These iOS 18.1 features bring AI smarts to the iPhone, but is yours compatible?

Whether you’re sporting a new iPhone 16 or you’ve stuck with your current model, many Apple devices can download the new iOS 18.1 software update. But who can get Apple’s fancy new iOS 18.1 Apple Intelligence features, and who misses out?

Although the iPhone 16 released with iOS 18 at launch, it didn’t come with any of the cool Apple Intelligence features, Most users had to wait patiently for Apple to push iOS 18.1 to devices before sampling them out. Finally launching on 28 October, iOS 18.1 added the first of these generative AI features, including notification summaries, writing tools and a new look for Siri, but many of its major features won’t launch until later in the year.

While Siri has had a full-screen redesign, it’s still not any more intelligent. In a future iOS 18 update, the virtual assistant will be able to understand you better and give more personalised, useful and human-like responses by pulling in your vital information from across apps. Siri will also be able to hand your question over to ChatGPT for any queries it can’t handle on device, but this isn’t due to launch until the end of the year.

Features such as Image Playground, which will let you create pictures from text prompts, and Genmoji, a feature that will let you create entirely new custom emojis simply by describing what you want or plugging in photos of your friends, won’t even launch until iOS 18.2.

Every phone with an A12 Bionic chip or later can download iOS 18.1, but only the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and the full iPhone 16 range will be able to access the new AI features. And if you want to try out the AI features in the UK, you’ll need to set your device language and Siri language to English (United States), otherwise you’ll need to wait until December.

But there’s more to iOS 18.1 than fancy new generative AI tricks. If your phone can’t receive the Apple Intelligence features, you’ll still get the phone call recorder, which can create transcriptions in the notes app, as well as a natural language search in the App Store, new buttons in control centre and the new hearing health features on the AirPods Pro 2. So, which devices can upgrade to iOS 18.1, and which devices get Apple Intelligence?

The new iOS 18.1 update rolled out to devices on Monday 28 October. Make sure your iPhone is either fully charged or plugged in before you start the update and that you have enough storage space to download it.

If you downloaded iOS 18 last month, you’ll also be able to get the free iOS 18.1 update. As before, you need to have an iPhone with an A12 Bionic chip or later. That’s because the A12 has what Apple calls a neural engine. Any iPhone without this chip or better would be too slow to run the new operating system efficiently.

The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR are the oldest iPhones that support iOS 18. Here’s the list of compatible iPhones in full:

Here’s where things get more complicated. While the iPhones we’ve just mentioned can all upgrade to iOS 18.1, only the very latest iPhones can access the new Apple Intelligence features found on iOS 18.1.

This is because Apple Intelligence runs mostly on-device, and your iPhone will need a lot of specialised processing power to use it. That means you’ll need a Mac or iPad with an M1 chip or later. The pool of iPhones that support Apple Intelligence is even smaller.

You’ll need an iPhone with an A17 Pro chip or better. Besides the newly-released iPhone 16 range, which uses the new A18 chip, the only iPhones with Apple Intelligence are the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The base iPhone 15 won’t get Apple Intelligence, because it uses the older A16 chipset.

Here’s the full list of iPhone and Apple devices compatible with Apple Intelligence:

If you have a compatible iPhone and want to sample Apple Intelligence in the UK before it officially launches in British English, you’ll have to set your device language to US English. It’s not officially coming to the UK until December. To do so, complete the following steps:

Firstly, change your device language by heading to Settings>General>Language & Region>Add Language>English (United States). Then you’ll need to change the Siri language by heading to Settings>Siri>Language>English (United States). Now restart your device.

Now, open up Settings, tap on Apple Intelligence & Siri, then turn it on – you might have to join a wait list to get the Apple Intelligence features onto your device. And remember, iOS 18.1 only brings onboard new writing tools and notification summaries – the best AI features won’t launch until iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.3.

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The best way to buy the new iPhone 16 is to get it directly from Apple. You can get it with zero per cent finance, spreading the cost over 24 months with no interest to pay.

The base iPhone 16 costs £799, or £33.29 per month, while the top-end iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £1,199, or £49.95 per month. Pair your new iPhone with a SIM-only deal from one of these carriers to get the best value deal on the new iPhone 16.

If you’re mid-contract or an existing customer looking to upgrade, it’s always worth checking out your current provider’s deals on the new iPhone 16. The four big networks, Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three have some iPhone 16 deals. The major carriers offer all kinds of bundle deals, like free Disney+ subscriptions, trade-in offers and brand freebies so they can work out cheaper than a SIM-only plan if you know you’ll make use of the extras.

For the latest discounts on phones and other tech offers, try the links below:

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