It’s finally here – sort of. Following the disappointing launch of iOS 18 on Monday without any Apple Intelligence features, today these have finally become available to the regular, non-developer public. But only if you are willing to try out iOS 18.1 (or iPadOS 18.1), as its first public beta has now come out following a period of developer-only testing.
Keep in mind that the beta might have plenty of issues and bugs, so it’s generally not recommended to install on your main device. If you do want to try your luck, then you need to go to Settings > General > Software Update, tap the info symbol next to the Beta updates option and then you will receive the first iOS 18.1 public beta as an over-the-air update like any other. The same procedure applies for iPadOS 18.1.
With this release, you don’t get all of the already announced Apple Intelligence features. They will continue to roll out gradually into 2025. For now, you have the ability to transcribe and summarize phone calls, email prioritization, smart replies, notification summaries, photo clean up gestures, writing tools (proofread, summarize, rewrite), and the newly redesigned Siri – including the ability to type to it.
Other features like ChatGPT integration, Image Playground, Genmoji, and Siri being better at understanding personal context – you’ll have to keep waiting for those.