AI built into the operating system
Apple Intelligence is the personal AI system Apple builds into iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It names the collection of AI features that live inside the OS and the standard apps — summarizing and proofreading text, generating and editing images, organizing notifications, and Siri’s search and app control.
It is not a standalone chat service but a foundation working across Apple’s products. Because it handles personal material such as messages, mail, and photographs, the design emphasizes privacy by combining on-device processing with Private Cloud Compute.
When it appeared, and what changed
Apple Intelligence was announced on 10 June 2024 at WWDC24, as a personal intelligence system integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It is not new in WWDC26.
WWDC26 moved it to a new architecture centered on the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, and widened integration into everyday features including Siri AI, photo editing, Safari, and Image Playground.
How it differs from ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a service built around a conversation window for a wide range of questions and tasks. Apple Intelligence works largely in the background as a feature of the OS and its apps, so you use it without opening a separate AI service.
It can hand work to an outside AI service where appropriate, but Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT are separate things. Which model processes a request, and whether data stays on the device or is sent out, needs checking per feature.
Worth checking
Available features depend on the device, OS version, language, and region. Text, images, and search results produced by AI are not always correct — have a person verify anything important, and for features handling personal information, check how it is processed and how far it is shared.