TMTPost--AppleInc.issteppingupunlockingthemosthypedartificialintelligence(AI)featuresonitsmostimportantdevices,partofeffortstobolsterthesales.
Credit：Apple
ApplereleasedWednesdayupdatedoperatingsystemsfordevelopers:iOS18.2beta,iPadOS18.2betaandmacOSSequoia15.2beta.ThesenewsystemsmakemanymoreAppleIntelligencefeaturesavailableonpartofAppledevices.ForiOS18.2beta,thenewfeaturesareonlyavailableoniPhone15ProandProMaxandthewholeiPhone16series,whicharecapableofrunningtheseAIfeatures.
Outofthem,ImagePlaygroundwillallowuserstocreateplayfulimagesinmoments.ImageWandwillcreateanimageusingcontextfromthesurroundingareawhenausercirclesanemptyspace.UserscancreateoriginalGenmojibysimplytypingadescription,orbyselectingaphotoofafriendorfamilymember.Siriwillbeevenmorecapable,withtheabilitytodrawonauser’spersonalcontexttodeliverintelligencethatistailoredtothem.
Moreover,developershavetheoptiontoaccessChatGPT’sbroadworldknowledgefromseveralexperienceswithinApple’soperatingsystems.ApplesaidthatSiri“leveragesChatGPT’sexpertisewhenbeneficial,”includingansweringworldknowledgequestionsandunderstandingimagesanddocuments.iOS18.2alsooffersenhancedWritingToolswithintegrationofChatGPT,withanewComposewithChatGPTinterface.
ApplesaidanyonecanaccessChatGPTforfree,withoutcreatinganaccount.UserscanalsosignintotheirChatGPTaccountsintheSettingsappiniOS18.2beta,aswellasdisablethepromptthatappearseverytimeSiriwishestohandacommandofftoChatGPT.Buttheydon’thavetologinwithaChatGPTaccountnorenableoruseanyoftheChatGPTintegration.ApplesaiduserscontrolwhenChatGPTisusedandwillbeaskedbeforeanyoftheirinformationisshared,andChatGPTsubscriberscanconnectaccountstoaccesspaidfeatureswithintheseexperiences.
TheiOS18.2betaincludesthenewvisualintelligencefeature.AvailablefortheiPhone16lineviathenewCameraControlbutton,VisualIntelligencewillallowdeveloperstopointtheircameraatarestaurantandimmediatelygetinformationlikeitshoursofoperationandreviews.Applesaidthenewfeaturecanalsosummarizethetextuserspointtheircameraat,readtextoutloud,detectphonenumbersandemailsandoffertoaddthemtotheircontacts,copyreal-worldtext,andscanQRcodes.TheyarealsoabletopointtheircameraatanitemandseewheretobuyitviaGoogleorgetmoreinformationaboutitviaChatGPT.
AppleintroducedonSeptember9thenewiPhone16lineup,builtfromthegroundupforAppleIntelligence,itsadvancedpersonalAIsystemintroducedattheWorldwideDevelopersConference(WWDC)thisyearinJune.ThelatestiPhoneseriesfeaturethefaster,moreefficientA18andA18Prochips,makingthesethemostadvancedandcapableiPhonemodelsever.
AppleisseekingtoenticebuyerswithAIfeaturesthatdidn’tcomealongwithiPhone16launch.ThecompanyisreportedtorolloutAppleIntelligencetothepublicwiththeiOS18.1nextweek,enablingthefirstsetofAItricksondevicesincludesWritingTools,Mailandnotificationssummaries,amorenaturalandflexibleSiri,theCleanUptoolinPhotos.
WithWritingTools,userscanrefinetheirwordsbyrewriting,proofreading,andsummarizingtextnearlyeverywheretheywrite,includingMail,Notes,Pages,andthird-partyapps.InPhotos,theMemoriesfeaturenowenablesuserstocreatethemoviestheywanttoseebysimplytypingadescription.Naturallanguagecanbeusedtosearchforspecificphotos,andsearchinvideosgetsmorepowerfulwiththeabilitytofindspecificmomentsinclips.ThenewCleanUptoolcanidentifyandremovedistractingobjectsinthebackgroundofaphoto.
Sirihasabrand-newdesignwithanelegantglowinglightthatwrapsaroundtheedgeofthescreenwhenactiveoniPhone,iPad,orCarPlay.UserscantypetoSiriatanytimeoniPhone,iPad,andMac,andcanswitchfluidlybetweentextandvoiceastheyuseSiritoaccelerateeverydaytasks.Withricherlanguage-understandingcapabilities,Siricanfollowalongwhenusersstumbleovertheirwordsandcanmaintaincontextfromonerequesttothenext.Inaddition,withSiri’sextensiveproductknowledge,itcannowanswerthousandsofquestionsaboutthefeaturesandsettingsofAppledevices.