HANDS ON WITH APPLE INTELLIGENCE

WHAT DOES APPLE'S AI HAVE TO OFFER?

- RHETT INTRIAGO

Apple Intelligence has been available for a few months now, but is it everything Apple has promised? Is it worth the hype to have AIpowered features on the iPhone? I tested out all the currently available Apple Intelligence features and here’s what I found.

WHO CAN USE APPLE INTELLIGENCE?

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or any of the iPhone 16 line, your device is ready to use Apple Intelligence. To get started, you’ll want to head over to the Settings app and select Apple Intelligence & Siri. Toggle on Apple Intelligence to enable it on your iPhone. You can come back and toggle it off if you change your mind. You may be placed on a waitlist; you’ll get a notification when your device is ready to use its new AI-powered functions. So, what can your iPhone do once you have Apple Intelligence?

SAME OLD SIRI

The first thing you’ll notice when using Apple Intelligence is that Siri has a new user interface— instead of an iridescent bubble at the bottom of the screen, a glow will surround the border of your screen. At time of writing, that’s where the changes end. Siri’s new skills are not available yet, though are expected to drop sometime this spring with iOS 18.4. When asking Siri questions and making requests, you’ll get the same answers as on iOS 17 and non-AI-enabled devices. Currently, Siri’s only new features are the improved UI and Siri’s ability to understand your request even if you stutter or correct yourself while speaking. For example, you can say something like, “Set a timer for five minutes—no, ten minutes,” and Siri will automatically know to set the timer for ten minutes instead of five.