Apple Intelligence was initially expected to debut with iOS 18, but the first features ended up being pushed back to iOS 18.1.
Below, we outline some key facts about iOS 18.1, including when the software update is likely to be widely released to the public.
iOS 18.1: Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence is Apple's suite of generative AI features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The first iOS 18.1 developer beta was released in late July with the first Apple Intelligence features for testing, including new writing tools for generating and summarizing text, suggested replies in the Messages app, notification summaries for the Messages and Mail apps, phone call recording and transcription, and a few others.
The third iOS 18.1 developer beta was released in late August with a few more Apple Intelligence features, including a "Clean Up" tool in the Photos app that can quickly remove objects from a photo and use generative AI to fill in the background, and notification summaries for additional apps beyond Mail and Messages.
Apple Intelligence features that are still not available to try include Image Playground for generated images, Genmoji for generated emoji, and several enhancements to Siri, including ChatGPT integration, richer language understanding, deeper per-app controls, on-screen awareness, and personalized context. In June, Apple said more of the features would be rolled out over the course of the following year, with ChatGPT integration in particular promised to be implemented before the end of this year.
iOS 18.1: Release Timing
iOS 18.1 will likely be released in late October, based on the timing of previous similar updates:
- iOS 17.1: October 25, 2023
- iOS 16.1: October 24, 2022
- iOS 15.1: October 25, 2021
- iOS 14.1: October 20, 2020
iOS 18.1: Compatible iPhones
iOS 18.1 is expected to support the same iPhone models as iOS 17 does, but Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. The features are also expected to be available on all iPhone 16 models, including the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
