allowed users to play with the home screen app grid layout. iOS 18 is going to change that by letting people place their app icons wherever they fancy, just like Android. This will be a tectonic shift in iOS’ customisation abilities.

Other than the custom grid, iOS 18 will also allow users to change the colour of the app icons. Gurman says that you will be able to colour-code your collection of apps for easy accessibility, just like Xiaomi’s HyperOS interface. For example, you can colour code your health apps in blue and all the texting apps in red.

4 Gen-AI features that could revolutionise the iPhone user experience

1. Generative AI will attempt to refine the basic user experience with smart capabilities like voice transcription, and retouching photos with AI, making Spotlight searches faster and better and improving Safari’s web search. The AI will also suggest replies to emails and text messages. None of these features are revolutionary but they could make a big difference in the iPhone’s user experience.

2. Siri will utilise Apple’s in-house Large Language Model (LLM) to include more natural-sounding interactions, just like ChatGPT’s latest capabilities after the GPT-4o update. An advanced version of Siri will also be coming to the Apple Watch for on-the-go tasks.

3. As part of its gimmicks, Apple will use its Gen-AI model for custom emojis. Users will be able to create unique emojis using the generative AI model to spice up their chats. Although a similar feature exists on Android’s Gboard, Apple’s take will allow custom emojis to be generated in real-time as you type the message.

4. Summarisation is one of the biggest advancements with generative AI and Apple is going to embrace it wholeheartedly with iOS 18. Users will get summaries of their missed notifications, individual text messages, web pages, documents, notes and various other forms of media.

Again, these are not new to the world of mobile phones but iPhone users will benefit highly.

iOS 18 AI features compatibility

Image Credits: Apple

Although iOS 18 is expected to come to the iPhone 11 series and newer models, the generative AI features are likely to be limited to the newer models.

Gurman says that Apple’s iOS 18 AI features with onboard processing will be mostly compatible with all of Apple’s chips released last year. This means that the iPhones with the A17 Pro chip (iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max) could do basic AI processing on-device.

All the other models, including the base iPhone 15, will rely on the cloud for AI processing.

(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy AB via Unsplash)