Bloomberg also said Apple’s AI will “generate custom emojis on the fly, based on what users are texting.” This AI initiative will be called “Apple Intelligence”. Bloomberg said it will be integrated and work with recent Apple devices such as iPhone 15 Pro, iPad and Macs with M1 chips or newer.
Some of these updates are said to support on-device AI without an Internet connection, helping Apple improve privacy and security. More complex tasks, like summarizing large documents, can be sent to the cloud for processing. According to Bloomberg, AI capabilities will also appear in MacOS 15, and Apple Watch will also have smarter Siri.
There are also reports that Apple is working with OpenAI to integrate their technology into iOS 18. Previous reports indicate that Apple is holding talks similar to how Google built its Gemini AI system, but it appears those discussions did not ultimately lead to a partnership.
Siri has been upgraded
It’s likely that Siri will be in the main focus of this year’s important WWDC event. In fact, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is training Siri on large language models to improve the accuracy and complexity of its responses.
The assistant can also handle multi-step tasks better, such as creating a GIF with a set of photos and then sending it to one of your contacts. In short, Siri may get smarter thanks to Apple’s powerful AI.
More customizable and accessible features on iOS, iPadOS, and VisionOS
We will likely see a series of updates across Apple’s operating systems, including relatively small tweaks that will still be easy for users to perceive. For example, expect that with the arrival of iOS 18, iPhone users will be able to place app icons anywhere they want on the Home screen, according to MacRumors. Currently, app icons on Apple’s home screen are required to be placed next to each other.
Apple has announced several accessibility-related updates on iOS, iPadOS, and VisionOS scheduled for release later this year, like Eye Tracking on iPad and iPhone as well as Live Captions on VisionOS.
Messaging with Android is more seamless
Another feature we may witness is the RCS messaging standard on the iPhone. Late last year, Apple said it would adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard, a protocol to replace SMS (Short Message Service) that is considered outdated. RCS has many of the same features as iMessage, including the “typing…” icon, high-resolution media sharing, and end-to-end encryption.
iMessage is “monopolized” by Apple on the iPhone, making free texting with Android users always through a third app. (Photo: ZDNet)
Since RCS is already available on many Android devices, this will make texting between Android phones and iPhones more seamless without the need for iMessage.
Apple’s adoption of RCS will be a timely move in the context of the US Department of Justice’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the company. The lawsuit accuses the iPhone maker of hindering competition and “impairing cross-platform messaging” by not offering iMessage on Android. WWDC will be a good opportunity for Apple to highlight its efforts to solve this problem.
Quartz (Source: Cnet)