- Apple Intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro and later was released in September.
- However, some AI features, like “LLM Siri,” reportedly won’t be available until 2026.
- The first update included a new Siri interface, enhanced Messages, and Mail app improvements.
Much of the chatter about the newest iPhone 16 models has been about how they can support Apple Intelligence.
There are also still a lot of questions about when, exactly, all the cool new AI features will be fully available.
Apple has touted the iPhone 16 as a phone “built from the ground up” for artificial intelligence. It hit the market in September, and Apple Intelligence began rolling out later that month as part of the iOS 18.1 software update.
The first AI drop included several new features available on the iPhone 15 Pro or later, but some of the tools highlighted at June’s Worldwide Developer Conference won’t come to iOS until 2025 or later.
Although the first AI rollout as part of the iOS 18.1 software update included some tweaks to virtual assistant Siri, Apple is still working to infuse improved large language models into the voice assistant by 2026, Bloomberg reported. The goal is to make Siri even more conversational to rival competitors in the AI arms race.
This “LLM Siri” would compete with AI offerings made by companies like OpenAI and Google. It is expected to be announced in 2025 and released as part of iOS 19 the year after.
Apple has yet to provide a clear-cut calendar for the full Apple Intelligence rollout, but it provided some more details on the timeline when it announced iOS 18.1.
Here’s an estimated timeline for the US English Apple Intelligence release based on what experts on Apple and the company have said since WWDC.
October is the initial Apple Intelligence beta test.
When iOS 18.1 came out in September, it included the option for those with eligible iPhones to enable Apple Intelligence.
Here are some of the features that came in the first drop.
- Updates to the Messages app, including more extensive reply suggestions
- A new section of the Mail app that categorizes high-priority messages.
- The Reduce Interruptions Focus mode — similar to Do Not Disturb, but your phone will allow alerts from messages it deems urgent.
- Email and text summaries in notifications.
- Writing Tools, which will help with summarizing, proofreading, and editing bodies of text.
- A new Siri animation and interface that will make the perimeter of a device’s screen glow, along with a “Type to Siri” feature.
There’s more to come in December.
Apple said more colorful features are coming next month.
- Visual intelligence, which Apple said will “help users learn about objects and places instantly” using their camera.
- Writing tools will get an upgrade, allowing it to apply more specific changes to text.
- OpenAI’s ChatGPT will also be integrated into eligible iPhones.
The new Siri and more languages are coming in 2025 and beyond.
Apple has been promoting a “more personal Siri” in its marketing, but Bloomberg correspondent Mark Gurman reported that it won’t come out for a while.
In one clip from Apple, actor Bella Ramsey asks Siri to recall the name of a man they met months prior. The revamped Siri assistant instantly reminds Ramsey of the man’s name, which is impressive, but the feature won’t be available on iPhone 15s or iPhone 16s until 2025 or later.
It’s unclear if this will come as part of the overhauled version of Siri expected in 2026 or in earlier updates.
According to the company, Apple Intelligence will first be available in American English and will “quickly expand” to other English-speaking countries, including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and the UK in December.
Apple said more languages are coming in April. So far, they include Indian English, Singaporean English, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more.
An earlier version of this story was published September 22.
