iOS 18 new features exposed, finally here!

Generative AI technology is very popular this year. Since the advent of ChatGPT, many large generative AI models have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. However, Apple, as a technology giant, has been slow to make any moves.

Apple plans to start promoting generative AI technology on iPhones and iPads as early as the end of 2024, according to Jeff Pu's latest report. The report mentioned that Apple may build hundreds of AI servers in 2023 and plans to increase the number significantly next year. He believes that Apple will launch a combination of cloud-based and so-called "edge AI", which will involve more on-device data processing.

He also noted that Apple is being cautious in rolling out generative AI because the company is actively considering how to use and process personal data in a way that is consistent with its commitment to customer privacy. If all goes well, the end of 2024 means that Apple will introduce generative AI features as early as iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, but how the technology will be applied remains to be seen.

In this regard, Mark Gurman also revealed in his latest report that Apple is committed to developing many features that use generative artificial intelligence (AI), including a new version of Siri that is expected to be launched next year.

Siri was launched in 2011 and has been criticized as "artificial intelligence" for many years.

It is reported that John Giannandrea, Apple's senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, is overseeing the development of the underlying technology of the new AI system, and his team is developing a new "smart version of Siri" that is deeply integrated with AI, which may be ready as early as next year.

Separately, Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, is overseeing the integration of AI into the next major version of iOS, with a new feature that improves the interaction between Siri and the messaging app, more effectively answering complex questions and automatically completing sentences. His team is also considering integrating AI into Xcode to help developers write code more quickly.

To this end, Apple will gradually increase its financial investment, and is expected to spend US$1 billion (approximately RMB 7.3 billion) each year on AI technology research and product development.

At present, after Apple's AI technology gradually matures, the biggest change it has brought is undoubtedly the optimization and upgrade of Siri. In fact, Apple has already started the relevant layout early on.

In March of this year, Apple released the fourth beta update of tvOS 16.4. From the system code of tvOS 16.4 Beta 4, it was found that Apple added a new framework called “Siri Natural Language Generation”, which can be directly translated as “Siri Natural Language Generation”.

It is generally believed that this will mean that Apple plans to improve Siri's language function, and it is expected to start with voice feedback.

If the above news is true, Siri may become smarter. It is expected that the optimization of Siri's functions will also become one of the biggest highlights of iOS 18.