Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote was one of the biggest ones that the company had made in years. During this keynote, the company showed us what we’d be getting in iOS 18, which includes some big user-requested features like more home screen customization, RCS messaging support, and more. But that’s not all — this is the first iOS that brings AI into the iPhone with Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence, as Apple calls it, is a powerful suite of AI tools that will help make your life even easier. From new writing tools and summarization features to image generation and the ability to create unique emojis, Apple Intelligence definitely looks impressive.
But will your current iPhone be able to run Apple Intelligence now that it has launched in the iOS 18.1 update? Unfortunately, it might not.
iPhones that will get Apple Intelligence
Only the iPhone 16 generation and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can support Apple Intelligence. As of this writing, this is the full list of supported iPhones:
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Unfortunately, last gen’s iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. You need at least one of the iPhone 15 Pro models or newer in order to use Apple Intelligence.
iPhones that will not get Apple Intelligence
Naturally, that means there are a lot of iPhones that won’t be getting Apple Intelligence. The below list includes all of the phones getting the iOS 18 update this fall, but that will not get the new Apple Intelligence features:
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2022)
- iPhone SE (2020)
Even though all of these iPhones will be able to run iOS 18, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will get Apple Intelligence. So, if you are using an older iPhone, or even the base model iPhone 15, you’re going to be out of luck.
Even without Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 still has plenty of cool new features that older iPhones can enjoy. Some of these features include more home screen customization options, a revamped Control Center, the ability to swap out lock screen controls, a completely new Photos app, new text effects in iMessage, RCS support, and much more.
Why won’t my iPhone get the new AI features?
Apple hasn’t explicitly said why older iPhone models won’t be getting Apple Intelligence. However, we can make some educated guesses based on what we do know already about AI in general.
AI systems like Apple Intelligence need a lot of processing power to run. On the iPhone’s side, this means it needs the latest chips and enough RAM to process all of those tasks since many of them happen locally on-device.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use the A18 chip, and the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max use the A18 Pro. The A18 and A17 Pro have the same number of cores, and the A18 Pro upgrades its GPU with an additional core. So it makes sense that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which use the A17, are the only iPhones from the past generation with enough processing power to handle Apple Intelligence. It’s likely because of the A18 Pro, A18, and A17 Pro chips inside and the 8GB RAM that these newer models have.
Older iPhones, like the iPhone 14 Pro Max and even the base model iPhone 15, only have 6GB RAM. So even though previous models have the 16-core Neural Engine with the A16 Bionic and earlier, Apple Intelligence still needs that extra processing power from chips like the A17 Pro and 8GB RAM to run.
iPads that will get Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence is also available on the iPad, but only if you have an iPad with an M1 chip or later, or the A17 Pro. Here’s the full list of compatible iPad models:
- M1 iPad Air (2022)
- M2 iPad Air (2024)
- M1 iPad Pro (2021)
- M2 iPad Pro (2022)
- M4 iPad Pro (2024)
- iPad mini (A17 Pro, 2024)
iPads that will not get Apple Intelligence
Since the requirements for an iPad to run Apple Intelligence include an M-series chip or the A17 Pro in the newest iPad mini, that basically rules out the base model iPad, as well as any non-M series iPads. Basically, any iPad without those chips may get iPadOS 18, but won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. Here’s a full list:
- iPad (2022, 10th gen and earlier)
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (Gen 1–4)
- 11-inch iPad Pro (Gen 1 and 2)
- iPad Air (Gen 4 and earlier)
- iPad mini (Gen 6 and earlier)
A lot of the iPad models that can get iPadOS 18 won’t be able to run Apple Intelligence. Why? Because it’s all about the processors, just like with the iPhones. With the M1 and later chips, they have a 16-core Neural Engine that can run AI tasks, since they can do 11 trillion operations a second.
And even though the 10th-gen iPad has a the A14 Bionic with 16-core Neural Engine, the A14 Bionic only has a 6-core CPU (two power and four efficiency cores) and a 4-core GPU. Basically, it lacks the power needed for the AI models, unfortunately.
