Apple unveils preview of new AI features, here is what is coming to your iPhones

• New AI features are coming to your iPhone
• iPhone has released the iOS 18.2 developer beta
• The update brings various new features

Ever since OpenAI, Google and Microsoft started focusing on AI, people have been wondering about when will Apple join the race. The Cupertino based tech giant might be fashionably late to the party but it looks like it is here to stay.

The company is doubling down on AI with the latest developer beta of iOS 18.2, packed with new features that are set to reshape how users interact with their iPhones. Fresh off the excitement of iOS 18.1, which introduced a few AI-driven tools like text rewriting and basic photo editing, the iOS 18.2 beta promises an even deeper integration of AI into daily iPhone use. However, only those with newer models like the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 series will be able to take advantage of these features.

Say hello to ChatGPT on iPhone

ChatGPT’s integration with the iPhone was announced earlier this year and has been making headlines. The popular AI chatbot, which was one of the first chatbots to receive such massive popularity, will be coming to your iPhones. ChatGPT is now embedded directly into Siri and Apple’s writing tools.

This partnership allows Siri to outsource more complex queries to ChatGPT, transforming the way users engage with their devices. What’s more? You won’t even need an OpenAI account to interact with ChatGPT on iPhone.

AI-powered writing tools

Apart from this, Apple’s AI-powered writing tools, first introduced in iOS 18.1, are also getting a boost. These tools can now proofread, rewrite, and even suggest new content across multiple apps such as Mail, Notes, and Pages. The new “Describe your change” feature lets users refine their text tone, such as asking the AI to “make it sound more formal,” offering a level of customisation not previously available.

Image Playground and Genmoji

Apple has also rolled out its own image generation tool in the form of Image Playground, a new standalone app. Users can create images based on text prompts, whether from their own imagination or Apple’s built-in suggestions. The app even suggests additional edits—such as adding costumes or objects—based on the content of your photos or even text threads in the Messages app.

On top of this, Genmoji lets users create custom emojis from text prompts, offering an endless range of personalisation. You can even generate emoji versions of your friends based on data from your photos, adding a fun and personal twist to your emoji game.

Moreover, the Image Wand feature lets users remove unwanted objects from their photos while maintaining the integrity of the background.

Visual Intelligence

For iPhone 16 users, Visual Intelligence is an impressive new feature that leverages AI to analyse images and perform real-time actions. This tool can identify objects in images, read text, and even pull up related information—whether that’s translating a foreign sign or identifying a dog breed. Visual Intelligence takes this functionality a step further by integrating with Google Search or ChatGPT, delivering more detailed results on the fly.

In demos, Apple showcased how Visual Intelligence could scan an event poster and create a calendar entry based on the details in the image, offering a seamless blend of image recognition and actionable outcomes. This feature is exclusive to the iPhone 16 models.

How to get iOS 18.2 Beta

Currently, the iOS 18.2 beta is available only to select users, specifically those with iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 models, as these devices are the only ones capable of fully supporting Apple Intelligence features. To access the beta, users need to be enrolled in Apple’s beta programme, which they can do through the Software Updates section of the Settings app. After installation, users can join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist within the settings to activate these AI tools.

For those willing to wait, the full public release of iOS 18.2 is expected to arrive in December, packed with all the new features—just in time to give your iPhone a major AI upgrade.