Apple Intelligence is my favorite artificial intelligence tool right now. I know this is a bold statement, especially considering the magical capabilities of generative artificial intelligence. But these are not the features I use all day.
For me, the best use of artificial intelligence affects everything you do, and most importantly, it makes performing those tasks easier. There are many different applications of artificial intelligence, but the most useful application I found is Apple Intelligence – specifically the Notifications Summaries feature. It has changed the way I check and respond to hundreds of notifications every day, and I love it.
Why are Notifications Summaries so great?
If you’re like me, you get a lot of notifications. I have over 100 apps installed on my iPhone 16 Pro (126 in the latest count), and they all send me notifications throughout the day. Sometimes it’s necessary, but it’s very easy to miss an important text message from the bank or that elusive email you’ve been waiting for.
This is where Notifications Summaries in Apple Intelligence are very useful. They are especially helpful in summarizing notifications – which is how I primarily use them – but they are also very useful when trying to keep up with email threads. Imagine coming back from vacation to find hundreds of unread work emails; now imagine being able to get the artificial intelligence summary for each of them.
For me, Notifications Summaries are the optimal use of artificial intelligence. There are many apps, like Apple News or many publisher apps, that I keep installed to get truly important news. Unfortunately, many of these sites also inform me of a lot of content I don’t want to read.
I’ve been using the iOS 18.1 Developer Beta for several months now, which is a requirement for Apple Intelligence. Since then, Notifications Summaries have become a vital part of my daily work. Instead of having to check every notification – and often resorting to clearing them all due to information overload – I rely on Apple Intelligence to summarize notifications for me.
It’s still in beta and it definitely looks like it sometimes, but it’s very good at highlighting the things that matter to me. It can sift through a lot of unwanted messages to make sure I don’t miss any notifications about a direct discount. It helped surface an email about a meeting from the inbox I usually don’t check.
The perfect Apple Watch experience
Notifications Summaries are not limited to the iPhone: they are available on a range of Apple devices and have proven to be extremely effective on the Apple Watch.
The biggest issue with the Apple Watch is its size. Even the Apple Watch Series 10, which has the largest Apple Watch screen ever, is not large enough to sort through the same range of notifications fully.
This is where Notifications Summaries are very effective. It’s not just about emails and messages; it works with just about every app on the iPhone or Apple Watch or iPad or Mac. If you receive multiple notifications from an app, this provides you with the necessary context to know what to do next. The images above demonstrate how useful Notifications Summaries on the Apple Watch are.
Apple Intelligence is still in beta
However, despite its current usefulness, it’s important to note that Apple Intelligence is still in beta. It’s still very early in Apple’s foray into personal assistants, and many things don’t work as planned.
While the summaries are usually helpful, some may cause inappropriate laughter. Many of the personal features showcased by Apple at the It’s Glowtime event are not yet available. The new Siri still makes many of the same mistakes as the old Siri.
Apple Intelligence is the first set of artificial intelligence features that I find myself using every day.
However, the summaries are so powerful that they have changed the way I use my phone. I also used the iPhone 16 with all the same apps, but without the iOS 18.1 beta and Apple Intelligence, it’s a completely different experience.
Apple Intelligence is the first set of artificial intelligence features that I find myself using every day. Sometimes artificial intelligence may seem like a means of cheating, but Apple’s approach to artificial intelligence – despite months before it becomes fully available – has already become my favorite.
When can you get Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is expected to launch in late October 2024 in the United States and by the end of the year in additional countries. It will be launched with some features from the full suite, and more are expected to be added through future updates over the next six months.
Unless you have one of the latest Apple devices, you won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. It is limited to just six models: the four latest models of Apple’s iPhone 16 and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max from last year. Apple says this is due to the requirements of the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) – only A17 Pro and A18 chips capable of running Apple Intelligence – but it’s unclear whether this is related to technical prowess or economics.
If you have a Mac or iPad, it’s easier to understand: Apple Intelligence can run on any device with an M-series chip. This means any modern iPad Pro or the latest iPad Air should be compatible, but my regular iPad and iPad Mini cannot be compatible. On the Mac side, if your Mac is supported by an Intel processor and you want these features, it might be time to check out one of the best Mac devices.
