Apple Intelligence turned on by default in upcoming macOS Sequoia 15.3, iOS 18.3
- Reference: 1737527530
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/22/apple_intelligence_enabled/
- Source link:
Beginning with the due-to-be-released macOS Sequoia version 15.3 as well as iOS and iPadOS 18.3, Cupertino's suite of AI features, which it calls Apple Intelligence, will be turned on by default for compatible devices.
"For users new or upgrading to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically during iPhone onboarding. Users will have access to Apple Intelligence features after setting up their devices," the [1]notes for the iOS/iPadOS release candidate to developers reads, [2]spotted by MacRumors.
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First [4]teased at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last year and released in stages following the iGiant's September, "It's Glowtime" event, Apple Intelligence includes a suite of machine-learning-augmented services and features ranging from AI proofreading, rewriting, and summarization to text-to-image and text-to-emoji generation and a, supposedly, more useful Siri.
[5]
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These features are supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max or newer, and any iPad or Mac with an M1 processor or better. However, critically, users were required to opt in to the service. With its next round of operating system updates, it seems Apple is ready to bring these capabilities to a broader audience.
Having said that, not all functionality touted in the Apple Intelligence announcement has gone over well with users. Last month, Apple's news summarization feature [7]botched a BBC headline, with the AI claiming that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself, when he had not.
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As we understand it, this bit of Apple Intelligence will be [9]absent with version 18.3 at least until Cupertino can convince its AI to stop hallucinating headlines.
The good news for those looking to sit out the AI hype is that customers setting up new or resetting compatible devices after the update goes out will still have the option of disabling Apple Intelligence after the fact. According to Apple, users will need to navigate "to the Apple Intelligence & Siri Settings pane and turn off the Apple Intelligence toggle. This will disable Apple Intelligence features on their device."
Apple isn't the only one rolling out AI features to its users. You may have noticed over the past week that your Google Workspace account has been [10]crammed with AI assistants promising to help you craft emails, messages, and revise documents. This functionality is mainly coming to Business Standard and Business Plus plans.
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Google has [12]published a table mapping available subscription plans to new pricing. Existing customers will have until March 17 — or their renewal date for those paying annually or on a fixed-term plan — before their bills change.
The Big G says a customer using its Workspace Business Standard plan with a Gemini Business add-on will go from paying $32 per user, per month, to $14, with all the same features, which would be $2 more than Workspace minus Gemini. On the other hand, if you were paying $12 a month for a Business Standard Workspace without Gemini, that's going up to $14 with the AI features now built in.
[13]Trump hits undo on Biden AI safety order, EV mandate, emissions standards, and more
[14]UK aims to fix government IT with help from AI Humphrey
[15]Where does Microsoft's NPU obsession leave Nvidia's AI PC ambitions?
[16]Copilot invades Microsoft 365 Personal and Family for an extra three bucks a month
Further complicating matters, opting out of Google's various AI widgets doesn't appear to be as simple as flipping a switch in the Workspace dashboard, as a group of netizens [17]recently discovered .
Multiple subscribers have reported that the option of disabling Gemini for Workspaces is only available upon request from Google customer support. It turns out Google does provide [18]instructions for disabling Gemini features in Workspace, but they seemingly only apply to enterprise editions of the G-Suite.
We’ve reached out to the search goliath for clarification; we’ll let you know if we hear anything back.
The change comes shortly as Microsoft began [19]rolling out its own brand of genAI functionality into Microsoft 365 Personal and family accounts, along with a $3 a month price hike in the US at least. Those who'd prefer an AI-less experience can opt for a basic or classic plan. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ios-ipados-release-notes/ios-ipados-18_3-release-notes
[2] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/21/macos-sequoia-15-3-apple-intelligence-opt-out/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z5DP0tPrkc4cCAWWXcxMbQAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/10/apple_ai_wwdc/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z5DP0tPrkc4cCAWWXcxMbQAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z5DP0tPrkc4cCAWWXcxMbQAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/17/apple_intelligence_bbc_complaint/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z5DP0tPrkc4cCAWWXcxMbQAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/17/apple_intelligence_summaries_disabled/
[10] https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/empowering-businesses-with-AI
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z5DP0tPrkc4cCAWWXcxMbQAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://support.google.com/a/answer/15400543
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/21/trump_eliminates_biden_ai_order/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/21/ai_humphrey_uk_government/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/20/microsoft_nvidia_ai_pcs/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/17/copilot_microsoft_365/
[17] https://www.reddit.com/r/gsuite/comments/1i3lo46/how_to_turn_off_gemini_for_workspace_the_real_deal/
[18] https://support.google.com/a/answer/15698295?
