What’s new in Apple Intelligence – and how to install it in the UK

Apple Intelligence is rolling out on certain iPhones, iPads and Macs around the world. 

The artificial intelligence (AI) now helps Apple users with things like writing, emailing and photo curation.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new era,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook on X.

But, for many users in the UK, it won’t be immediately available until they change their settings.

In order to install Apple Intelligence, in the UK, users with iPhone 16s, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later, and Mac with M1 and later can follow these steps:

• Download the latest system update, iOS 18.1, in settings

• Change the language of the device and Siri to English (US) and then restart the device

• Once it has restarted, head to the Apple Intelligence section of the settings and click to join the waitlist. You may have to wait for a few hours but soon, it’ll start installing

Although a number of features are yet to roll out, the current update does add some new functions.

When you’re writing emails, texts, or documents, there are some new AI features that can lend a hand. They can help you curate your emails, suggest smart replies, and even change the tone of your writing. For example, this paragraph was rewritten by Apple Intelligence to make it sound more friendly.

Users can also search with more natural language in the memories section of the Photos app.

When Sky News tested this feature, however, Apple Intelligence struggled with matching phrases like “kitties napping in the sun” with the many pictures of kitties napping in the sun that were on the user’s iPhone.

There’s also a “clean up” feature to remove unwanted people from photos, but while that is new to iPhones, other devices have had that ability for a while.

“My pixel 4xl has been doing better than this for more than a year,” said one X user on a post showing the process.

While Apple Intelligence is a huge technological advancement for the company, it is not necessarily groundbreaking among its competitors.

Google and Samsung both released their AI systems earlier this year, but Apple elected to wait, hoping its heightened security features would set it apart.

Most Apple Intelligence requests will be processed on the device, and if the request is complex and has to be sent to Apple’s servers, it’ll be encrypted and anonymised.

Once the full version rolls out in December, Siri will be integrated with ChatGPT.

If Apple Intelligence can’t answer your request, it’ll pass it to OpenAI’s chatbot, but users will receive a notification if their request is being sent out of the Apple systems.