The cool new AI features Apple announced for iPhones, iPads, and Macs won’t work on all devices. Only the latest iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models can run them, while iPads and Macs need a special M1 chip or newer. People are wondering why their older devices can’t use these features.
At a recent Apple event, a tech journalist named John Gruber asked Apple’s top guys (the heads of AI, marketing, and software) why the new super-smart features need such new devices. Here’s what they said:
The brains behind the magic: The head of AI explained these features are like having a super-smart helper inside your device, but it needs a lot of power to work well. This power comes from a combination of things in the device, kind of like needing a strong engine and good memory for a race car.
Not an anti-older-phone thing: The marketing chief said they could have limited the features to newer iPads and Macs too, just to sell more devices. But that’s not their main goal.
Making the most of what you have: The software chief explained that Apple always tries to bring new features to older devices whenever possible. But in this case, the extra smarts require super powerful hardware that just isn’t in older iPhones or Macs.
Apple’s Speech
Giannandrea: “So these models, when you run them at run times, it’s called inference, and the inference of large language models is incredibly computationally expensive. And so it’s a combination of bandwidth in the device, it’s the size of the Apple Neural Engine, it’s the oomph in the device to actually do these models fast enough to be useful. You could, in theory, run these models on a very old device, but it would be so slow that it would not be useful.
Gruber: “So it’s not a scheme to sell new iPhones?”
Joswiak: “No, not at all. Otherwise, we would have been smart enough just to do our most recent iPads and Macs, too, wouldn’t we?”
Apple’s software boss, Craig Federighi, said they always try to make new features work on older iPhones and iPads whenever they can. But these new super-smart features are different. They need super powerful hardware that just isn’t inside older devices. It’s kind of like needing a special engine to run a race car – you can’t just put it in any old car and expect it to work!
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Breakdown of Why Apple Intelligence Only Works on iPhone 15 Pro Series
Here’s a breakdown of why the new super-smart features from Apple only work on certain devices:
Think of it like a race car: These features are like having a super-smart assistant inside your device, but it needs a powerful engine (processor) and a lot of memory (RAM) to work well, just like a race car needs a strong engine and good memory to be fast.
The latest iPhone 15 Pro models have the muscle: The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have the newest and strongest chip (A17 Pro) with a super-powerful “thinking part” (16-core Neural Engine) that can handle these features. It can do almost 35 trillion calculations every second, which is a lot!
Older iPhones and some iPads/Macs don’t have enough power: iPhones that aren’t the latest Pro models (like the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus) and some iPads and Macs don’t have strong enough chips or enough memory to run these features smoothly.
Apple wants these features on older devices too: Apple always tries to make new features work on older devices, but in this case, the new features are just too demanding for older hardware.
RAM also plays a role: It seems like these features also need a lot of memory (RAM) to work well, which is why all the devices that can use them have at least 8GB of RAM.
There is Still More Features for Older iPhones
Don’t worry if your iPhone isn’t the latest model! Even though the super-smart “Apple Intelligence” features won’t work on older devices, there’s still plenty to be excited about in the upcoming iOS 18 update. Here’s the good news:
Lots of new features besides AI: iOS 18 has many cool new features besides the fancy AI stuff.
Works on most iPhones: Any iPhone that can run iOS 17 can also run iOS 18, which includes iPhones all the way back to the iPhone XR released in 2018! That’s a lot of iPhones that will get the new update.
In simpler terms, even if your iPhone isn’t the newest model, you can still enjoy the many new features coming in iOS 18. Plus, if you’re set on having Apple Intelligence, you might want to wait for the upcoming iPhone 16 series, which might be compatible with these features.
Conclusion
While Apple’s new “Apple Intelligence” features sound impressive, they require the latest iPhone 15 Pro models and newer iPads and Macs with M1 chips due to their demanding processing needs. Don’t despair if your device isn’t on this list! iOS 18 offers a whole lot of exciting new features for most iPhones back to the iPhone XR, and the upcoming iPhone 16 series will surely bring Apple Intelligence to more users. Therefore, users without the iPhone 15 Pro models come opt for the upcoming iPhone 16 models which is set to feature more powerful hardware than the iPhone 15 Pro models.
