Apple Intelligence, Apple’s groundbreaking AI suite, is set to roll out in a series of updates following the release of iOS 18.1, expected in October. While the first wave of features will focus on text-based tools like writing suggestions, notification summaries, and a photo “Clean Up” tool, the highly anticipated image-generation features—Image Playground and Genmoji—are slated for iOS 18.2, with a projected December release.
Image Playground allows users to generate creative images by providing a description, drawing on prompts, or even referencing people from their Photos library. Users can easily adjust the style and adapt these images for various platforms, including Messages and Keynote. Apple has integrated three unique styles—Animation, Illustration, and Sketch—giving users artistic flexibility while notably steering away from photorealism. This decision seems aimed at encouraging playful, creative exploration over exact replication.
On the other hand, Genmoji will offer a fresh, personalized way to create emojis. Users will be able to craft custom emojis from prompts and even use photos to generate emojis resembling real people. This feature promises a new level of expressiveness beyond what traditional emojis can convey. Genmoji will be accessible directly from the iOS keyboard, offering seamless integration across messaging platforms. Developers will also have access to APIs to ensure their apps support Genmoji, though, in unsupported apps, the Genmoji will upload as a standard image.
While these image-generation tools are delayed, the initial wave of Apple Intelligence features arriving with iOS 18.1 will still be impressive. Tools for generating and summarizing text, suggested replies in Messages, and phone call transcription will be part of the first public release.
Note that these features require an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18.1 or later. Initially, Apple Intelligence will be available only with the device language set to English, with support for additional languages rolling out over the next year.
Read more:
- Why top publishers are opting out of Apple Intelligence AI data scraping
- Apple’s AI ambitions grow with rumored investment in OpenAI and iOS 18 integration
- iOS 18 to offer default apps, app deletion, and browser choice in the EU
- Advanced Apple Intelligence features could come with a $20 monthly price tag
