It's been clear for a while that Apple's artificial intelligence features won't be available with the launch of iOS 18, the upcoming software update that's expected to be the biggest in years.
Apple AI delayed, won't come to iPhone, Bloomberg report says
While a Bloomberg report just two weeks ago claimed that the features could take until spring 2025 to reach users, a more recent report from the same group suggests the launch will happen as early as Update 18.1. This could mean the release comes just a few weeks after the release of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, which are scheduled to arrive in September. However, several other features teased at WWDC this year, such as an improved Siri, could take until well into 2025 to release.
The delay will allow Apple to fix bugs and other issues with Apple Intelligence features while ensuring a smooth rollout of the long-awaited iOS 18, even without AI.
Still, developers and early adopters can begin testing Apple’s AI features in the iOS 18.1 beta as early as this week. While the actual, final release of these features is still a matter of speculation, the status of these features in beta will provide better clues as to when the general user will start seeing the benefits of Apple’s Intelligence features, including the ability to summarize web content and voice notes, use AI for writing, get ChatGPT into Siri, and several other goodies.