Cập nhật thông minh iOS của Apple sắp đến với iPhone

Software updates for your iPhone happen often, with Apple dispatching new versions of its operating systems many times each year. But few have been as monumental as what is imminent: The next updates to iOS/iPadOS/macOS introducing Apple Intelligence, Apple’s shot at catching up to competitors in using AI in its products.

As early as Monday, iOS and iPadOS 18.1 will bring important changes to the company’s newest smartphones and tablets, while macOS 15.1 does the same for Apple’s newer laptops and desktops. For iPhones, you’ll need to own a 15 Pro or Pro Max, or any of the just-shipped iPhone 16 models, to get the first round of Apple Intelligence features. The company signaled Thursday it will announce updated Macs during the week as well.

For iPads and Macs, you’ll need any of the models built around the company’s homegrown M1 or newer processors.

But if you’ve got older gear, take heart. Coming on the heels of last month’s major release of iOS 18, you’re also in line for some interesting, cool and useful capabilities. As is often the case with Apple’s software, promised features that weren’t completed by the main launch wander into the party later — sometimes much later. In the case of iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, the parade of key updates is expected to continue later this year and well into 2025.

I’ve been using the public betas of iOS and ipadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 for a while, and Apple recently released to testers the version that’s expected to hit devices this week. 

Apple announced a slew of AI features at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, but nearly all were MIA when iOS 18 and the new iPhone 16 models launched last month. Given that the marketing push for the iPhone 16 centers on Apple Intelligence, I opted to delay a detailed review of the iPhone 16 Pro Max until its rollout is complete. It’s expected to arrive in three updates over a period of months — 18.1 this week, 18.2 before year’s end and 18.3 sometime in spring. For macOS, the version numbers start with 15.

The first iOS release provides a window into Apple’s approach, which focuses on practicality and simplicity. There’s nothing yet that knocks my socks off, but what’s here is already useful.

Among my favorite new features: AI-generated summaries for notifications in Mail and Messages. When notifications for either appear on your home or lock screens, rather than a excerpt of text you’ll get a summary of the contents. When this works, it is better than a snippet at giving a sense of a message’s importance.

Inside the Mail app, AI can flag emails that should be considered a priority. Each email also has a button atop it which, when tapped, generates a summary in real time. This can be less useful, particularly when there’s a long thread as the summary doesn’t always focus on the latest item in the chain. However, you can provide feedback that includes a suggestion as to what the summary should say.

Writing Tools offers to proofread, rewrite or reformat your text. The proofreading is useful, but rewritten text often seems dry or lifeless. This feature is similar to what’s found in Microsoft’s Copilot in Windows, as well as in the Spark email software I’ve reviewed.

My favorite Apple Intelligence feature is Clean Up, the equivalent to Magic Eraser found in the Google Photos app (and which first appeared on Google’s Pixel 6 phone three years ago). It’s better than Magic Eraser, most times leaving no trace of a removed object. Less impressive is Natural Language Search in Photos, which is a little better but still can’t compete with the search in Google Photos. For example, if I search for “pizza” in my photos, it shows me nearly all of them (and I take a LOT of pizza pictures). But when I ask for other kinds of foods — say, beer — it fails.

For those of you hoping Apple Intelligence provides a brain transplant for Siri, I’ve got bad news. While there are minor functional improvements and more natural vocalizations, Siri remains pretty dumb. You’ll have to wait for 18.2 or 18.3 for future abilities, such as Siri seeing the data within apps and responding accordingly.

Among the most interesting items in 18.1 are improvements to Apple’s suite of hearing-health features, including the ability to function as FDA-approved hearing aids.

For example, if you use Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 or the newly released AirPods 4 earbuds, iOS 18.1 lets you take a clinical-grade hearing test. There have long been third-party hearing test apps, including the free Mimi, to generate audiograms, a graphical representation of how well you hear. You’ve also been able to upload audiograms into the Hearing Accommodations in the Accessibility section of Settings, which can tune music and phone calls based on the results. The Hearing Test feature bakes this into the operating system.

If the test shows hearing loss, you’ll be able to use the AirPods as hearing aids. My hearing is excellent (my brother-in-law, an ear-nose-throat surgeon, says my audiograms show I have “the hearing of a 5-year-old,” which is good?) so I was unable to try it out. (It also requires an AirPods firmware update that’s not yet available.)

Also in the non-AI category: Allowing third-party developers to use the Near Field Communication chip in iPhones. Previously this had been reserved for Apple; it’s what enables Apple Pay and the ability to unlock a hotel room with your phone, for example.

Also coming: An enhancement for iPhone Mirroring, the iOS 18 feature that shows your compatible iPhone as an app floating on your M-class Mac’s desktop. The update allows you to drag and drop files between the phone and the Mac. This had been yanked from a previous beta release, but I’m happy to see it made the final cut.

Once the updates are out, go to Settings > General > Software Update to grab it. Want to get a jump on the next round of Apple Intelligence features? You’ll also find there a drop-down that can enroll you in the beta. Pro tip: Stick with the Public Beta unless you like living dangerously enough to do the Developer Beta. (And Apple just released the first test versions for developers only of iOS/ipadOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2.)