WWDC 2024: Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT in Siri, iOS18 and other major announcements

Apple made a number of significant announcements at its WWDC 2024 event on Monday, including its debut into the world of AI with Apple Intelligence, a major AI-powered revamp of Siri, and the introduction of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, VisionOS 2, macOS Sequoia and WatchOS11. The Tim Cook-led company also announced integration with ChatGPT across its various operating systems, while maintaining a focus on user privacy.

Top announcements bt Apple at WWDC 2024:

1) Apple Intelligence:

Apple has finally made its foray into the world of artificial intelligence with a new offering called Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence is said to deliver powerful performance while maintaining user privacy. Apple CEO Tim Cook, while introducing Apple Intelligence, said that there is a need for ‘personal intelligence’, which is the next big step for Apple.

Apple Intelligence will use the power of generative AI to understand and create images, take actions across apps, understand personal context and improve everyday tasks.

The Cupertino-based tech giant said Apple Intelligence will help power writing tools, categorise emails, transcribe and summarise audio, prioritise notifications and generate images and emojis (via Image Playground and Genmoji tools respectively).

Apple states that many of the Apple Intelligence models will run entirely on the device, while more complex tasks will be run via a Private Cloud Compute powered by Apple silicon. The tech giant says user data will never be stored or exposed, and independent experts will be able to inspect the code running on Apple silicon to verify the company’s claims.

Apple Intelligence will run on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, along with iPads and MacBooks based on M1 or later chipsets. Apple says it will be available for free to users in the US this fall via iOS18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.

2) Siri revamp and ChatGPT integration:

Siri is getting a major boost thanks to the generative AI capabilities of Apple Intelligence. With the new update, Siri is said to be getting more “natural, contextual and personal” to provide a simplified and faster user experience. Siri is also getting a design overhaul, with glowing lights wrapping around the edge of the user’s screen when Siri is active.

Siri is also getting ‘onscreen awareness’, which will allow the voice assistant to not only understand what’s happening on the screen, but also use it to take action on the user’s behalf.

Finally, Apple is also bringing ChatGPT integration to Siri, meaning it will be able to get help from OpenAI’s chatbot whenever necessary. However, users will be consulted before their requests are sent to ChatGPT, while their IP addresses will be masked and OpenAI will not be able to store any requests.

ChatGPT, powered by the latest GPT-4o model, will also be available in a range of Apple apps to generate images and improve the writing experience.

3) iOS 18:

For the first time, Apple will allow users to arrange apps and widgets on the Home screen according to their preferences. While Android users have been able to customise their home screens for years, for some reason, Apple hasn’t thought it wise to allow users to customise the icons and widgets on their home screens until now.

Moreover, users will also be able play around with the colour of their home screen icons and widgets in order to give a more dark or tinted look.

Apple is also redesigning the Control Center to provide a more customisable and flexible experience. Users will now be able to add controls from supported third-party apps, customise the layout of controls, and even switch controls on the bottom lock screen.

The Photos app is also getting a major redesign in iOS 18 to make it easier for users to find their favourite pictures. Users can now pin their favourite collections, view highlights of their favourite people, pets, places and more in the new Carousel view, and autoplay content through the app to relive past moments.

As expected, iMessage now includes RCS support for Android users, which should put an end to the green bubble vs. blue bubble debate. RCS messages offer a richer media transfer experience and are more reliable than SMS and MMS.

4) iPadOS 18:

iPadOS 18 gets some of the same updates as iOS 18, including a customised experience on the Home screen and Control Center, and a revamp of the Photos app. What’s different, however, is the addition of a new Math Notes calculator, which allows users to type or write mathematical expressions and have them solved in their own handwriting.

Apple is also improving the note-taking experience on iPads with a new feature called Smart Script. In iPadOS 18, users will be able to take handwritten notes quickly without sacrificing legibility. This is made possible by a new machine algorithm that corrects text in real time to match the user’s original handwriting. Users can also add typed and copied text to the same note, which is automatically adjusted to match the user’s handwriting.

5) macOS Sequoia:

Apple is enabling users to wirelessly access and use their iPhones on their Macs with the new iPhone Mirroring feature. Users can perform all of their iPhone tasks, such as swiping through the home screen and opening different apps, directly from their Macs. The new feature also allows users to see their iPhone notifications alongside their Mac notifications.

Apple has also introduced a new Passwords app to help users manage all their credentials in one place. The new app can be used to sync passwords across Apple devices and even works on Windows via the iCloud application.

macOS Sequoia also aims to improve the video calling experience with the new Presenter Preview, which allows users to see their screen before sharing it with others in a meeting. Apple says the new feature is compatible with applications such as FaceTime and Zoom.

The latest MacOS update also adds the ability to change backgrounds during a video call with a variety of colour gradients, system wallpapers or user-uploaded images.