Apple launches its first salvo of GenAI tools

The ‘personal intelligence system’, as Apple describes it, represents the tech giant’s foray into the much-hyped world of generative AI. The first set are available now courtesy of operating system updates across its various devices, with more set to roll out in the coming months.

The first set include Writing Tools, which rewrites, proofreads, and summarises text across Mail, Messages, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps. The Photos app has been upgraded with a natural language search, which ‘gives users the ability to search for just about anything by simply describing what they are looking for.’

Meanwhile the Memories feature now gives users the ability to create videos based on media in their library by typing a description by using ‘language and image understanding’, and Siri is now ‘more natural, flexible, and deeply integrated into the system experience.’

“Apple Intelligence introduces a new era for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, delivering brand-new experiences and tools that will transform what our users can accomplish,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple Intelligence builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of our devices, giving our users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy. Apple Intelligence is generative AI in a way that only Apple can deliver, and we’re incredibly excited about its ability to enrich our users’ lives.”

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering added: “Apple Intelligence unlocks exciting new capabilities that make your iPhone, iPad, and Mac even more helpful and useful, from Writing Tools to help refine your writing, to summarised notifications that surface what’s most important, to the ability to search for almost anything in your photos and videos by simply describing it.

“And it’s all built on a foundation of privacy with on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, a groundbreaking new approach that extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud to protect users’ information. We are thrilled to bring the first set of Apple Intelligence features to users today, and this is just the beginning.”

More tools will be introduced under Apple Intelligence in December.

Elsewhere, Apple has also launched its latest iMac all-in-one desktop iteration. Loaded with the M4 chip, Apple claims it is up to 1.7x faster for ‘daily productivity’ and 2.1x faster for things like photo editing and gaming, compared to an iMac running on M1.

“iMac is beloved by millions of users, from families at home to entrepreneurs hard at work. With the incredible features of Apple Intelligence and the powerful performance of Apple silicon, the new iMac changes the game once again,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.

It has a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and Apple fans can opt for something called nano-texture glass should they so wish. It also has a 12MP Centre Stage camera with Desk View, up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, and in terms of pricing starts at £1,299.