Here is why your iPhone does not support Apple Intelligence

Apple’s new feature, Apple Intelligence, launched with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, brings advanced AI capabilities to your devices. But, to use it, you need the latest iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or Macs and iPads with M1 or later chips.

What makes Apple Intelligence special?

Apple Intelligence uses powerful AI models that require a lot of computing power to run. John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI head, explained that running these AI models, known as inference, needs a lot of resources.

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This includes high processing power, memory, and a fast Neural Engine to make the feature useful and quick. Here is why:

• Neural Engine: The iPhone 15 Pro models have the A17 Pro chip, which includes a 16-core Neural Engine. This is twice as fast as the A16 chip in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, performing nearly 35 trillion operations per second. This speed is crucial for handling complex AI tasks efficiently.
• Memory and bandwidth: The iPhone 15 Pro models come with at least 8GB of RAM, essential for managing large AI computations and data.
• Processing speed: Older iPhones lack the advanced processing capabilities of the A17 Pro chip, making them too slow to handle Apple Intelligence effectively.

No, it is not about marketing; Apple says so

Some users suspect, and they are quite right to be suspicious, that this hardware requirement is a way to push sales of new iPhones. However, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s marketing chief, assured that this isn’t the case. If it were, they would have restricted the feature to the latest iPads and Macs too.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s software engineering chief, noted that Apple tries to make new features available on older devices when possible. However, the advanced demands of Apple Intelligence require the latest hardware to ensure a smooth and fast user experience.

What about older iPhones?

Even if you have an older iPhone, there’s still a lot to look forward to with iOS 18. All iPhones running iOS 17 will be compatible with iOS 18 and its new features, just not Apple Intelligence. For example, a new and customizable control center:

(Image credit: Apple/WWDC 24)

If you’re eager to use Apple Intelligence but don’t have an iPhone 15 Pro, you might consider waiting for the iPhone 16 series, which is expected to launch in the fall with iOS 18. These new models will likely support Apple Intelligence.

In summary, Apple Intelligence needs the powerful hardware of the latest devices to work effectively, and the iPhone 15 Pro models below don’t meet the criteria. Here are all the Apple Intelligence compatible devices:

• iPhones
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro)
  • iPhone 15 Pro (A17 Pro)
• iPads
  • iPad Pro (M1 and later)
  • iPad Air (M1 and later)
• Macbooks
  • MacBook Air (M1 and later)
  • MacBook Pro (M1 and later)
• Mac desktop
  • iMac (M1 and later)
  • Mac mini (M1 and later)
  • Mac Studio (M1 and later)
  • Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

Featured image credit: Eray Eliaçık/Bing