Marko Zivkovic
The latest developer beta of macOS Sequoia introduces support for Genmoji, following the feature's debut on iPhone and iPad. Here's what you need to know.
On Monday, Apple released the first developer beta of macOS Sequoia 15.3. While the software update contains few visible changes, it does include one noteworthy addition — support for so-called Genmoji. Originally introduced with iOS 18.2, Genmoji are unique emoticons created by users and generated through the help of Apple Intelligence.
Users can describe the emoji they want to create, such as one based on an object or a person they know, and Apple Intelligence will make it a reality. Genmoji can be created with source images from the Photos app, or a generic emoji person can be used instead. Genmoji are also synced via iCloud, meaning that they appear in the user's sticker drawer across all compatible devices, including iPhone and iPad.
Genmoji can be found in the emoji picker on macOS Sequoia 15.3.On Mac, Genmoji can be accessed and created from the emoji picker, found within the macOS operating system. Genmoji can resemble various objects, both real and imaginary — it's all up to the end user's creativity, and what they want to make.
Alongside the macOS Sequoia 15.3 beta, Apple also released developer betas of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, as well as visionOS 2.3. While the updates don't contain any noteworthy visual changes, they do contain various stability and performance improvements. Apple's release notes highlight minor fixes for Genmoji and Writing Tools, as part of the updates, for example.
Additional Apple Intelligence features are expected to debut in 2025, with the planned iOS 18.4 update likely bringing AI-powered tools to more regions. iOS 19, meanwhile, could introduce significant improvements to Siri through the use of large language models or LLMs.
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Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Wesley Hilliard
Amber Neely
3 Comments
Come on, at least mention Basic Apple Guy if you're going to use his Genmoji prompt in your photo.
Useless feature, ugly pictures
Image Playground and Genmoji are two useless features. And that is what Apple is pushing for their AI? Animoji with the iPhone X was good for about 5 minutes. I messed around with Image Playground and the cartoon-looking images created were ridiculous looking. Totally pointless. I typed in Porsche and it said, 'sorry, I can't do that'. I typed in Sports Car and got a silly looking car. I used the eraser in the Photos app and it only works well with a solid background. It can't figure out what to do if there is any kind of pattern behind what you are erasing and it still looks fake. Like Siri, Apple (Un)Intelligence will be a feature that will be ignored by users. It is not useful for anyone.
One reviewer had the best comment about the iPhone 16. Apple has been pushing AI as the reason to buy the phone, but Apple's rollout of AI is so delayed, that most of the AI features won't be available until Spring, 6 months after the phone's release, and the phone will then be replaced 6 months later. So people would be buying the phone for features that hardly would even be available and then only a few months later, replaced with a newer model.