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This was a huge week for Apple as it laid out its plans for AI, err, Apple Intelligence.
Yep, leave it to Apple to put their own spin on a common abbreviation.
The company held its Worldwide Developers Conference 2024 in Cupertino, and I was there to watch the keynote and get in-person demos of many of the new features.
In a word? Impressive.
Apple has taken AI and made it personal and private, and it could be big. But there is one giant catch. Let me explain.
First Up
Let’s start with iOS 18, the new software that will hit iPhones in the fall. This will work on the iPhone XR, later models, and the iPhone SE. If your device can run iOS 17 now, it will be able to get the new software in the fall. No models are falling off the compatibility list this time around.
I’ll get to Apple Intelligence in a bit, but that will require an iPhone 15 Pro and later model.
First off, the iPhone is getting a lot more customizable. Apple is going all Android on it. You can place icons anywhere on the home screen and even change their color.
The Control Center is getting a redesign. It will now have multiple pages you can swipe through and add controls from third-party apps. You’ll also be able to customize the lock screen shortcuts, so you can set those to whatever you want instead of just flashlight and camera.
Another new feature is the ability to lock down apps behind your passcode or Face ID. This will be handy for banking apps that don’t already support this, but it will work with any app you’d rather have a second layer of protection from prying eyes.
You’ll also be able to hide apps completely in a hidden folder that can only be unlocked with Face ID or your passcode. App icons in this folder won’t even show up on your screen and any information inside that app won’t show up in search suggestions, etc.
iMessage is one of Apple’s biggest features and it’s getting lots of upgrades. You can now use any emoji to “tapback” a reaction to someone instead of the typical heart, thumbs up, ha ha, etc.
You can also schedule text messages to go out later and format text in messages with effects and styling like bold and italics.
Apple failed to elaborate on a key addition to iMessage: support for RCS. They really want to play this down because it doesn’t help their ecosystem at all.
RCS is “Rich Communication Services,” the modern standard for texting. It supports typing indicators, read receipts, and, most importantly, exchanging large photos and videos. This means that come September, images and videos exchanged between Android and iPhone will finally be high quality and not postage stamp-sized. Yay!
Apple will keep Android bubbles green, though.
Another notable feature coming to Messages is the ability to send messages via satellite if you don’t have a cellular or WiFi signal. This will work to other iPhones and other Androids, and right now it’s free. Apple still hasn’t announced pricing on satellite connectivity features.
iOS 18 also gets a dedicated Passwords app. This will generate and save your passwords, two-factor authentication codes, and more. It will work across Apple devices and PCs through iCloud for Windows.
Developers are already testing an early version of iOS 18. A public beta will be released in July (proceed at your own caution; I don’t recommend installing that on your primary device, as it could have bugs), and the final release will be in the Fall, usually alongside the new iPhone models.
Now, let’s talk Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence is Apple’s brand of AI. Get it? AI, Apple Intelligence.
Apple has turned Siri into a powerful AI chatbot, but instead of just being programmed with knowledge about the world it’s now also programmed with knowledge about you.
Your email messages, contacts, text messages, photos—all of this information stored on your phone is now indexed and tapable by Siri. This means that in addition to asking Siri the typical stuff like sports scores and setting an alarm, you can now also ask Siri, “When is my flight tomorrow?” or “Find that photo of my kids jumping into the lake in Montana.”
Apple has built the AI smarts necessary to handle many requests into the iPhone itself, which is why this new Intelligence feature will require an iPhone 15 Pro and up. It takes a lot of horsepower to perform these advanced tasks.
For things that might take even more computing power, Apple will hand off requests to a brand new Private Cloud Compute they built. These are servers Apple built just to handle AI questions from iPhones. They only talk to authenticated devices like iPhones, Macs and iPads, and once they’re done figuring out your request, they delete the data from the question and the answer.
Apple was very clear on how they built this entire Intelligence system to be super private and protect your personal data.
Remember, Apple isn’t Google, Meta, Amazon, or Microsoft. These companies run huge advertising businesses, making the bulk of their money off your data.
Apple makes a bulk of its cash off of selling products and services. iPhones and iCloud storage.
Now, there is another part to all of this and you probably heard that ChatGPT is now built into the iPhone.
When Siri can’t handle your request on its own, it will ask you if you’d like to turn your question over to ChatGPT. From here, it will share whatever data your query includes (a photo, text, document, etc) to ChatGPT for analysis.
