Apple released iOS 18.2 update for iPhone globally on Wednesday. This comes a day after the release of iOS 18.2 Release Candidate (RC) 2, which expands the set of Apple Intelligence features that the Cupertino-based technology giant previously introduced. Its latest update brings Image Playground, Zenmoji, and ChatGPT integration. It also bundles a new visual lookup feature exclusive to the iPhone 16 series, expanding the availability of Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) suite to more languages.
iOS 18.2 Compatible Models
Apple says that all iPhone models compatible with the early iOS 18 update are eligible to download the latest iOS 18.2 update. However, Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 16 lineup, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
It is being expanded to more English-speaking locations such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. The AI suite is available on iPhone globally except China and the EU, but it will be rolled out starting April next year.
iOS 18.2 update features
In a newsroom post, Apple detailed the new features coming to the iPhone with the iOS 18.2 update. One of the main attractions is Image Playground – a new standalone app that bundles the three capabilities and brings more ways for users to better express themselves. It leverages generative AI to generate images in different styles like animation or illustration based on textual signals. Then there’s Genmoji, which has similar functionality but works for emoji. According to Apple, created images and emojis can be shared across apps like Messages, Notes, and Keynote.
Meanwhile, the Image Wand turns a rough sketch into a corresponding image in the Notes app, similar to Samsung’s AI-powered Sketch to Image feature. It can also create an image in the app based on handwritten or typed text using an on-device generative AI model.
While Apple introduced writing tools with iOS 18.1 in October, the latest iOS 18.2 update expands their capabilities. it brings a new Describe your transformation Option that enables users to specify the changes they want, such as making it more dynamic or rewriting it as a poem. It connects to existing rewrite, proofread, and summarize tools and is available system-wide and in third-party apps.
iPhone 16 series users can now take advantage of the new Visual Intelligence feature. Apple says it’s a visual lookup tool that takes advantage of the new camera control buttons to help them quickly learn about objects and places. It can summarize and copy text, translate it between languages, and locate phone numbers or email addresses, with the option to add contacts. It also allows them to search Google for their favorite product, solve a math equation, or simply ask ChatGPT to provide more information.
And on a related note, ChatGPT comes to iPhone. Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, can now leverage the capabilities of OpenAI’s AI chatbot to provide more in-depth responses to users’ questions and document and image-understanding capabilities. Siri can suggest the user access ChatGPT for certain requests and provide direct answers. Moreover, it can also create content using native authoring tools. Apple says this feature requires an optional sign-in, and iPhone users with a paid ChatGPT account can use their account to access more powerful OpenAI models.
The company emphasizes that OpenAI does not store requests, nor does it use the data for training its models. It also obfuscates the IP addresses of sessions to prevent them from being linked together.
what’s next
According to Apple, Apple Intelligence capabilities will be further expanded in the coming months. Siri will gain contextual awareness to provide tailored responses. It is also claimed that it is capable of bringing on-screen awareness with new activities on Apple and third-party apps. Other expected features include preference notifications and a new sketch style for the Image Playground.
