Apple Intelligence arrives with iOS 18.1.
Apple Intelligence just arrived in the iOS 18.1 iPhone update, so there’s likely to be a lot of interest in this new software. How stable is it? How long will you wait for Apple Intelligence to grant you access? And should you upgrade to it at all? All these questions answered below.
Note that I’ll be updating this post over the coming days and will make a final assessment on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Who Is It For And How Do You Get It?
Apple iOS 18.1 works with all iPhones that can run iOS 18, which is the same list of devices which could handle iOS 17. This means all iPhones from the iPhone XS onwards, including the second- and third-generation iPhone SE models.
What It’s About
There are fixes and security issues, but this big update is mostly about the debut of Apple Intelligence. That won’t apply to all users as Apple Intelligence is only available for four phones: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Apple Intelligence introduces new ways to improve your writing on the iPhone and clever ways to tweak photographs to instantly and seamlessly remove unwanted elements.
There are other elements, such as a fix to an annoying bug which was causing iPhone 16 handsets to suddenly and unexpectedly reset on a frequent basis (and if you’ve suffered from this, I’m betting you’ve upgraded already). This is also the first time you’ll be able to record a phone call on your iPhone—and this is not limited to the Apple Intelligence models. The phone can also transcribe what it records. To protect privacy, the iPhone makes an automatic announcement that tells all parties that the recording is happening.
Apple iOS 18.1 Security
There are WebKit flaws, problems with the iPhone’s Kernel and more. The good news is these issues are fixed with this update and even better news is that the chance of these flaws being exploited is low. Forbes contributor Kate O’Flaherty has more details of these security issues here.
Initial Reactions
First reactions to this update have mostly focused on one thing: the Apple Intelligence waitlist. If you want to sign up to Apple Intelligence, you have to apply and Apple puts you on a waitlist until it’s ready for you. This seems to be down to the complexity of enrolling you to Apple Private Cloud Compute, which is where any requests sent to ChatGPT will be sent, for instance. The waitlist seems to vary between 10 minutes and 3 hours, though I’ll report back if this changes.
One user complained that the Apple Intelligence features are only in beta, while another said that once Apple Intelligence had been added that “Battery has drained faster with AI on. I am assuming because of AI and the update, phone will take a bit longer to index.”
As usually happens, there have been complaints of battery drain but these are normal just after an update so I’ll keep an eye on this in the coming weeks. Some new bugs have appeared but these seem very few and far between for now, at least.
Apple iOS 18.1 Initial Verdict: Update
A combination of useful security updates and the lure of Apple Intelligence for supported handsets, plus relatively rare complaints about battery drain or new bugs makes this an easy upgrade to recommend. Final verdict next week, Tuesday, Nov. 5.