Although the much-talked-about "Apple Intelligence" feature won't start appearing until several weeks after the release of iOS 18, Apple reportedly has no plans to delay the release of the annual iPhone 16 update. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman points out that Apple Intelligence's first feature only appears in the first developer beta of iOS 18.1 and is not included in the beta version of 18.
When the company initially introduced iOS 18, it separated basic functionality on most iPhone models from Apple Intelligence functionality, which is currently only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
All iPhone 16 models are expected to be able to take advantage of at least some of the features of the Apple Intelligence system at launch, but Apple has been tight-lipped about when full rollout to users will be completed.
Likewise, the Apple Intelligence feature won't appear in the earliest versions of iPadOS 18 or macOS Sequoia, but will start working in the first major updates of these versions.
Gurman noted in his "PowerOn" newsletter that 13 years ago, Apple delayed the release of the iPhone 4S until October because key iCloud and Siri features weren't ready yet. However, this time the iPhone 16 series is expected to be released in mid-September as usual.
The iOS 18.1 beta includes some new writing tools, summary features, recording and transcription options, as well as a first effort to improve the Siri experience. The highly publicized Genmoji and ChatGPT integration features are expected to be launched in later betas.
The full set of Apple Intelligence features is expected to be launched in the remainder of 2024, with speculation that some features may not be completed until early 2025.