Craig Federighi Explains Phased Release of Apple Intelligence Features

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple's head of software Craig Federighi has highlighted the company's measured, multi-phase approach to introducing Apple Intelligence features, with the initial iOS 18.1 release next week marking just the beginning of a staggered rollout over several months.

apple intelligence black
"This is a big lift," Federighi told WSJ's Joanna Stern, explaining Apple's cautious strategy of integrating AI into its devices. "You could put something out there and have it be sort of a mess. Apple's point of view is more like, 'Let's try to get each piece right and release it when it's ready.'"

The initial release will focus on basic features including Writing Tools for text summarization, notification summaries, and a Clean Up tool in Photos for removing unwanted objects. While most processing occurs on-device, Apple's Private Cloud Compute system handles more intensive tasks through encrypted servers. In other words, user data isn't stored or accessed for AI training.

Apple's approach differs significantly from other large language models, which typically process all user input on cloud servers. According to Federighi, the company's personally oriented, privacy-first approach is also why Siri won't offer the sort of answers that one might get from something like ChatGPT.

"There's a trade-off across capabilities," he explained. "Those other chatbots are great if you want to ask a question about quantum mechanics, and then have them write a poem about it, but they won't open your garage or send a text message. Will these worlds converge? Of course."

Several anticipated features showcased by Apple at WWDC in June won't appear until later updates: iOS 18.2 is expected before the end of the year, and will introduce Image Playground for generating cartoon-style images and Genmoji for creating custom emoji. The update will also add ChatGPT integration for handling complex Siri queries.

The most significant Siri enhancements are scheduled for iOS 18.4 around March 2025. These include onscreen awareness for contextual commands, personal context for better understanding of user data, and expanded app control capabilities. Initially, Apple Intelligence will only support U.S. English, with additional languages planned for next year.

In contrast to its rivals, Apple is taking a particularly measured approach to image manipulation. The new Clean Up tool in Photos allows users to remove unwanted objects or people from images, but avoids more complex AI-generated alterations like changing the background. "People view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality," explained Federighi. "It's important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy."


Speaking more broadly about the rollout of Apple Intelligence features, Federighi said: "This is a many-year, honestly, even decades-long arc of this technology playing out, and so we're going to do it responsibly." The new Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, as well as Apple silicon-powered iPads and Macs, when iOS 18.1 launches on October 28.

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Top Rated Comments

applepotato666 Avatar
26 weeks ago

"You could put something out there and have it be sort of a mess. Apple's point of view is more like, 'Let's try to get each piece right and release it when it's ready.'"
Wow, I wish they thought the same about all the rest of the software
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
26 weeks ago
They could have done things like made System Settings make sense, write a good Photos app, etc., but instead they're bolting AI into the OS to make it look like they're on top of things. Apple hasn't written good software in years. The fact that their software is still decent just proves how far ahead they were years ago, and how much they've squandered that lead.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
8667132 Avatar
26 weeks ago

"You could put something out there and have it be sort of a mess. Apple's point of view is more like, 'Let's try to get each piece right and release it when it's ready.'"
Kind of hard to believe this is the reason given the crazy annual release schedule and the mess of iOS 18 and MacOS 15
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
26 weeks ago

I think we’ve all heard that “do it right rather than do it fast” spiel before… but is he really out here trying to tell us they need more time to perfect……. custom emojis? Be real.
Even when they are very late, they never get things right on first try. It's still buggy and broken at launch. It has always been an excuse and users gaslighting themselves to defend Apple.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haemolysis Avatar
26 weeks ago
I think we’ve all heard that “do it right rather than do it fast” spiel before… but is he really out here trying to tell us they need more time to perfect……. custom emojis? Be real.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikefj2004 Avatar
26 weeks ago
In other words, taper your expectations and be prepared for some great add-ons and big disappointments. If Apple AI is anything like what Siri is now, it's an absolute disaster already. It can and I hope should only go up from here.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)