Apple Intelligence arrives in public beta

Apple's long-promised AI features are finally out in the wild, but you will still need a bit of patience to see the full vision.

On Thursday, Apple rolled out the first public betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, marking the public debut of Apple Intelligence.

Anyone enrolled in Apple's public beta program can jump in, assuming they have the right hardware. You will need an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any model from the brand-new iPhone 16 lineup. For now, the system only works in U.S. English, and regulatory hurdles have put it indefinitely on hold across both China and the EU.

Writing tricks and photo erasers

If you have used ChatGPT, the new system-wide Writing Tools will feel instantly familiar. The feature lets you proofread, summarize, and rewrite text across apps in professional, concise, or friendly tones. Inside Apple Mail, you also get automatic message summaries, priority sorting, and quick Smart Replies.

Over in the Photos app, Apple introduced Clean Up, its direct answer to Google's Magic Eraser. You circle an unwanted photobomber with your finger, and the phone erases it while filling in the background.

Photos also gains improved natural language search and the ability to spin up custom Memories slideshows straight from a text prompt.

A glowing Siri that types back

Siri's iconic floating orb at the bottom of the screen is officially gone. It is replaced by glowing edges that pulse around the entire display without blocking your content.

You can now double-tap the bottom of the screen to type to Siri whenever you cannot talk out loud. The assistant is also much better at tracking your intent when you stumble over words mid-sentence, and it now acts as a built-in Apple device manual for tasks like screen recording or resetting an AirTag.

Still, the most ambitious capabilities, like on-screen context awareness, cross-app actions, and Visual Intelligence, remain missing. Apple says more features will arrive later this year.

To try it out, you need to sign up at beta.apple.com, update your device, and head to Settings to join the on-device waitlist.

Why it matters

If you already own a compatible device and handle a lot of English correspondence, this public beta is worth a spin. Having rewrite tools and photo touch-ups baked into the operating system cuts out the friction of juggling standalone AI apps.

However, if you bought an iPhone 16 expecting an autonomous virtual assistant that manages your life across apps, you will probably feel underwhelmed. Most of what is live today is table stakes that rivals like Google and Samsung have shipped for months.

We think launching this beta now is mostly damage control to appease early iPhone 16 buyers who realized the headlining feature was missing on launch day. Apple's strategy of weaving AI quietly into everyday OS interactions is clever, but rolling it out in slow trickles risks blunting the upgrade supercycle Apple desperately needs.