Apple's AI features roll out on iPhones - but not for all

After a long wait, Apple has finally released its artificial intelligence (AI) tools for iPhone - to a select few.

Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI tools announced in June, became available to owners of some iPhones around the world on Monday.

It was accessible for people with eligible devices by updating to the latest version of Apple's operating system for iPhones.

Those hoping to get hold of Apple Intelligence have to request to join a waitlist to get it after updating to iOS 18.1.

According to Apple, users should be able to activate its suite of AI tools "within a few hours" of joining its waitlist, though it does say wait times may differ.

The new features include notification summaries, tools to assist users in writing messages, and a glowing new interface for virtual assistant Siri.

But they will only be available to people with the latest devices - including all iPhone 16 models, and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

Apple Intelligence is also available on Mac computers and iPad tablets that are powered by its latest chips.

But some of the tools made available on Monday have arrived later than equivalent features on other popular devices.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the public release of its AI tools introduced “a new era" for its products.

It comes after the company said on Friday it would reward ethical hackers who could demonstrate vulnerabilities in its AI software with a bounty of up to $1m (£770,000).

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The bundle of features released on Monday in its iOS 18.1 update are the first wave of AI tools previously shown off at Apple's summer developer conference.

More features expected later this year include generating images and emoji from text prompts.

Rival features

Google and Samsung have already introduced AI features to their devices.

These include allowing users to translate conversations in real-time, automatically organise notes, and search for something online by drawing a circle around it.

While initially making its Galaxy AI features available on its latest handsets, Samsung widened it to include S22 devices released in 2022.

The South Korean tech giant said in February it planned to introduce Galaxy AI for more than 100 million users within 2024.

Apple's new Clean Up tool, allowing people to remove unwanted objects or people from an image, also follows Google's previous release of a similar tool called Magic Eraser.

Mr Cook told the Wall Street Journal in October that the company was "perfectly fine with not being first”, adding it "takes a while to get it really great".