WWDC 2024 proved to be most instrumental in supplying new technologies, and Apple, participating in the arms race for customer attention and growing sales, focused on productivity even further, trying to discover a perfect solution that would address their clients’ needs and challenges inexorably emerging on a highly competitive market. As a result, Apple joined the popular bandwagon — and introduced its own AI.
All Features
AI is indeed a groundbreaking achievement for a company mostly concentrated on building high-quality hardware and software for regular customers and businesses, but its minor updates cannot be neglected either: before we cover the centerpiece of the conference, let us briefly tackle the crucial bits for all avid and curious fans.
Calculator
There are only three things that can liven up a developer conference: a new AI, a generous chunk of unknown code, and a calculator.
Apple finally rolled out Math Notes and a calculator that allows users to type — or write out, depending on their preferences — mathematical expressions and see them instantly solved. The feature comes in handy on many occasions, especially if you're calculating your advertising budget. There's also a graph one tap away, so use it to illustrate your equation.
Improved Customization
Apple said express yourself, and express you will. This time the company tried hammer and tongs to take user experience to the next level and offered a great many options for customization. For example, users can now place all widgets and app icons in any open position on the Home Screen and change their wallpaper as they see fit.
Photo App
The developers heard your pleas and fixed it: stop wasting time searching for your favorite photos in the enormous pile of pictures you've taken throughout the years. The updated app provides seamless navigation, decent organizational features, and other ways to keep necessary things within easy reach.
Passwords App
People tend to forget passwords or keep them in places with easy access. Luckily, this epoch has come to a close with the newly introduced Passwords app.
This app helps users navigate their password collection and view all passwords, including Wi-Fi passwords, passkeys, or codes that aren't related to a site or service.
Privacy Controls
Another improvement the developers presented at the conference was the total control users gained over the apps, contacts, and paired accessories. Apps that users want to keep locked and/or hidden offer them peace of mind that their private information will remain private and even the mere possibility of such content being inadvertently seen by others is reduced to zero. Then, the whole management of app access was reconsidered and retransformed: for example, when apps require access to contact information, users are at liberty to allow such access to specific contacts rather than the full contact list.
macOS Sequoia
One of the most impressive features Apple described during the conference was MacOS Sequoia enabled with iPhone mirroring. With this unique feature, you can mirror your iPhone's screen and control it using your Mac.
AI Intelligence
While the previous features or the ones we didn't mention are held in high regard by devoted fans, it was Apple Intelligence that stole the limelight. And rightfully so.
Apple Intelligence doesn't resemble a regular chatbot users fiddle with just for the hell of it. On the contrary, it serves as an integrated layer of artificial intelligence embedded in the announced operating systems, and this integrated layer of artificial intelligence provides a great deal of updates that ensure a unique user experience.
For example, the developers revamped Siri and ungraded the virtual assistant so much that it became more personal. Another distinct feature of the upcoming renovation includes improved email composition, proofreading tools, better search, photo editing, and the ability to summarize web pages should you ever need it. In a nutshell, the company did not attempt to set everyone agape with a wide range of functions no one would use; instead, Apple chose a more tentative approach by making AI a trustworthy sidekick, a companion that would simplify all processes, save time, and make itself useful.
In Apple's perception, this new AI roughly outlines what AI-powered devices should be able to do under the current circumstances of the ever-changing world. As the modern world highly relies on information, the company makes a bid on the tools that will drastically change the process of information consumption: AI-powered devices are expected to help you make sense of the most important bits in the long bodies or text or notifications; they simplify search, linguistically or otherwise, transcribe audio, proofread your messages, define and correct errors, provide suggested replies for quicker communication, rewrite texts in different styles, and perform basic photo edits. From this point of view, Apple Intelligence doesn't even feel like a full-fledged AI: it is simply a smarter tool, which allows you to slough off minor tasks and delegate them to the device.
In the wake of the predicament with Google Overviews and the contentious results it offered, Apple's decision to narrow its focus appears even more clear-sighted and sagacious. The company put much effort into avoiding hallucinations and limiting the dangers, so it came up with expected results that can address safety concerns everybody deals with in prompt engineering.
It has been stated that Apple Intelligence is no chatbot, and the statement still stands, but there's a small caveat: this AI will be able to tap ChatGPT for expertise where it might be helpful. This is how it is supposed to work: you ask Siri a question, and if it lacks proper knowledge, it automatically feeds your query to ChatGPT if you have granted permission to do it. This galvanic integration expands even further: you can include photos with the questions you ask ChatGPT via Siri, or ask questions related to your PDFs and docs. Apple integrated ChatGPT into other tools, too, letting you create content with ChatGPT (images included!) or ask for an initial idea and send it to ChatGPT to get a revision or variation back. The only limit is the need to select styles, so you will not be able to create photorealistic deepfakes — we're on the safer side, remember?
Speaking of Siri, the virtual assistant is reported to become more natural: it can now process stumbles in speech and understand the context in which this or that question is asked; it is also enriched with knowledge about the technical side of the device you're using, so if you ever find yourself stuck, ask Siri how to use your Mac, iPad, or iPhone. But that's only part of the incredible story: the virtual assistant has become so capable it can unearth your friend's address if it has been shared somewhere in the chat. We can't check it at the moment, but if the system works as advertised, we are on the verge of a technological breakthrough.
Essentially, Apple leverages AI for narrow use, where a click can transform text, or where the AI intuitively knows what you need to see. The newly developed AI succeeds where others fail: it does not want to conquer your device and claim all your apps, forcing you to make a decision; it solves your everyday problems, saving you seconds, minutes, and eventually hours of your time by automating smaller tasks you usually were bound to accomplish yourself.
For those answering, the function will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and M1 Mac and iPad devices. The standard iPhone 15 will not be getting the feature, likely owning to technological limitations.
Wrapping Up
Apple Intelligence was one of the many features presented at WWDC 2024 but it quickly hogged the limelight and intrigued the public. From the looks of it, it appears to be more than promising: this AI does not pretend to be a chatbot, but it elevates the quality of the already existing functions and makes the device an indispensable assistant that can take over minor tasks.