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/17/copilot_microsoft_365/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
opting out of Google's various AI widgets
I'm opting out.
My data lives on _my_ computer or _my_ servers/backup systems.
Piling your data on someone else's server may work for some folk, but not for me, thanks.
Looks like I won't be upgrading past an iPhone 14 then !
re: Looks like I won't be upgrading past an iPhone 14 then !
You can disable it. The OFF switch is there in Settings just waiting for you to use it.
Re: re: Looks like I won't be upgrading past an iPhone 14 then !
So why silently enable it?
Rhetorical question of course.
Worrying trend
That we are slowly losing the capacity and ability to actually control our own devices.
I fully understand the need to patch and keep things secure, but "features" being forced on us by default will soon become the norm and, by the looks of it, impossible to circumvent.
I do wonder what the rest of our learned El Reg readers think, but I'm getting tired of being forced to have something I don't want by the various tech players in the market!
Re: Worrying trend
When your company is owned by shareholders and thus you are investing heavily in AI to supposedly not get left behind your competitors; you either enable these services by default or without the ability to disable them, so you can then show off how many people are using them (and that they are not a complete waste of money).
I don't want any of these new "features" and for now I'll keep any devices that are not "compatible". In the future, I guess we have no choice but to just not use them? It's this decade's version of Clippy...
Re: Worrying trend
Good point.
Let's hope these features disappear in due course, just like Clippy.
The option of disabling Gemini for Workspaces is only available upon request
Filed in triplicate, in person at the Port Lockroy Post Office.
It's almost as if its value would not immediately be apparent to prospective customers.
In Europe turning on a new cloud based feature without an opt-in will contravene GDPR.
Indeed it may be in violation of GDPR, but I can't imagine that's going to stop anyone when it comes to steamrollering AI through!
It didn't stop Apple doing just this with the KeyChain.
M365 Personal
Microsoft already did turn on the new extras in UK. Bumping renewal costs from £60 to £85 unless you can work out how to find the "downgrade to classic" buttons that are well hidden.
It annoys me that they can't be more honest with this stuff. Ask if you want to get a massive price rise to pay for CoPilot or stay with the basic office. Don't hide this behind a confusing opt-out.
Most oldies I know just want to be able to use Word\Excel\Outlook. And now they are nobbling Outlook it means introducing more people to Thunderbird and LibreOffice.
If you have to turn it on by default, then the product is no fucking good in the first place. If it was we would turn it on ourselves.
Careful now wolfetone, there's a danger one is expecting common sense! :)
Is that not a feature of this AI bullshido then?
Do they force install the latest U2 album with it?
LLM generative "AI" is just a bullshit generator.
The big tech companies seem desperate to force bullshit-generation onto their customers. Perhaps because, when asked, most people don't want the bullshit-generation, but the companies in question have staked their future success on generating bullshit more often than their competitors?
The "AI" (LLM) bubble is going to burst very soon. I hope!
“ text-to-emoji generation”
A real demonstration of the pointlessness of AI, the real problem is understanding just what the emoji’s being used are being used to represent.
The latest version of clippy
I thankfully found the off switch for Apple Intelligence after it had hid most of my emails and kept interrupting my chat sessions.
No, I don’t need the device to write my comments for me. They are my comments, warts and all. Nor do I want to read sanitized versions of other people’s comments.
Hey Siri Précis my inbox
‘Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam’