Apple (AAPL.US) released its first version of Apple Intelligence, an artificial intelligence (AI) feature, on Monday designed to improve Siri, generate emails and images and classify notifications.
The new software is available in iOS 18.1 beta for developers, with similar versions for iPad and Mac, and is currently only open to registered Apple developers, who pay $99 a year for the Apple Developer Program.
Additionally, users must register a waiting list in the Apple's Settings app after updating to access the service, which involves sending more complex requests to Apple servers.
The feature will be available to the public later this year, but the 18.1 version number suggests Apple Intelligence will not be released with the new iPhone hardware, which is expected to be released in the fall running iOS 18.
Apple Intelligence is a step forward. Investors hope that AI integration with Apple’s operating system could spark a wave of upgrades in the coming years, especially given the system is only available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and newer.
“We expect the iPhone super cycle to last longer as AI features (software and potentially hardware) on the iPhone improve over the next few years, 2025,” said Wamsi Mohan, an analyst at UBS.