ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Release date, price, and if it works on your device
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At WWDC 2024, Apple announced its new AI platform, Apple Intelligence, and a collaboration with OpenAI that will bring ChatGPT to iPhone, iPad, and Mac. ChatGPT has been one of the Internet's most popular generative AI algorithms over the past few years, so it's exciting to see it coming to Apple products.
Now many people are wondering when you'll actually be able to use ChatGPT on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and what exactly it will be able to do. ChatGPT might not be the only third-party AI model Apple adds to its devices. So, there's a lot to look forward to, but a lot of details that are still up in the air.
Here's a look at everything we know so far about the ChatGPT integration in Apple Intelligence, including the release date, supported devices, and features.
ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Latest news
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Apple Intelligence with iOS 18 won't work for most iPhone owners. Here's why. | Apple's new AI platform, including its ChatGPT integration, might not be compatible with a large majority of current Apple devices.
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ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Release date
The new ChatGPT integration coming Apple devices will launch as a feature in Apple Intelligence. Apple announced at WWDC 2024 that it will release Apple Intelligence as a beta feature in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15, but there is no specific release date yet.
However, based on Apple’s release date history, the most likely release dates for iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are September 16 and 18. The first full release of iOS 18 will most likely be the earliest opportunity to try out ChatGPT in Apple Intelligence, although iPadOS 18 could also launch with it on the same day and macOS 15 could follow shortly after.
Unfortunately, it looks like Apple isn’t going to release all of the Apple Intelligence features at once — in fact, they might not be in the first version of iOS 18 at all.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will release its new AI features in stages throughout the rest of the year and into 2025. It’s still unclear where exactly the ChatGPT integration falls in that timeline, but Gurman predicted it will be among the Apple Intelligence features Apple releases this year. We will probably have to wait until iOS 18.1, though. Gurman reported in July that the bulk of Apple Intelligence features will not be ready for the original September release of iOS 18.
If you want to try out the latest Apple Intelligence features early, including the ChatGPT integration, you can sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program. This free program allows you to download the latest public beta software releases before the full, final version of each update comes out. Apple is already releasing public betas for iOS 18, which include sneak peeks of some early Apple Intelligence features.
ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Supported devices
Device support could be one of the main drawbacks of Apple Intelligence. Most of its features are designed to run on-device, which is great for ensuring users' privacy. Unfortunately, on-device AI requires high processing power capabilities, above what most iPhones are capable of today.
In fact, the Pro-series iPhone 15 models could be the only phones capable of on-device AI when Apple Intelligence launches. As of August 2024, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the only iPhones eligible for the Apple Intelligence features in early iOS 18 beta releases.
Based on the chips in Apple's current line-up, there are several devices we can safely expect to run all the features of Apple Intelligence:
iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max
iPad Pro M1/M2/M4
iPad Air M1/M2
MacBook Air M1/M2/M3
MacBook Pro M1/M2/M3
iMac M1/M2/M3
Mac Mini M1/M2
Mac Studio M1/M2
In addition to these existing products, there are also a handful of upcoming products that will likely have no problem running Apple Intelligence including the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro and the M4 Mac line-up. As a general rule of thumb, most devices with M-series chips will be compatible with all the features for Apple Intelligence.
If you have a device with an older processor, you may still be able to run Apple Intelligence, including the ChatGPT integration. Apple is launching a new Private Cloud Compute service for privately processing AI tasks in the cloud when a device lacks the necessary processing power. Apple may use this service to allow people with older Apple devices to use the new AI features. The only difference is those users will need to use Private Cloud Compute for all tasks rather than mainly using on-device processing.
Even if your device is technically capable of on-device AI, you might still be unable to use Apple Intelligence. Apple announced on June 21 that it will not be rolling out its AI features to users in the European Union due to security concerns related to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to ensure big tech companies aren't unfairly restricting their users.
In a statement reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, an Apple representative explained, "We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security."
This means Apple users in the EU will not have access to the features of Apple Intelligence, including ChatGPT, at least not right at launch. It's possible Apple will be able to come to an agreement with EU regulators to bring Apple Intelligence to users in Europe.
ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Features
ChatGPT is coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac as a feature in Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new on-device AI platform. Users will be able to access ChatGPT at no extra cost and without making an OpenAI account.
It will function like an extension in Apple Intelligence. If the algorithm detects that a question or task might be better suited to ChatGPT, it will display a prompt asking if the user wants to use OpenAI’s algorithm instead. ChatGPT in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS will effectively be able to do all the same things the current web and app version of it can. This integration will simply give Apple users quick, free access to those capabilities.
If you have security concerns about sharing your data with OpenAI given recent controversy surrounding the ChatGPT developer, rest assured Apple has gone to great lengths to protect its users’ privacy. Apple Intelligence will ask you every time it wants to use ChatGPT and it will only share the minimum data necessary to answer your question or complete your task. Apple will anonymize your data, as well, which means OpenAI won’t have access to information like your identity or IP address.
As a result, Apple Intelligence will likely be the most secure and private way to access ChatGPT, allowing privacy-minded users to take advantage of one of the world’s most popular generative AI algorithms without giving away their data.
Of course, if you are currently a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, you can always log into your account on your Apple device and use it as normal. ChatGPT will run as a completely optional part of Apple Intelligence which is itself an opt-in beta feature. So, if you would rather use the web-based AI tools you’re already used to, you can simply choose not to opt-in for Apple Intelligence on your device.
ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Other third-party AI integrations
ChatGPT might not be the only third-party AI integrated into Apple Intelligence in the future. There were rumors earlier this year that Apple was also in talks with Google to use its Gemini algorithm on Apple devices. While a deal between Apple and Google over Gemini has not been officially announced yet, it's possible Apple will add a Google Gemini extension to Apple Intelligence in the future.
However, the same might not be true for every major AI platform. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple briefly talked with Meta about integrating its Llama chatbot into Apple Intelligence, but the discussions ended quickly and Apple is currently not considering a future Meta Llama integration.
Gurman cited privacy concerns as Apple's main reason for deciding not to work with Meta. So, it looks like Apple will continue to make privacy a top priority for future third-party AI integrations on its devices, much like it is currently doing with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: What's next?
While Apple Intelligence and its ChatGPT integration haven't launched yet, we might not have to wait much longer. Apple usually releases public betas of its upcoming software updates throughout the summer, often starting in early or mid-July. So, we may soon be able to see for ourselves how ChatGPT runs in Apple Intelligence on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Apple Intelligence will originally run ChatGPT-4o, currently the latest version of OpenAI's flagship AI. Down the road, though, we could potentially see the Apple Intelligence integration get an upgrade to ChatGPT-5.
On top of ChatGPT, Apple Intelligence will include many other features like "Genmoji" AI-generated emojis, AI photo editing, notification summaries, text and email reply suggestions, improved Siri functionality, and more. We'll be covering all the latest news and rumors on Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, so stay tuned for more details.
