Updated October 25th with more details about the new developer beta coming soon.

Apple Intelligence is almost here and Apple just confirmed the exact timing. We already knew it would be sometime in October, and now Apple has announced it will be next week. And on Wednesday, October 23rd, Apple just made the first developer beta of iOS 18.2 live.

Although the release of iOS 18.1 is highly anticipated, it's the iOS 18.2 developer beta – which is expected to be the next update barring any bug fixes in the meantime – that is likely to provide more excitement as it offers many new functions.

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Early adopters of the new software have already commented on the features they like. Techradar's John-Anthony Disotto, for example, spoke about the Mail app's AI features and said: “While it's not as eye-catching as the ChatGPT integration with Siri, Visual Intelligence or Genmoji, it's still mundane.” The stakes I think the average consumer will appreciate AI the most. I've been using the new Mail app in the iOS 18.2 developer beta for about 24 hours now, and while it's still in development, I'm optimistic about Apple Intelligence.”

Disotto's excitement comes from strong aggregation tools, new categorization, and improved design. Together they sorted out the “mess in the inbox”. He also warns that this is a developer beta and should not be installed on your main driver. I agree, early betas can be unstable or affect battery life.

While he's not sure how often he'll use the summary tools, he was impressed by how much detail was captured when searching through a chain of seven messages.

As explained below, this mail feature is just one of many new features coming later this year. This includes Visual Intelligence, which works with camera controls on the iPhone 16 series phones. By pressing and holding the button, iPhone shares additional information about what the camera can see, translates a character, recognizes an address or phone number, and more. Apple has said that the iPhone 16 was the first designed from the ground up with Apple Intelligence in mind, and this is an example of that.

While the updates coming in iOS 18.1 are exciting, it looks like iOS 18.2 will be the big update in terms of Apple Intelligence highlights. In addition to the details listed below, this update will also include Image Wand, which uses image generation tools to, for example, create an image in a note in the Notes app. For example, if you've drawn something with the Apple Pencil on an iPad, a rough sketch can be turned into a nicer image.

New details have also emerged about a key element of Apple Intelligence: There is a waiting list. When you update to iOS 18.1, the Settings app includes a new extra called Apple Intelligence & Siri. You can sign up for Apple Intelligence here. If you do this, you will be asked to join a waitlist, just as those using the developer or public betas had to do.

During this time, the waiting list moved quickly: I waited a full 10 minutes. That may change as the software reaches the critical mass that general release brings. However, if you've already used Apple Intelligence in beta, Apple says you don't have to wait again.

As Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac points out, this is a clever way to bypass the waitlist. “You can join the Apple Intelligence waiting list today. How? By installing the iOS 18.1 public beta. Apple just released the iOS 18.1 RC beta today. RC stands for “Release Candidate,” which means the software will likely be identical to the one released to all users next week. Once you've installed iOS 18.1 RC, you can join the Apple Intelligence waitlist without having to wait another day.” This means you can then move to the general release software next week, but you won't be able to sign up again have to enter a waiting list.

iOS 18.1 release date

Next week means Monday October 28th, Tuesday October 29th or Wednesday October 30th. I expect exact release details to be October 28th at 10am Pacific Time.

iOS 18.1: The first taste of Apple Intelligence

The first features of Apple's personal intelligence system are almost here. There's more to come in the next few months, but the first few features include writing tools to help you improve your writing. You can proofread your text and iPhone can paraphrase or summarize what you said. These tools are available across iPhone, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and some third-party apps.

Photos features a new cleanup tool that can remove people and things that spoil your shot, and uses multiple machine learning tools to leave the background pristine as if they were never there.

You can already record and transcribe audio, but iOS 18.1 adds the ability to record phone calls, including automatic notifications to participants. A summary is also created after the conversation has ended.

Siri gets a new design that somehow seems more central to the iPhone experience and offers more intuitive interaction.

Apple Intelligence on iPhone initially only works with devices whose language and Siri are set to US English. But Apple has now released a developer beta that will expand this to other English versions.

iOS 18.2 developer beta now live

The new iOS 18.2 developer beta has just gone live, allowing more English speakers to use Apple Intelligence, particularly English for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom

It also introduces many more features and refines the existing writing tools – you can specify what you are looking for with the “Describe your change” element.

New features include Image Playground, which allows you to create images from an image in your photo library. You can save these to a new standalone app that will automatically update across devices with the same Apple account.

And with iOS 18.2 comes the highly anticipated Genmoji to create all-new emojis with just a text prompt. There's also the first look at integration with ChatGPT. If Siri thinks ChatGPT might be helpful, it will ask if you want to connect to it. Apple has highlighted the safeguards it has in place for each request and no ChatGPT account is required. Visual Intelligence, built into the iPhone's camera controls, is also included in the new beta.

Apple has confirmed that Apple iOS 18.2 will be generally released in December.

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