The future of Apple technology will be revealed at WWDC24 and according to reports, the future requires heavy hardware. Apple is expected to introduce Apple Intelligence, its feature set in its operating systems that implement AI technology. Apple Intelligence is designed to do everything it can on your device and will rely on cloud computing only when necessary. And because AI technology is CPU-intensive, that means the latest features will only work on certain devices.
Here are the hardware requirements for Apple Intelligence, as reported by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. This information will be updated once Apple’s announcement is official.
Apple AI iPhone requirements
Apple AI iPad requirements
- iPad Air, iPad Pro (M1, M2)
- iPad Pro (M4)
Apple AI Mac Requirements
- MacBook Air/Pro (M1, M2, M3)
- iMac (M1, M3)
- Mac mini (M1, M2)
- Mac Studio (M1, M2)
- Mac Pro (M2)
What happens if your hardware doesn’t meet the requirements?
Since this is the minimum system requirement to use Apple’s AI features, we don’t know what happens if the hardware requirements are not met. It is also possible that some features may not work with certain chips. Gurman reports that users will have to opt in to Apple Intelligence, which makes it seem like these features won’t be enabled by default and won’t affect the overall experience. With that in mind, users with less hardware can still benefit from new features in iOS 18 and macOS 15, just not advanced AI.
What about the Apple Watch?
Gurman didn’t mention the Apple Watch in his report, so it’s unclear whether the AI features will extend to watchOS 11.
Should users use Apple Intelligence features?
According to Gurman, users must opt-in to Apple Intelligence, which leads us to believe that users are not forced to use these features if they don’t want to.
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