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Even though iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 have not even taken their first step out the door, there’s already the next big thing for Apple Intelligence on the horizon. The next step on the Cupertino company’s AI journey, the iOS 18.2 developer beta, brings forth the long-awaited ChatGPT integration. Tailing behind is the long-promised AI image generator and the “Genmoji” capabilities, if you really want to freak out friends with some AI slop.
The next version of iOS is currently in developer beta, but anybody who signs up can access it. Just remember to back up your phone’s data should anything go wrong. With the update installed, you’ll get access to ChatGPT which can be accessed through the revitalized Siri or the Writing Tools function. Apple has established that users will need to routinely give OpenAI’s chatbot permission to access the internet or any of your data. You can connect your OpenAI account if you want to access the extra features of your ChatGPT Plus subscription.
With the update, Siri will start handing off some more intensive or writing tasks to ChatGPT. For instance, if you ask Siri to write anything for you, it will probably put that request to OpenAI’s chatbot. You’ll see it appear in a window along with a few suggestions based on the prompt. On macOS Sequoia, you’ll see ChatGPT through a floating window. Just to note, ChatGPT won’t have any access to your personal files or information. That may come with the promised overhauled Siri, but you won’t see features like you do with Google’s Gemini and Gemini Live.
The other headline features include Image Playground, an AI image generator. Apple advertises you’ll be able to create images based on friends and family in your Photos, but we already assume it’s going to stop you from portraying any of your friends in any off-color way. Beta users can also send “Genmojis” to friends through iMessages. All these shown by Apple so far have featured a cartoonish style, and we don’t expect Apple to start allowing people to deepfake celebrities with their iPhones.
There’s also the Image Wand feature that can turn a rough sketch made on-screen with a finger or Apple Pencil into an AI-generated image, similar to what exists on Samsung’s latest phones with Galaxy AI. What’s more, according to 9to5Mac, 18.2 brings the long-awaited Visual Intelligence feature, though it’s only available if you have one of the iPhone 16 models. As shown off during Apple’s September iPhone 16 showcase, this feature will let you see the world through the iPhone’s camera, and on-board AI should be able to describe objects, animals, or plants.
iOS 18.1 has already been in beta for a few months, and we’ve had our fill of the AI Writing Tools on new products like the iPad mini. The update is supposed to be official starting Oct. 28, though the Apple Intelligence features are going to be limited to English-language users in the U.S. only. The next update adds extra features to Writing Tools that will let you ask the AI to rewrite text in ways beyond the base “professional” or “friendly.”
So far, iOS 18.1 isn’t all that incredible. The most immediate impact I’ve had is now my notifications often fail to sum up my perpetually-inundated inbox. I’m regularly being bombarded with emails and texts, and Apple’s not helping when it tells me my latest emails will discuss: “AI can now compute for you; Razer Freyja haptics issue being worked on.”
The crown jewel of Apple Intelligence, a version of Siri that can work across all your apps and perform tasks for you, is still incoming. Likely, we’ll be waiting until next Spring for those features to fully bake. Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he knows they’re not first to AI, but believes they’ll eventually be “the best.”
