Apple Intelligence is about all Apple can talk about this year. The latest products released in the second half of 2024 are all “designed for Apple Intelligence” and each of the ads for the new iPhones focuses entirely on that.
But if you acquired an iPhone 16 in September, you had to wait for an iOS update to benefit from the first Apple Intelligence features. And even if you got one in December after the iOS 18.1 and 18.2 updates, if you weren't paying attention to the new feature cards that appear after the update, Apple Intelligence isn't working on your iPhones.
So, if you're wondering why Apple Intelligence is missing from your iPhone, here's how to enable it.
Apple Intelligence: What you need
To get started, you'll need a compatible iPhone. Apple Intelligence only Works on an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model.
You'll also need iOS 18.1 or later: Apple Intelligence features are released in stages, with even more features coming in subsequent iOS updates throughout 2025. Here's a broad timeline of Apple Intelligence features and when you will get them.
Apple Intelligence is also available on any Apple silicon-based Mac or iPad, as well as the iPad mini A17 Pro with macOS 15.1 or iPadOS 18.1 or later.
Finally, you should also set your system settings and Siri language to a supported language. Currently these are English (Australia), English (Canada), English (Ireland), English (New Zealand), English (Africa Southern), English (UK) and English (US). More languages will be added in 2025.
Apple Intelligence: enable it
Apple Intelligence is not enabled by default. You need to enable it to get started and you can disable it at any time. To get started, open Settings (System Settings on Mac), then select Apple Intelligence and Siri.
On the next screen, tap Get Apple Intelligence.
Apple
Your iPhone (or Mac or iPad) will begin downloading Apple Intelligence templates for your language. This is several gigabytes and may take a while on a slower connection.
Apple Intelligence: enable ChatGPT
With iOS 18.2, Apple added built-in support for ChatGPT in Apple Intelligence. It can be used with Siri, writing tools and visual intelligence.
Open Settings > Apple Intelligence and Siri and look for it ChatGPT menu under “Extensions”.
To learn more about the ChatGPT integration, including examples of how you can use it and how to sign in to your OpenAI account if you're a ChatGPT subscriber, read our guide.
Apple Intelligence: Find the new features
Once the templates are downloaded and installed, you can start using almost all of Apple Intelligence's features. Some things are automatic, like notification summaries, which analyze related notifications and summarize them into a quick blurb, and mail summaries, which distill longer messages in your main inbox into a blurb that reminds you of the important elements.
Other features you can play with are:
Writing tools: Click the arrow to the right of the text box above the keyboard to open the menu, then select the Writing Tools button (the one that looks like an Apple Intelligence logo with a pencil inside). This will bring up many options, including proofreading and rewriting the text, summarizing and organizing the text, and composing the text, which requires Chat GPT (see above).
Image Playground: This is a separate app that you will see on your iPhone when you install iOS 18.2. (It's the one with a photo of a white kitten inside a bubble.) Launch it and you can type a prompt to get a photo in an illustration or animation style. You can also drag a person's photo to turn it into an illustration.
Genmoji: On the emoji keyboard, you will find a new button to the right of the search bar. Tap it and you'll access Apple's Genmoji creator, which lets you create any emoji you want (with some obvious restrictions) and use it as you would a regular emoji. Once created, it will appear in the emoji list on all your devices.
Image wand: In Notes there is a new tool called Image Wand. When you're drawing a picture, click the new wand tool next to the ruler and you can turn it into a professional sketch outlining what you want it to be.
Visual intelligence: This one is only for the new iPhone 16 models. When you click and hold the camera control button for a second, you access visual intelligence, which will allow you to interact with what the camera sees, whether it's a street sign in a foreign language, a restaurant or a pair of sneakers you want to buy.
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