Updated October 25 with further details of the new developer beta on its way.
Apple Intelligence is almost here and Apple has just confirmed exactly when. We already knew it was some time in October and now Apple has said it will be next week. And on Wednesday, Oct. 23, Apple has just put the first developer beta of iOS 18.2 live.
Apple Intelligence is just days away.
Although the iOS 18.1 release is highly anticipated, it’s the developer beta of iOS 18.2—set to be the next update unless there are bug fixes that are needed in the meantime—that will likely cause more excitement as it has a lot of new features.
Early adopters of the new software have already commented on features they like. John-Anthony Disotto at Techradar, for instance, has talked about the AI features coming to the Mail app, saying, “While it may not be as headline-grabbing as ChatGPT-integration with Siri, Visual Intelligence, or Genmoji, it’s the mundane use of AI that I think the average consumer will appreciate most. I’ve been using the new Mail app in iOS 18.2 developer beta for roughly 24 hours now, and while it’s still in development it makes me optimistic about Apple Intelligence.”
Disotto’s enthusiasm is because of strong summarizing tools, new categorization and an improved design. Together they have sorted out what was a “mess of an inbox.” He also warns that as this is a developer beta, that it shouldn’t be installed on your main driver. I’d agree, early betas can be unstable or can damage battery life.
While he’s unsure how often he’ll use the summarization tools, he was impressed by how many details it picked up when sorting through a chain of seven messages.
As discussed below, this Mail feature is just one of many new capabilities coming later this year. These include Visual Intelligence which works with the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 series phones. Pressing and holding on the button means the iPhone will share extra information about what the camera can see, or translate a sign, recognize an address or phone number and more. Apple has said that the iPhone 16 was the first to be designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence, and this is an example of exactly that.
While the updates coming in iOS 18.1 are exciting, it looks like iOS 18.2 will be the big one in terms of Apple Intelligence highlights. As well as the details listed below, this update will also have Image Wand, which uses image generation tools to create an image in a note in the Notes app, for instance. If you’ve drawn something with the Apple Pencil on an iPad, for instance, it can turn a rough sketch into a nicer image.
There are also new details which have come to light of a key element of Apple Intelligence: there’s a waitlist. When you update to iOS 18.1, the Settings app includes a new extra called Apple Intelligence & Siri. It’s here that you can sign up to Apple Intelligence. When you do, you’ll be asked to join a waitlist, exactly as those using the developer or public betas have had to do.
During that time, the waitlist moved fast: I waited for all of 10 minutes. That may change when the software hits the critical mass that the general release brings with it. However, if you’ve already used Apple Intelligence in beta, Apple has said you don’t need to wait again.
So, as Ryan Christoffel points out at 9to5Mac, this is a cunning way to beat the waitlist. “You can join the Apple Intelligence waitlist today. How? By installing the iOS 18.1 public beta. Apple just released the iOS 18.1 RC beta today. RC stands for release candidate, meaning the software will likely be identical to what’s released to all users next week… once you install the iOS 18.1 RC, you’ll be able to join the Apple Intelligence waitlist without waiting another day.” Which means that you can then switch to the general release software next week but you won’t have to join a waitlist again.
iOS 18.1 Release Date
Next week means Monday, Oct. 28, Tuesday, Oct. 29 or Wednesday, Oct. 30. My belief is that the exact release details will be 10 a.m. Pacific on Oct. 28.
iOS 18.1: The First Taste Of Apple Intelligence
The first features of Apple’s personal intelligence system are almost here. There’s more to come over the next few months but initial features include writing tools to let you improve what you’ve written. You can proofread your text, and the iPhone can rewrite or summarize what you’ve said. These tools are available across the iPhone, including in Mail, Notes, Pages and in some third-party apps.
Photos has a new clean-up tool which can remove people and things spoiling your shot, and uses multiple machine learning tools to leave the background pristine, like they were never there.
You can already record and transcribe audio, but with iOS 18.1, the capability to record phone calls is added, complete with automatic notifications to participants. A summary is also generated after the call ends.
Siri gains a new design that looks somehow more central to the iPhone experience and will offer a more intuitive interaction.
At first, Apple Intelligence on iPhone will only work with devices with language and Siri set to U.S. English. But Apple has now released a developer beta which will extend this to other versions of English.
iOS 18.2 Developer Beta Now Live
The new dev beta of iOS 18.2 has just gone live and it allows more English speakers to use Apple Intelligence, specifically English for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the U.K.
It also introduces a lot more features, plus refinements to the existing writing tools—you can specify what you’re looking for with a “Describe your change” element.
New features include Image Playground, which lets you create images from a picture in your photo library. You can save these to a new standalone app which will update automatically across devices on the same Apple account.
And iOS 18.2 sees the arrival of the much-anticipated Genmoji to create all-new emoji with just a text prompt. There’s also the first sight of integration with ChatGPT. If Siri thinks ChatGPT could help, it’ll ask if you’d like to be connected to it. Apple has stressed the security protections it has put in place for each request and no ChatGPT account is needed. Visual Intelligence, which integrates with the iPhone’s Camera Control is also in the new beta.
Apple iOS 18.2 will go on general release in December, Apple has confirmed.