Apple has recently showcased an early preview of its new Apple Intelligence suite to developers, sparking both excitement and skepticism.
Despite the hype, the initial features indicate that there’s still significant work ahead for Apple to meet high expectations.
New Features in Apple Intelligence
The first beta version of Apple Intelligence introduces several intriguing features:
- In-Call Recording and Summaries: This feature allows users to record phone calls, which are then transcribed and summarized. Initial tests show it works almost flawlessly, making it a potential time-saver for users.
- Safari Summaries: When Reader Mode is activated in Safari, users receive one-paragraph summaries of web pages and articles. While useful, it may not become a widely popular feature.
- Mail and Messages Enhancements: The Mail app now offers extensive reply suggestions and highlights high-priority messages with summaries. However, text message conversation summaries, particularly in group chats, are less impressive and often not very useful.
- New Siri Interface: Siri now features a new animation glow and the ability to activate “Type to Siri” by double-tapping the bottom of the device. It also maintains better context across queries, enhancing user experience.
- Writing Tools: These tools, akin to Grammarly, help make text more professional or friendly, summarize content, and proofread passages. This feature has shown promise, especially in professional settings.
- Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode: Similar to Do Not Disturb, this mode allows important notifications to come through while silencing others.
Challenges and Future Developments
Despite these features, Apple Intelligence has a long way to go. Many of the initial tools don’t represent groundbreaking advancements. For instance, the Writing Tools, while useful, have been available on other platforms for some time.
Key features like the Genmoji tool, which allows users to create emojis with AI, and an Image Playground app for generating AI photos, are not yet available. These, along with other enhancements like ChatGPT integration and improved Siri functionality, are expected later in 2024 and 2025.
Apple’s Strategic Moves
Apple’s approach to releasing Apple Intelligence highlights its strategy of gradual rollouts. The company plans to introduce these features with updates to iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, expected to launch in October. However, the full potential of Apple Intelligence will only be realized in mid-2025 when all planned features are integrated.
While Apple Intelligence introduces promising new capabilities, the current offerings don’t yet justify the high expectations. Apple’s future updates and enhancements will determine whether it can truly revolutionize the AI space and match its marketing promises.
