The company is planning to begin rolling out Apple Intelligence to customers as part of software updates coming by October, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That means the AI features will arrive a few weeks after the initial iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 releases planned for September, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing unannounced release details.
Still, the iPhone maker is planning to make Apple Intelligence available to software developers for the first time for early testing as soon as this week via iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 betas, they added. The strategy is atypical as the company doesn't usually release previews of follow-up updates until around the time the initial version of the new software generation is released publicly.
The stakes are higher than usual. In order to ensure a smooth consumer release of its big bet on AI, Apple needs support from developers to help iron out issues and test features on a wider scale. Concerns over the stability of Apple Intelligence features, in part, led the company to split the features from the initial launch of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.
Apple announced the new features and operating systems in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference, saying Apple Intelligence would debut as part of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. The new timing means the AI capabilities won't be widely launched until a subsequent update to the new operating system. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Even when Apple Intelligence launches with iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, it will be missing some features. That includes some of the most significant changes to Siri, such as the ability to use on-device data to help field queries and for the system to use what is on a person's screen to provide context for answers.
