We are a week away from the presentation of iOS 18 and we already know that artificial intelligence will be the main protagonist this year. The question we all ask ourselves is Which devices will be compatible with this new feature? Well, it looks like we have the answer and we’ll tell you.
Two types of artificial intelligence
When we talk about artificial intelligence (AI), most of those who don’t know it in depth think directly of applications like chatGPT, to which we ask something and offer us an answer that can range from a summary of news to an image with the details we requested. But AI goes much further, because it will also be used to edit photographs, create messages or predictive text as you write, transcribe audio, etc. Both models will be present in iOS 18 in two forms: local and in the cloud. Local artificial intelligence will be implemented in tasks such as editing photographs to offer more accurate colors, eliminating unwanted people or objects, or the ability to summarize emails. Artificial intelligence in the cloud will go through Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant which will finally improve with more advanced functions adapted to what we ask, and which will do it by connecting to Apple’s servers which will be those who actually run this AI.
P.For local AI we will need powerful processors, with a larger amount of RAM, while for AI in the cloud we will not need anything because all the work will be done at the server level. The first, when carried out inside the device, will be used for tasks in which privacy must be the priority, since not all information will leave our iPhone, while the The second offers the advantage of being able to use any device because the power of the processor, battery or RAM will not matter. Of course, we will need an adequate internet connection and wait times will surely be longer.
Compatible devices
Once we know the two versions of AI that Apple will offer us with its update to iOS 18 (and macOS 15) we can understand a little better the devices that will be compatible with each of them. Hardware is going to be important in this decision, aside from the obvious reasons of always offer the best features on the most modern devices to encourage the renewal of our iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Local artificial intelligence
- iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (hereinafter)
- iPad Pro M1 (hereinafter)
- iPad Air M1 (hereinafter)
- Mac computers equipped with an M1 processor (hereinafter)
All devices equipped with Apple Silicon processors, from the M1 onwards, will be locally compatible with the new AI, which is very good news. We are talking about computers and tablets that, in some cases, are already several years old, so here I think the majority of users will be quite happy with Apple’s decision. Another different thing happens when we talk about the iPhone, because the iPhone 15, launched less than a year ago, will be excluded from this feature, since Only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will have this new feature. Remember that the iPhone 15 has the A16 processor while the Pro models have the more advanced A17 processor. This is the reason why the 15 are excluded from local AI, but it is still doubtful that a phone marketed for less than a year will not benefit from all the new features of this update.
Artificial intelligence in the cloud
In this case, it is expected that all devices compatible with iOS 18 will have this new functionality. Siri will be the main protagonist of this functionality, but not the only one, since many applications will also be able to use it. If, as expected, from iPhone 11 onwards all devices are updated to iOS 18, this means that many users will be able to use AI on their devices. So if your iPhone is not the 15 Pro or Pro Max, at least you’ll have a really smart Siri, in addition to many other features that you can’t even dream of with your Apple phone right now. As long as Cupertino remembers that there is life beyond English and launches these functions on day one in other languages, like Spanish, that remains to be seen. Hopefully it will be a satisfying keynote for everyone.
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