During the last WWDC 2024, new Apple operating systems were presented, including iOS 18. One of its big new features is in the area of artificial intelligencewhere the company has integrated several of its own models that it calls Apple Intelligence and which include a new Siri.
Apple also announced a agreement with OpenAI, which is the company behind ChatGPT. This agreement, which will also cost neither party anything, simply means that there will be quick access to the chatbot without having to install the application. Of course, it’s not exactly the same as Apple Intelligence.
Differences between ChatGPT and Apple Intelligence
It’s worth starting by explaining what Apple Intelligence is and where ChatGPT is located. The first is nothing other than the Apple Language Model Suite (LLM) which includes many functions of which Siri is the epicenter. And the assistant, in addition to already accepting natural language input, is able to understand the context.
For example, if we have a plane ticket in the inbox of the messaging application, we can ask the assistant what time the flight takes off and/or what time we have to leave the house. Siri is able to search for this information across all our apps and provide us with the exact data.
This is what Apple Intelligence will look like (Image: Apple)
On another side, ChatGPT is always the same ChatGPT that we already know. It is based on GPT-4o, which is the most advanced OpenAI model. And although this is already available in the iPhone application, the truth is that it is limited if you do not pay a subscription, while on iPhones you can resolve any request without limits and without paying anything .
There is also differences in data processing, since ChatGPT runs entirely on OpenAI servers, while Apple Intelligence relies largely on local processing and only part is sent to cloud servers. And on these servers the information disappears, since Apple does not store the data and it travels encrypted, so it is ultimately more secure and private than ChatGPT overall.
How ChatGPT is coming to iPhone
Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of software, while introducing ChatGPT on iPhone (Image: Apple)
Continuing with the above, it should be noted that ChatGPT and Apple Intelligence will be used for different situations. The Apple models are the ones that will appear every time we use Siri, having their great asset in integration with the system and applications to obtain all kinds of information. In ChatGPT, however, we find a chatbot whose great advantage over Apple Intelligence is the possibility of generating texts.
And Example of use is that it aims for specialization in certain areas where Apple Intelligence does not reach. For example, through specialized GPTs we will be able to access very specific information in areas of medicine, architecture or other areas in which ChatGPT is already trained.
To invoke ChatGPT, you will need to click on the bottom bar of the iPhone. Likewise, Siri may also suggest using it when a query is made that ChatGPT is not capable of executing.
This is how iOS will notify us when we access ChatGPT from Siri (Image: Apple)
What will happen in any case is that iOS will warn you that we will access an external service and that we will have to give our authorization. Apple favors the integration of quick access to ChatGPT, but is not responsible for this as they are different models. Therefore, for privacy and data processing purposes, OpenAI is responsible for responding.
It is also worth noting the idea of be able to disable ChatGPT if we wish. This will be in a new settings panel where we can prevent the integration of other AI models other than Apple’s. Because yes, ChatGPT is only the first and others should arrive, although we will see that later in this article.
Which iPhone will have native ChatGPT
There is a similarity here with the models compatible with Apple Intelligence, since they are identical. It’s just these two:
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 16, scheduled to launch in September, is also expected to be compatible with this option. We cannot even exclude that these are models inferior to the 15 Pro for the future, but at the moment this is not the case and, as we will see in a future section, this generates controversy.
When will native ChatGPT be available on iPhone
At the moment there is no deadline for this implementation. Apple has already warned that its new AI functions They will arrive first in the United States and in English. It is not known if it can be used with a VPN or with a US ID if we are in another region.
In any case, for it to reach other languages we will have to wait at least until 2025, which Apple confirmed when talking about Apple Intelligence. And no, as we saw previously, the Apple model is not the same as ChatGPT, but so far everything indicates that one will not be available before the other.
Controversies with native ChatGPT on iPhone
By virtue of all of the above, different controversies have been generated with the arrival of ChatGPT on iPhone. The one who is the fastest the one opened by people like Elon Musk. And the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) harshly criticized this integration and threatened Apple to ban its ChatGPT integration systems from its companies. However, as we mentioned before, ChatGPT can be blocked in the settings, so there will be no more problems for Musk and other skeptics.
Where we find burning controversy is in the fact that ChatGPT does not reach iPhones older than 15 Pro. And the reason why Apple Intelligence will not reach other devices is that only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max have suitable hardware (mainly at the processor and RAM level). However, ChatGPT runs on OpenAI servers and there should be no limitations as there are currently no limitations on its use in the application. However, Apple has not yet expressed the idea of expanding it.
The same thing happens with the language problem. It’s understandable that Apple Intelligence isn’t quite ready to work in other languages yet, but ChatGPT has worked flawlessly in languages like Spanish for some time. Therefore, it would be reasonable to think that it might happen from time to time that Apple Intelligence will be added when it is ready, but this will not happen and it seems to respond more to a commercial policy. Apple must prefer to integrate everything together or nothing, because perhaps they think adding integration with a third party first might lose interest in their own model.
The other big question is whether whether or not it will reach the territories of the European Union. It was recently learned that Apple wanted to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and that with the integration of their models and native access to ChatGPT, they would not be able to comply. Therefore, at the expense of seeing what happens with this, it seems that on the old continent it will take us even more time to take advantage of all these new features.
What other external AI models could come to the iPhone
Image: Google
When the Apple and OpenAI deal was just a rumor, many thought ChatGPT might be the epicenter of Apple’s new AI, but we’ve already seen that that’s not the case. The idea that Californians have is that of turning iPhones into a sort of launcher for AI models. On the one hand, with its own templates and, on the other hand, integrating quick access to others like ChatGPT, while always clearly indicating to the user that they are accessing third-party systems.
This is why we know that Apple is also negotiating with Google and it is understood that the idea is to integrate Gemini in a similar way to ChatGPT. There has also been talk of Apple’s conversations with Meta, although in the latest reports this has been excluded and it is said that it was in fact the company led by Mark Zuckerberg that sought a tie-up with Tim Cook.
Therefore, and although ChatGPT is the only one announced, it is not excluded that in the months and years to come We have the ability to access other AI models outside of OpenAI and Apple. It’s unclear if with identical limitations in terms of compatible devices, but it’s an open secret that this will eventually happen.
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