We now know that Apple Intelligence (the company’s suite of AI tools) won’t be landing until iOS 18.1 – which is to say that it won’t be coming as part of the initial iOS 18 launch expected in September.
We were also expecting the iPhone 16 series in September, but that would put it in the awkward position of launching without a key software feature. So will Apple delay the iPhone 16 so it can launch with Apple Intelligence out of the box? Not according to serial Apple tipster Mark Gurman.
Writing in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg (via 9to5Mac), Gurman has said that while the first Apple Intelligence features probably won’t land until October, the iPhone 16 and its siblings – the iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – will still land in September, and at around the same time in the month as last year, with Gurman pointing to September 10 as the most likely date.
That might not come as much of a surprise, but Apple Intelligence is likely to be one of the headline features of the new phones (though at least some parts of Apple Intelligence will come to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max as well).
Plus, there’s some precedent for a delay, as the iPhone 4S was delayed so that it could launch with Siri and iCloud.
Apple Intelligence might not be a big deal initially
Still, in general Apple doesn’t delay its phones to get new software features on them on day one, and Gurman also argues that “the first set of Apple Intelligence features aren’t that impressive anyway.” So having to wait a month or so for them and then download a software update shouldn’t be that much of a big deal.
Initial Apple Intelligence features (based on what’s present in the beta) include suggested replies to texts in the Messages app, a new interface for Siri (along with the ability to type rather than speak to it), the option to transcribe and summarize phone calls, summaries for web pages, and a handful of other things.
It’s not a bad selection, but it’s arguably less than we’ve already seen from the likes of Google and Samsung. And some of the more exciting Apple Intelligence features won’t be arriving until later, with built in ChatGPT simply promised by the end of the year for example. So even if Apple did delay the iPhone 16 until October, it still wouldn’t have a complete suite of AI tools.
Still, while Gurman has a great track record for leaks it’s always possible that the iPhone 16 series will be delayed, but for now we’d say it’s very unlikely to be.