The introduction of Apple Intelligence marks the tech giant’s first consumer foray into the artificial intelligence space, with potential to set a new standard for fully integrated, AI-driven smartphone experiences.
The all new Apple Intelligence is officially available for the latest iPhone (iPhone 15 Pro and 16 upwards) devices, as well as iPad and Mac users in South Africa through a free software update, now available with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.
According to iStore, Apple Intelligence is meant to harness the capabilities of Apple silicon – with the M4 family of chip – to understand and generate language and images, perform tasks across apps, and utilise personal context to streamline daily activities, all while setting new standards for privacy in AI.
The release marks the debut of the first wave of features, with additional updates to come in the following months. Apple Intelligence comes with ample productivity features for users; below is three of our favourite tools so far:
- Enhanced writing capabilities: whether you’re looking to refine your writing, and proof or summerise sentences and texts virtually everywhere you write, be it mail, notes or third-party apps, the enhanced writing tools provides different versions until you achieve the tone you want. With improved language capabilities, you can summarise an entire lecture in just seconds, or even get the shortened version of a long group discussion thread.
- Intuitive Siri – with enhanced natural language understanding: the system enables users to experience a more natural and intuitive Siri. It allows smoother, more natural conversations and enhanced contextual awareness. Better still, it can now handle complex or interrupted phrases. For an example, if you say ‘Siri, find the location for my next appoint… oh wait, find the address for my 4pm appointment. Actually, 6pm.”
- Enhanced image capabilities: Lastly, the ground-breaking system makes it a breeze to remove distracting objects from images with Clean Up, as shown in the video above. As an up-to-the-minute online news platform, it’s also thrilling to know we can produce fun, original images in seconds with the Image Playground experience right in the apps. This can be done by creating an entirely new image based on a description, suggested concepts, even with images from your photo library.
Apple Intelligence; availability for South Africans
Available for the local market in South African English from the beginning of December, the system builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of its devices, giving users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy.
“So the devices that we are selling are Apple Intelligence ready, the fact that is available in every single device, from Apple 15 Pro upwards – all the way to the Mac and iPad – means customers can start playing around with it right away,” iStore CEO Chris Dodd said, adding: “The nice thing about Apple Intelligence is that it is integrated into all the apps that customers are used to using on a daily basis. They’ll start seeing it popping out in all these apps and they can immediately start using it without any additional licensing fees. It’s totally free with the devices, so they can start playing with it and hopefully it’ll make their lives more productive and a little easier.”
The system is powered by the A17 Pro, A18, or the A18 Pro chip, which includes the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
