iOS 18.1 is finally here, but this is not the Apple Intelligence you’ve been looking for

Rejoice, Apple Intelligence has finally arrived! If you have a compatible device (more on that later) you can now upgrade to iOS 18.1, iPad OS 18.1 or macOS Sequoia 15.1 and get your first sampling of the update Apple says will “introduce a new chapter in Apple innovation.”

That sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it? Which is why you might feel a little bit underwhelmed when you first install Apple Intelligence. Don’t get me wrong, the potential for Apple Intelligence is still huge, but after such a strong billing by the Cupertino company what you actually get in the most recent update feels more like a good start, but ultimately, underwhelming. In iOS 18.1 you get Writing Tools for proofreading, rewriting, and summarization, Notification summaries, Clean Up in Photos, and a redesigned Siri.

Hey Siri, don’t make it bad

Yes, Siri now looks different, but it doesn’t behave any differently. Whisper those intimate words, “Hey, Siri” lovingly at your iPhone now and the whole edge of the screen will glow like a multi-colored mating call that reminds me a bit of having a migraine. Subtle it isn’t, but unfortunately Siri is not any smarter than it used to be. Sure, it can still time your boiled eggs, but ask it anything more complex and it immediately reverts to sicking up a platter of, “Here’s what I found on the web”, search results. We’re supposed to be getting proper ChatGPT integration into Siri too, but it’s not here yet. Expect to see ChatGPT in Siri with iOS 18.2 by the end of the year, followed by the major Siri upgrade with personal context and on-screen awareness next year.

The feature most people associate with AI is photo editing, and Apple’s update underwhelms compared to what the competition already offers. While Google Gemini, Meta AI, and Samsung Galaxy AI can dream up fantasy landscapes and alien worlds on your phone, Apple can simply remove objects from photos, so far at least. Photo Clean Up is nice, magical even, in the way it can use AI to intelligently fill in the background behind elements of the photo you want to remove, but it just feels like an improved photo editor for taking your ex-partner out of your holiday snapshots without having to embarrass yourself by asking a kindly Photoshop expert to do it for you, not something that lets your imagination run wild with the endless possibilities of AI.

In fact, the AI features Apple has launched so far are all hiding in the background somewhere. You have to tap on the right icon to reveal them. It’s almost as if Apple is embarrassed by them. If you want to summarize an email in Mail, for example, you have to pull the message down to reveal a hidden tab with a Summarize button on it. The Proofreading tool is hidden behind an Apple Intelligence icon in the menu bar and pretty easy to miss, and so on.

A high bar

Of course, for a lot of iPhone owners, Apple Intelligence will remain simply a pipe dream anyway. The bar for entry on an iPhone is ridiculously high. You need to have the highest spec of the previous generation (an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max) or a new iPhone 16 to take part in the AI revolution. There are easier ways to get a look at Apple Intelligence – any M-series Mac will do the job, as will the new iPad mini (see our iPad mini review) – but the device you want to use it on is always going to be the device you have with you all the time. And that’s your iPhone.

Add to this the geographically scattershot nature of the rollout (Apple Intelligence won’t be available on iPhone in the UK until December and April for the rest of Europe) and Apple’s big bang release is starting to feel like a whimper. Where I live in the UK I have to trick Siri into using American English to activate Apple Intelligence. It’s a relatively simple hack, but it’s a pain having to do it.

Wake me up when December comes

So when will we get the Apple Intelligence we actually want? December, says Apple. That’s when we get Image Playground for creating AI images, Genmoji for creating custom emoji and a more capable Siri with ChatGPT integration. There will also be a much improved Mail app that truly takes advantage of everything Apple Intelligence has to offer.

So, wake me up when December comes, Apple, because then we'll see the proper launch of Apple Intelligence, and that’s what I’m waiting for.

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