iOS 18 is coming next week! Apple to debut the most comprehensive AI features "Reuters"

Author: Du Yu

Source: Hard AI

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will kick off with the keynote address at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 10th (1:00 a.m. Beijing Time on June 11th). It is widely regarded as a key moment for Apple to fully integrate AI capabilities into its major hardware operating systems.

WWDC has traditionally been a software-centric event, with last year's exception being the introduction of Vision Pro, Apple's first mixed reality headset. Analysts suggest that this year, Apple may focus on promoting AI updates to catch up with competitors, such as adding artificial intelligence to emojis, photo editing, messages, and emails, without announcing anything truly revolutionary.

It is expected that updates for the new generation iOS 18 mobile operating system and macOS 15 computer operating system will be released next week. The operating systems for smartwatches, iPads, and the Vision Pro mixed reality headset are also likely to incorporate more AI features, such as using the virtual assistant Siri on an Apple Watch to play music on other devices.

Analysts also suggest that eye tracking on iPads and iPhones, as well as real-time captioning on VisionOS, have already been announced, and more updates related to these accessibility features and exact release dates may be heard next week.

AI Empowers "Smarter Siri," but More Complex Features May Not Be Released Until Next Year

Among the features most likely to be significantly enhanced by artificial intelligence, Apple's virtual assistant Siri stands out.

It is believed that Apple is in the process of completely rebuilding Siri with support from large language models, which may be a combination of Apple's in-house AI Ajax LLM and Microsoft-supported OpenAI ChatGPT technology.

However, the task of giving Siri a facelift using artificial intelligence is massive and may only be fully rolled out sometime next year. The latest iOS 18 mobile operating system next week may only release an initial version with some basic AI capabilities.

For example, Siri's ability to handle multi-step tasks may be postponed until next year. In the new version of Siri in iOS 18 in September, Siri may only be able to handle one voice command at a time. Apple's ultimate plan is to allow Siri to process multiple commands at once, such as summarizing meeting recordings using AI, or intelligently editing and sending photos via email to relevant individuals.

After the rebuild, in addition to the ability to complete multi-step tasks, the "smarter Siri" powered by AI is expected to achieve the following functions:

Better understanding of user needs, analyzing user operations on devices using AI, and automatically enabling functions controlled by Siri;

Answer user questions with voice instead of displaying web links, and make the voice sound more natural;

Provide automatic reply suggestions based on on-device large language models for text messages, and generate custom emoji emoticons using AI;

Understand user contacts, appointment schedules, locations, etc., in order to provide more intelligent responses;

Transcribe voice memos into text in real time, and summarize notifications, messages, web pages, long documents, and all other content;

Interact with other applications, for example, users can request to "move this note to my new main folder," or open a specific publication in the Apple News app;

Control individual functions within applications through voice commands, such as asking Siri to delete emails, send web links via email, or smartly edit photos and perform advanced operations;

Use artificial intelligence to automatically determine whether a function is processed on the on-device AI or on the cloud server, better protecting user data privacy.

Analysts say that Apple will rate the new version of Siri as officially entering the AI era.

Two AI Features "Set in Stone" to be Released: Photos and Messages

The second AI feature that many media outlets are confident will be released is the new version of the photo editor.

In addition to intelligent cropping, resizing, rotating, flipping, and adding filters to photos, AI can also help identify and edit specific elements in photos, such as eyes, hair, and clothing in portraits. It will introduce an iPhone version of the generative AI "clean-up" feature inspired by Google's "Magic Eraser," allowing users to remove unwanted people and objects from photos, possibly operable through voice control with Siri.

Earlier reports also mentioned that Apple has developed an internal application called Generative Playground, which uses generative artificial intelligence to create and edit images. It is unclear how this feature will be presented to end users, but it may be integrated into the iMessage app for release.

The third application area believed to be enhanced by AI soon is iMessage.

A prominent feature is the introduction of generative AI into emoji emoticons, allowing custom emoji emoticons to be created instantly based on the content of the messages sent by users. In addition to creating effects for entire messages, it will also support animated effects for individual words.

Apple will also provide AI summaries for missed messages. This year, the iPhone may support RCS messaging, which uses "Rich Communication Services" to replace the SMS (Short Message Service) protocol, making it easier to communicate via text with Android phones. The RCS protocol will support many of the same features as iMessage, including typing indicators, high-resolution video and image media sharing, and end-to-end encryption

Other AI features are vague, but the trend is AI fully integrated into iPhone applications

It is uncertain when other AI features will be released, but Apple's rumored AI functionalities also include:

Smarter Spotlight search, which not only makes results faster and more reliable, but also delves deeper into relevant content within applications and summarizes them. For example, users can request to "show me all the cheese recipes I have on my phone";

AI-assisted coding in Xcode, and productivity applications like Apple Keynote and Pages may receive generative AI capabilities;

Health and fitness guidance driven by AI combined with smartwatch data, aiming to "motivate users to exercise, improve dietary habits, and help sleep better," providing advice to users to change their lifestyles and improve overall health conditions;

The journal app introduced at the end of last year is enhanced with artificial intelligence, which can be used to analyze the wording of journals to detect user emotions;

The Notes app can summarize content, provide summaries, and instantly convert audio to text using AI, and will also support in-app recording;

Math Notes can help users solve problems and create charts with AI by recognizing the text of mathematical equations. Notes users can also choose to automatically complete mathematical equations while inputting;

The large language model on the iPhone side can interact with the Calendar app, integrating to-do items when composing text message replies;

Messages and emails both receive automatic reply suggestions provided by the large language model on the device side;

The Settings interface is improved to enhance search and better organize content structure;

The Control Center and Notification functions are both enhanced by AI;

Apple Music may use in-house AI to generate music playlists, competing with Spotify, and more.

Also worth noting: Four major non-AI updates and new chip triggers upgrade cycle

In addition to the upcoming AI features, the iOS 18 operating system is expected to introduce the following four major changes, including customizable app icon arrangement on the home screen, app icon design changes, etc.:

1. Placing application icons anywhere on the phone's home screen, rather than fixed grid alignment, for the first time in iPhone history.

2. Custom app icon design, allowing users to change the colors of application icons within the system for the first time. For example, all social media app icons can be set to blue, and all finance-related app icons can be set to green.

3. Apple Maps will add support for creating custom routes, allowing users to design specific routes instead of relying on the map app's recommendations.

4. Easier customization of the Control Center interface, including the music player display area and integration with HomeKit smart home devices In addition, next week's WWDC is likely to mention a new chip with artificial intelligence. The next generation iPhone processor may be called A18, bringing better AI performance, consistent with the new M4 chip used in the upgraded iPad Pro tablet.

Apple believes that the latest AI features for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, as well as enhanced Siri capabilities, will encourage users to upgrade their devices. Many on-device AI features will require at least iPhone 15 Pro or higher to run, while Mac and iPad will need at least the M1 chip.

Apple's stock price rose nearly 1% on Monday, returning to a year-to-date cumulative increase