The Biggest Highlights From Apple’s WWDC 2024

Apple announced several features at its 2024 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). The opening keynote was almost entirely dedicated to artificial intelligence, an area that Apple is widely seen as lagging in since ChatGPT kicked off the generative AI frenzy in late 2022.

Apple’s biggest reveal was its new “personal intelligence” system, Apple Intelligence, which will be available on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Apple said the upgrade would improve Siri significantly. It can now take action across apps with simple commands. For example, a user could ask Siri to “Bring up that article about cicadas from my Reading List” without specifying which app has the article. Siri will also be able to learn its users’ behavior, understand stutters, and allow users to ask questions to ChatGPT.

Unlike most other AI systems, Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing, meaning it hands over much less user data. For tasks that on-device processing can’t handle, the newly unveiled Private Cloud Compute will be deployed. Apple said the technology “sets a new standard for privacy in AI” by running on dedicated Apple servers with Apple’s proprietary chips.

Wired contributor Andrew Williams has noted that most iPhones (anything older or lower-tier than an iPhone 15 Pro) will be unable to handle on-device processing.

After much speculation about Apple’s AI partnerships, the company announced a collaboration with OpenAI. In addition to Siri’s integration with ChatGPT, users will be able to use ChatGPT to generate text and images within Apple’s writing tools. The ChatGPT integration will come to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and MacOS Sequoia later this year.

Apple also announced a series of new features to its mobile operating systems. For iOS 18, this includes better Home Screen customization, more controls in the Control Center, and a major redesign of the Photos app. Users can also send messages via satellite without Wi-Fi or cellular service. Meanwhile, iPadOS 18 will get new features for the Apple Pencil, including Math Notes – which lets users type or write out equations and solve them instantly.

Other big updates include the launch of MacOS 15 (Sequoia), which will have improved window tiling, a new password management app, and iPhone mirroring, which lets users interact with their iPhone from their Mac.