Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote was one of the biggest ones that the company had made in years. During this keynote, the company showed us what we’d be getting in iOS 18, which includes some big user-requested features like more home screen customization, RCS messaging support, and more. But that’s not all — this is the first iOS that brings AI into the iPhone with Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence, as Apple calls it, is a powerful suite of AI tools that will help make your life even easier. From new writing tools and summarization features to image generation and the ability to create unique emojis, Apple Intelligence definitely looks impressive.
But will your current iPhone be able to run Apple Intelligence now that it has launched in the iOS 18.1 update? Unfortunately, it might not.
Only the iPhone 16 generation and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can support Apple Intelligence. As of this writing, this is the full list of supported iPhones:
Unfortunately, last gen’s iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. You need at least one of the iPhone 15 Pro models or newer in order to use Apple Intelligence.
Naturally, that means there are a lot of iPhones that won’t be getting Apple Intelligence. The below list includes all of the phones getting the iOS 18 update this fall, but that will not get the new Apple Intelligence features:
Even though all of these iPhones will be able to run iOS 18, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will get Apple Intelligence. So, if you are using an older iPhone, or even the base model iPhone 15, you’re going to be out of luck.
Even without Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 still has plenty of cool new features that older iPhones can enjoy. Some of these features include more home screen customization options, a revamped Control Center, the ability to swap out lock screen controls, a completely new Photos app, new text effects in iMessage, RCS support, and much more.
Apple hasn’t explicitly said why older iPhone models won’t be getting Apple Intelligence. However, we can make some educated guesses based on what we do know already about AI in general.
AI systems like Apple Intelligence need a lot of processing power to run. On the iPhone’s side, this means it needs the latest chips and enough RAM to process all of those tasks since many of them happen locally on-device.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use the A18 chip, and the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max use the A18 Pro. The A18 and A17 Pro have the same number of cores, and the A18 Pro upgrades its GPU with an additional core. So it makes sense that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which use the A17, are the only iPhones from the past generation with enough processing power to handle Apple Intelligence. It’s likely because of the A18 Pro, A18, and A17 Pro chips inside and the 8GB RAM that these newer models have.
Older iPhones, like the iPhone 14 Pro Max and even the base model iPhone 15, only have 6GB RAM. So even though previous models have the 16-core Neural Engine with the A16 Bionic and earlier, Apple Intelligence still needs that extra processing power from chips like the A17 Pro and 8GB RAM to run.
Apple Intelligence is also available on the iPad, but only if you have an iPad with an M1 chip or later, or the A17 Pro. Here’s the full list of compatible iPad models:
Since the requirements for an iPad to run Apple Intelligence include an M-series chip or the A17 Pro in the newest iPad mini, that basically rules out the base model iPad, as well as any non-M series iPads. Basically, any iPad without those chips may get iPadOS 18, but won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. Here’s a full list:
A lot of the iPad models that can get iPadOS 18 won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. Why? Because it’s all about the processors, just like with the iPhones. With the M1 and later chips, they have a 16-core Neural Engine that can run AI tasks, since they can do 11 trillion operations a second.
And even though the 10th-gen iPad has a the A14 Bionic with 16-core Neural Engine, the A14 Bionic only has a 6-core CPU (two power and four efficiency cores) and a 4-core GPU. Basically, it lacks the power needed for the AI models, unfortunately.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage