Apple Intelligence: Top new features of the AI-laden iOS 18.1 update for iPhones

The latest iOS 18.1 update finally brings to iPhones, the much awaited Apple Intelligence, Apple's new suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features.

The latest iOS 18.1 update finally brings to iPhones, the much awaited Apple Intelligence, Apple's new suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features.

The new Apple iPhone 16 models on display upon release on September 20, 2024 at the Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles, California. Apple on September 9, 2024 announced a new iPhone built for generative artificial intelligence as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technology race. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

Apple had focused on making Apple Intelligence work mostly on-device to enhance user privacy, just as it had announced at the WWDC 2024.

However, some complex tasks are managed through a Private Cloud Compute powered by Apple silicon, with the company claiming user data would never be stored or exposed and that independent experts can even inspect the code to verify these privacy claims.

What are the new AI features available with Apple Intelligence on iOS 18?

Writing tools

There is now a system-wide set of writing tools compatible across a range of apps including Mail, Messages, Pages, and more.

The tools can be used to polish and refine the text through features like rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing.

Overhauled Mail app

Apple Intelligence can now detect and prioritise time-sensitive emails, while also providing features such as email summaries without having to open each message, and an AI-based Smart Reply feature on the Mail and even the Messages app.

New Siri

Siri becomes more natural and can understand more complex commands, including when users pause while speaking or change sentences in the middle.

Apart from that, users can also type commands after enabling “Type to Siri" mode by double-tapping the bottom of the screen.

Now there will also be glowing lights that wrap around the edge of the screen when the voice assistant is activated.

New Photos app

The Photos app gets a natural language search feature where for example, users can find a moment they are looking for by asking something like “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt."

Users can also remove unwanted objects from photos using the new AI-based Clean Up tool. It can automatically detect unwanted objects or people. Users can also manually circle whatever they want to clean up.

Reduce Interruptions

A new mode called ‘Reduce Interruptions’ has been introduced which only allows important notifications to come through by using AI to analyse the notifications.

Call recording and transcription

The new iOS 18.1 allows the option to record and transcribe phone calls, also providing an AI-generated summary in the process within the Notes and Phone apps.