Apple’s annual September launch event is happening today (follow along with our iPhone 16 event live blog for the latest updates), and while we already had an inkling that certain Apple Intelligence features might be delayed until after the initial rollout of iOS 18, we’re now hearing that two of the most exciting new AI tools could be held up until December.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple now plans to launch Image Playground and Genmoji in iOS 18.2, which is likely to begin rolling out at the end of the year. Image Playground will allow users to create generative images in various iPhone apps like Messages or Notes, while Genmoji is essentially a custom emoji generator.
Apple Intelligence will almost certainly be the key selling point of today’s “It’s Glowtime” Apple event, but the first Apple Intelligence features aren’t expected to become available on compatible iPhones until the release of iOS 18.1. At that point – likely October – iPhone users will receive access to a handful of AI tools including Clean Up and writing assistance, but, as Gurman reports, Image Playground and Genmoji look set to debut at a later date.
As disappointing as this latest tip will be for prospective iPhone 16 owners, certain Apple Intelligence features are rumored to be delayed until 2025, which makes December seem like a comparatively short time to wait. Those delayed features include the full version of Apple’s new and improved Siri – it may launch in 2024, but it reportedly won’t be fully integrated into compatible iPhones until 2025 – and new features in the Mail app.
As for which iPhones will be compatible with Apple Intelligence, Apple has confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the only currently available iPhones that possess enough processing power to handle Apple Intelligence tasks. The entire iPhone 16 line, however, will almost certainly be compatible with Apple’s new AI toolset, since the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are reportedly set for an 8GB RAM upgrade (incidentally, here’s why RAM could be the key to Apple Intelligence).
Despite the rumored delays to all of the aforementioned Apple Intelligence features, we’re hoping that Apple still shows some of them off at today’s Apple event. Perhaps we’ll even get to take the likes of Image Playground and Genmoji for a spin during a post-launch hands-on session. If so, we’ll of course be sharing our first impressions.
To tune into the iPhone 16 launch event yourself, here’s how to watch the iPhone 16 launch live. Alternatively, check out our iPhone 16 event live blog for the latest on-the-ground updates from Cupertino.
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