But Apple, being Apple, was able to cut a unique deal with ChatGPT, which means Apple doesn’t hand over any identifying information like your IP address. Once ChatGPT is done with the request, it must also delete the data involved in it—and it can’t train its system on your data.
Why would ChatGPT agree to such thing? Because they get exposure to millions upon millions of iPhone users and the implied seal of approval that comes along with being a part of Apple’s ecosystem.
The future plan is that users can choose any third-party chatbot, but Apple isn’t there just yet. They did suggest that Google’s Gemini would be the next choice available to users, but they painted a picture that in the future, you could choose the chatbot to complement Siri that best works for you.
If you’re a lawyer, maybe you want a legal-focused chatbot. If you’re a doctor, maybe a medical chatbot. A programmer, maybe a coding chatbot.
Now for the giant catch: Many of these Intelligence features will require that you’re fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem. At launch, these deeply contextual AI features that involve Siri sifting through your email, messages and photos will require you to use Apple Mail, iMessage and Photos app.
Apple is building ways for developers to access this system, but I feel there will be some serious limitations. Will it work in a big way with Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Calendar? I’m not holding my breath, but we will see.
BTW, some other intelligence features include an Image Eraser, Apple’s version of Google’s Magic Eraser. This will instantly remove unwanted people and things from your photos. It will work on new and old photos.
There’s also an Image Playground, a new app allowing you to create AI images in seconds. The neat twist here is that it taps into the people from your Photo library so you can instantly make AI likenesses of them (Mom as a superhero!).
There’s also a built-in phone call recorder, which records your calls and provides you with a transcript and summary. Apple says it will play a notice to both parties that the call is being recorded.
Genmoji is a fresh take on the emoji. You’ll be able to create your own custom emojis in seconds thanks to AI. It will even suggest genmojis to create based on the context of your message.
Finally, there are system-wide writing tools powered by Apple Intelligence to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text. This was pretty wild to see in person. Apple nailed it, even down the magical animations you see while perfecting your text.
There were plenty of more announcements, including a new calculator app for iPad that solves math problems in your handwriting and a new Vitals app for Apple Watch that will monitor your heart rate, respiratory rate, and wrist temperature for any notable changes.
Yes, we are getting to the point where our watch will tell us if it thinks we are getting sick or if we should take the day off to rest. Just text a screenshot to your boss.
TV Segment Recap
Now that you’ve read about the changes coming soon for Apple, see the new features in my TV wrap-up segment!
I also talked to some of the smart folks I know attending WWDC to get their takes on the new features. Here’s what they have to say!
Finally, if all of this Apple talk is too much for you, check out my review of the Pixel 8a. I think it’s a fantastic phone for $500, but I still think you should be able to get it for even cheaper when it goes on sale.
Tech Tidbits
Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Watch FE for $199. It has all of the health tracking features you need, but compared to their pricier watches, has a slower processor, smaller battery and no temperature sensor.
You can renew your passport online again. At 10 AM PT, a limited number of spots open up for processing each day.
Check out this demo of Apple’s new Math Notes feature for iPad. Homework will never be the same.
Tech Trivia
GoPro says it has sold over 50 million digital cameras since launching the HD HERO in 2009. Did you know the first GoPro was a 35 mm film camera? I didn't, either!
Bookmark this
A dad created a website to generate custom coloring book pages for his kids. Now, he’s making it available to the rest of us. It’s called Dad Can’t Draw and you just type in the picture you want and it will generate a printable, black and white image in seconds.
Everyone gets 10 free pages to try it out. Use code BETA20OFF for 20% off a paid plan.
This Week’s Podcast Episode
In this week’s podcast, I share helpful travel sites, give tips on portable chargers, compare AI chatbots, and more. Be sure to listen to the interview about Kini, a unique gadget that lets you know if someone moves your stuff. listen here
Social Media
Check out my WWDC 2024 Instagram Story for a recap of my trip to Cupertino.
Feedbag
Frank from Hemet writes in...
"Just thought it was a little ironic how I started to watch you on KTLA 5 on TV (watching on TV from an antenna). Now I also find myself listening to your radio show on 640 KFI (an AM radio station).
Both of these are ancient tech, and I'm learning about the latest tech.
It goes to show that although there are better ways of doing things, you don't disregard the rest. Thank you for the entertainment and information. Your passion for tech shines through."
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