New OS public betas offer a glimpse of Apple Intelligence

Following the release of its milestone operating systems, Apple has started offering the first public betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 to download, complete with Apple Intelligence support.

Days after releasing its milestone operating systems, and after a few developer betas already, Apple is now bringing out public betas of its next inbound update. The initial public beta builds of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 can now be downloaded and installed onto user devices.

The betas are pretty much identical to the developer betas in terms of features. That also means that, for hardware compatible with it, Apple Intelligence will be available to try outside of the developer betas for the first time.

Apple Intelligence will be available to use on the iPhone 15 Pro models, M-series iPads, and Mac models running on Apple Silicon. Other lower-spec models won't be able to try out Apple Intelligence.

Aside from Apple Intelligence, the public betas also include a change affecting the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Those models will be able to take Spatial Photos as well as Spatial Video, which can be viewed on the Apple Vision Pro.

Just like the developer betas, AppleInsider and Apple strongly advise users avoid installing test operating systems or other beta or RC software on "mission-critical" or primary devices. Due to the small chance of data loss, testers should instead use secondary or non-essential hardware and ensure they have sufficient backups of their critical data at all times.

Apple Intelligence features in the public beta

The Apple Intelligence features that will be available to try out will also mirror what has been made available in the developer betas.

The list includes Writing Tools, which will allow users to quickly proofread their writing and make adjustments, or completely rewrite it all in a different tone. The tools can also summarize long stretches of text into a much easier to understand package.

Siri gets a redesign that is more deeply integrated into the iOS and iPadOS experience, complete with a glowing ring around the display. Siri is more resilient in handling requests, such as determining when a user stumbles over their words or changes their mind during the request itself.

Type to Siri is accessible by a double-tap at the bottom of the display, and has a predictive text model geared towards creating Siri requests. Siri also has a bank of product knowledge and support documentation onboard, so you can ask it for assistance when using features on your iPhone.

Mail gains summaries of emails, Priority messages that float important unread emails to the top of your inbox, and Smart Reply provides quick responses you can send back.

Photos gains features like memory creation from a prompt, complete with setting moods and song picks. Natural language search makes it easier to track down a specific image, such as "orange cat sat on a chair."

Clean Up is an editing tool in Photos that can remove elements from an image, such as an unsightly fire hydrant. It then uses generative AI to hide what's missing from the image as convincingly as possible.

Using the iPhone as a phone also adds in some Apple Intelligence in the form of call recording transcription. Calls can be saved to Notes, complete with a text transcript of what happened.

Similarly, Notes will let users record and transcribe audio within the app, along with a summary.

AI not on the way

Not all of Apple Intelligence's features will be included in the first public beta.

For a start, the long-awaited Image Playground and Genmoji functions won't be arriving soon. The features use text prompts to generate images for the user.

Siri also doesn't gain personal context, which analyses messages and other communications to work out relationships between data points and people. In-app actions will also be missing this time around, as well as ChatGPT integration.

Priority notifications and additional languages and platforms will also be unavailable this time around.