Is Apple Intelligence worth it?
As iOS 18.3 is released to the public, I share my thoughts on Apple Intelligence, based on my usage and ask whether or not it's worth it.
It was undoubtably one of the most frustrating launches in recent history, but finally the first wave of Apple Intelligence has rolled out around the world. But have the promised improvements to Siri and other AI features materialised and more importantly, is it worth it?
First, we need to look back at the rollout of Apple Intelligence. It launched to the general public on 28 October 2024, but only with devices with the language set as US English. It took two more months before it launched in the UK, arriving as a software update on the 11 December.
While I understand the rollout was staggered to ensure all available features at that time were working in those languages, the marketing behind this, particularly in the UK, seemed to be confusing. Many mobile carriers and Apple themselves were promoting Apple Intelligence on the new iPhone 16 devices, just with the caveat it was only available in US English. Personally, I’d have promoted the iPhone 16 in the UK and gave the firm date as to when Apple Intelligence would launch in the country. People will still buy the iPhone - this caveat of only being available in US English and showcasing features just seemed to make Apple Intelligence a bit of a gimmick - with nothing really substantial to show its worth.
You’ll know that Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and above, so if you’re anything below, you’ll still get the iOS 18 update, minus the Apple Intelligence. I’d consider upgrading to iPhone 17 later this year, which I predict will come with a slew of Apple Intelligence updates.
As it stands today, there are a couple of new specific apps related to Apple Intelligence on newer devices that are worth a look in, including Image Playground. I’ll admit, I had a bit of fun with this for the first few days, then it lost its spark. I can see it making its way into my workflow for some things if I’m after AI generated scenes without people, but when they improve the facial expressions on people and give you more options, you might have better luck than I did turning a photograph of me, into an AI version of me.
There are some genuinely really useful tools with Apple Intelligence:
✍️ Writing tools
The writing tools that are built in intuitively into your apps, such as Notes, Pages etc., plus third party apps, are actually pretty decent. I find myself using them often to make sure I’m conveying messages in the right style and tone, not necessarily to replace everything I’ve written, but to make emails that can be quite a ramble, more succinct and to the point.
🗣️ Integration with ChatGPT
If you’ve ever asked Siri a question, chances are she’s not answered you properly, or has got the wrong end of the stick. Apple Intelligence now has ChatGPT integration and always asks you whether you’d like to use ChatGPT if it’s something out of Siri’s remit. This has come in handy many times. My only criticism is mainly of Siri, who still asks me to unlock my iPhone first, before giving me the option to use ChatGPT or to even answer basic questions. If Siri is clever enough to recognise my voice for it to be activated, then I’d like it to answer my question, without me needing to unlock my phone. Just give me a basic answer, a short sentence, then ask me to unlock my phone, but the chances are you’ll tell me what I want to know without doing so. It’s just such a pain.
📱 Notification Summaries
For the most part, I’ve had no issues at all with notification summaries. In fact, I’ve been quite humoured by some that I’ve received. Funeral sadness, disappointment with car’ was quite something - where the message itself was more about coping with grief after a funeral and the persons car being too big for their liking.
Sure, notifications on news summaries have been in the news and have been wholly incorrect, but Apple’s latest 18.3 software update released on the 27 January 2025 has temporarily disabled summarising notifications from news outlets.
So the big question - is Apple Intelligence worth it?
When you look at what else is on the market in the world of Artificial Intelligence, it’s clear that Apple Intelligence has work to do. Its integration with ChatGPT could be the biggest sell for those looking to delve into the world of Apple Intelligence and I’d say it’s worth it for that and the writing tools. Seamless integration into apps both from the Apple ecosystem and third-party and seamless integration with ChatGPT does give it some legs. It’s not perfect - and perhaps if Apple concentrated more on software development instead of releasing the next generation MacBook Pros etc for at least a year, perhaps we’d get the Apple Intelligence we all deserve. Call that an unpopular opinion… but hey, nothing like being a little controversial right?
I do look forward to seeing how it develops in the future and who knows, maybe the next post I write about it, will all be written entirely by Apple Intelligence 😉.
Ian
Creative Apple Guy