The feature I want the most on my future iPhone 16 is Apple Intelligence. However, I’ll have to wait a long while to access Apple’s vision of genAI features on mobile devices, as Apple Intelligence is currently unavailable in Europe. Apple said it’s working with regulators to bring Apple Intelligence to the EU, but there’s no firm commitment on the matter.
I will upgrade my iPhone even without Apple Intelligence. iOS 18 offers other exciting features that have nothing to do with generative AI. The iPhone 16 should also deliver a few hardware upgrades over my current iPhone 14 Pro. And while I wait for Apple Intelligence to roll to the iPhone someday, I should be able to test it on Mac. It turns out Apple may be in the process of bringing Apple Intelligence to macOS 15.1 Sequoia users in Europe.
Apple hasn’t made a big deal about it, but the release notes for iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 are enough to give us an idea of Apple Intelligence availability on the Mac.
According to 9to5Mac, the Upgrade podcast first noticed the difference in these notes. Upon checking, the blog observed that the EU is indeed excluded only for the iPhone and iPad Apple Intelligence experience.
Here are the relevant sections from the release notes:
iOS 18.1:
Apple Intelligence is available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple Intelligence is not currently available in the EU or China.
macOS 15.1:
Apple Intelligence is available on Macs with M1 and later. Apple Intelligence is not currently available in China.
I never considered the possibility of running Apple Intelligence only on the Mac. I spend most of my time on the Mac, so that’s where Apple Intelligence might help me the most once Apple is ready to release more features.
Then again, the iPhone is my main computer for everything else. I’d want Continuity between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac for AI experiences. But I will wait for the EU to get Apple Intelligence on the iPhone, no matter how long it takes.
The reason the Mac can get Apple Intelligence probably concerns the big Digital Markets Act (DMA) legislation that forced Apple to change the iOS and iPadOS experiences for EU users, but not the macOS one. It’s because of the DMA that Apple had to allow third-party App Store alternatives on iPhone and iPad, but not Mac. And it’s probably the DMA’s stringent regulations that prevent Apple from rolling out Apple Intelligence to the iPhone and iPad as fast as the US. That’s all speculation, however.
As for the macOS 15.1 beta, I’d rather wait for the final release than embark on betas. While I have no issues running the latest iOS beta on the iPhone, macOS betas haven’t always been that smooth. Not to mention that Apple will roll out Apple Intelligence features in waves, so I can wait a while longer until I get to try it.
