What Does Apple Intelligence Do? Every Feature Explained for 2026

It arrives as part of the software update. Apple says the new Apple Intelligence turns on by itself when an eligible device updates to iOS 27 or its sister releases. The device and Siri just need to use a supported language. Many features run on the device itself. Harder tasks go to Apple's own servers, and a few can go to ChatGPT if you allow it.

This guide lists every Apple Intelligence feature as Apple describes it in September 2026. It covers the devices and languages each needs, how privacy works, and where to switch each one off. If you want to know how Siri decides between its own answer and ChatGPT, read our guide to how Apple Intelligence routes Siri queries to ChatGPT.

Every Apple Intelligence Feature in iOS 27

Apple groups its features by what they help you do. The table gives the short version, and the sections below explain each group. Everything here comes from Apple's Apple Intelligence page, its September 2026 announcement and the iPhone User Guide, checked on 29 September 2026.

Siri AI

Siri AI is a rebuilt Siri that holds a conversation. Apple's Siri AI support page lists what it can do. It answers questions on almost any topic, using what Apple calls broad world knowledge. It finds things in your Messages, Mail, Calendar, Notes and Reminders. And it understands what's on your screen and takes actions in apps. A new Siri app keeps your conversations and syncs them through iCloud, so you can start on an iPhone and finish on a Mac.

You can also pick a voice and set how expressive and fast it sounds, on newer models such as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air. To join, go to Settings, then Siri, then Try Siri AI (Beta). Apple says this puts you on a waitlist.

Writing help

If you use Siri AI, writing help lives inside Siri. Apple's Write with Siri guide says it can draft from scratch, summarize and give feedback on what you wrote. In Mail and Messages it can match how you usually write to each person.

Without Siri AI, you get Writing Tools: select text and choose Rewrite (Friendly, Professional or Concise), Proofread, Summarize, Key Points or "Describe a change." Both work in most apps, including many from other developers. Apple Intelligence now also proofreads automatically as you type.

Summaries and notifications

This is the group most people notice first. Apple Intelligence summarizes stacked notifications so you can scan the key details of a busy group chat at a glance. Priority notifications float urgent ones to the top of the stack, and a Reduce Interruptions Focus shows only what might need you now. The same idea runs through Mail (summaries and Priority Messages), Messages, voicemail, recorded calls and audio recorded in Notes.

Visual Intelligence

Point your camera at something and ask about it. Visual Intelligence can look up a restaurant's hours or menu, identify plants and animals, translate or summarize text, add an event from a poster, and search for similar images online through your search provider. With Siri AI it becomes Siri mode in the Camera app, with quick actions such as splitting a bill with Apple Cash in the US. In iOS 27 it also reaches iPad through a screenshot, Mac through a keyboard shortcut, and Apple Vision Pro when you look at something and ask.

Images and photo editing

• Image Playground makes images from a description, a photo or a person from your library. In iOS 27 it runs a new model on Apple's servers and can produce photorealistic images. Apple says it will support the SynthID standard, so AI-made images can be identified.
• Genmoji creates custom emoji from a description or a photo of a friend, saved with your stickers.
• Image Wand turns a rough sketch in Notes into a finished image.
• Photo editing adds Clean Up to remove distractions, Extend to widen a shot, and Spatial Reframing to change the angle after you took the photo.

Talking and calls

Live Translation translates Messages, shows translated captions in FaceTime, and speaks translations during phone calls and through supported AirPods. Call Context surfaces details from your apps when you call a business, such as a confirmation code from Mail when you phone an airline. Smart Reply drafts quick responses in Mail and Messages.

Getting things done

Safari can group your tabs into topics, alert you when a page changes (a price drop or a restock), and build a small custom extension from a description. In Shortcuts, Calendar and Reminders, you describe what you want in plain words and the app sets it up. Photos can find pictures from a description and build a memory movie from one.

The ChatGPT extension

ChatGPT is the one outside chatbot Apple names as an Apple Intelligence extension. Once you turn it on, you can ask Siri to "ask ChatGPT" a question, compose text with ChatGPT in Writing Tools, pick ChatGPT styles in Image Playground, or ask ChatGPT about what your camera sees. No ChatGPT account is needed. With Siri AI, nothing goes to ChatGPT unless you ask for it.

Which Devices and Languages Support Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence needs recent hardware because much of it runs on the device. Apple's requirements page lists these as of September 2026:

Languages. Apple Intelligence works in English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese and Korean. Your device language and Siri language must match. Siri AI is English only for now.

Regions. In the EU, the new features across apps are available on iPhone and iPad, but Siri AI isn't offered on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch yet. Apple says it is available on Mac and Apple Vision Pro there in English. In mainland China, Apple Intelligence doesn't currently work.

Limits. Apple Intelligence costs nothing extra, but features that use server-side models, including Siri AI, the photo editing tools and Image Playground, have daily usage limits. Apple says expanded access will be available for a fee in the future and hasn't named a price.

How Apple Intelligence Handles Your Privacy

Apple Intelligence works in two places. According to Apple's privacy guide, many tasks run entirely on your device. For harder ones, it uses Private Cloud Compute: larger models on Apple silicon servers. Apple says data sent there is used only for your request, isn't stored or made accessible to Apple, and that outside researchers can inspect the server software. Apple's security team's write-up explains that your device will only send data to servers running software that has been published for inspection.

You don't choose which place a task uses; Apple Intelligence decides. But you can see it. Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Apple Intelligence Report. You can export a log of every request sent to Private Cloud Compute in the last 15 minutes or 7 days.

ChatGPT is separate. When you use it, your request, any files you approve and a few details (time zone, country, device type, language) go to OpenAI. Apple hides your IP address. Without a ChatGPT account, OpenAI must not store your request or train on it.

The Apple Intelligence Settings Map

Apple's iOS 27 guide spreads the switches across several menus. We gathered them into one table so you can set Apple Intelligence up, or scale it back, in about ten minutes. Paths come from Apple's guide to turning off Apple Intelligence features.

Two tips. First, a summary is a shortened version written by a model, so switch summaries off for any app where you need the exact wording. Second, parents can block Apple Intelligence features, including image creation and the ChatGPT extension, in Screen Time.

If You Run a Business

Apple Intelligence changes how people find businesses as well as how they use their phones. Siri AI answers open questions, such as Apple's own example of "the best local coffee spot in a new city," from Apple's models and information from the web. Apple's Applebot page says its crawler can supply context for those answers, and that pages tagged nosnippet are left out.

Three quick checks help. Make sure your robots.txt doesn't block Applebot (block Applebot-Extended instead if you want to opt out of training). Claim your place card in Apple Business if customers visit you. And if you have an app, ask your developers about App Intents, which let Siri AI act inside it. Our full routing guide covers each of these with a checklist, and our voice search optimization checklist covers the crawler setup for every assistant.

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