As part of the iOS 18 update, Apple is expected to release several AI features for older iPhone models as well. According to Mark Gurman, more advanced AI features will only be available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
In iOS 18, the basic AI functions will run on the device, while more advanced features will need more processing power and depend on Apple’s servers.
Apple is also developing chips for its servers to run advanced AI features, according to previous reports. It has also been reported that the company plans to use its M series chips to process AI.
A limited infrastructure may be the reason for not offering cloud-based AI to more iPhones. Most of Samsung’s and Google’s cutting-edge AI features are exclusive to the newer models.
The iOS 18 update will reportedly include AI features like notification summarization (called Greymatter Catch Up), object removal from images, and a revamped notes application with speech-to-text conversion. Siri also gains new capabilities, such as the ability to open documents, delete emails, summarize articles, etc.
Which devices will get the AI features?
In addition, most of the text-based features can also be run on mobile devices. Recent iPhone models eligible for iOS 18 (iPhone 11 series and above, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone SE (3rd generation)) could get those features. It is not yet known which exact features will be available on the device.
Furthermore, Mark Gurman suggests the iPhone 15 Pro models and later may be able to perform some AI-based functions on-device that the older models and non-Pro iPhone 15 models with A16 Bionic cannot. The latest models may also retain those features.
AI features will also be added to iPadOS 18 and macOS 15. According to Gurman, macOS and iPadOS devices will require at least an M1 chip. The features won’t be available for Mac devices powered by Intel. On older iPhone models, the Intel chips and the Bionic chips lack the NPU that’s necessary to run the on-device LLMs.
