As iOS 18 moves into public beta, its headlining feature—Apple Intelligence—is facing a delay. While Apple had initially hinted at a fall release, reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicate a slight postponement.
This delay is minor, pushing the AI rollout from September to October. Along with this, we now have a clearer picture of iOS 18’s timeline. The primary iOS 18 update is expected in September, with iOS 18.1—which activates Apple Intelligence—arriving the following month.
Developers, however, are not left in the dark. They’re getting their hands on Apple Intelligence for testing this week, which suggests that the internal schedule remains largely intact. It’s uncertain whether an early version of Apple Intelligence will be accessible in the iOS 18 developer beta.
This development aligns with Gurman’s earlier report, which noted that Apple won’t release Apple Intelligence all at once. Instead, the launch will be phased. iOS 18.1 should introduce several AI features, such as AI summaries, image generation, and the new custom AI emoji, or “Genmoji” as Apple has dubbed them. These features will complement existing AI-adjacent functionalities, like voice memo transcriptions, which are already part of the iOS 18 beta but aren’t branded under Apple Intelligence.
Perhaps the most significant delay concerns the AI-powered Siri. Gurman reports that this enhanced version of Siri might not be available until the spring of 2025. Once live, Siri will boast greater contextual awareness, leveraging your activity and data from various apps to provide more intuitive responses. For instance, you could be texting about a movie, like Deadpool & Wolverine, and then ask Siri, “when is it playing?” The assistant would automatically know which movie you’re referencing.
Even after its launch, Apple Intelligence will remain in a beta phase and will only be available in English. Given the troubled launches of Google’s AI Overviews and Microsoft’s Recall, Apple’s cautious approach seems prudent.
