Apple continues to advance its AI capabilities across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with its upcoming software update. iOS 18.4 is set to launch shortly, introducing six new features and upgrades to Apple Intelligence on your iPhone. Here’s what to expect.
Priority Notifications
One of the standout features of Apple Intelligence is the notification summaries. In iOS 18.4, AI enhances this with a new feature: Priority Notifications.
This new functionality categorizes your notifications, highlighting those deemed particularly important on the Lock Screen.
Notifications assessed as essential will appear in a dedicated Priority Notifications section, while less critical alerts will still be visible, albeit in a less pronounced manner.
You can customize this feature, enabling or disabling it not just globally but on an individual app basis. This ensures that Priority Notifications reflect your specific preferences.
Expansion of Visual Intelligence
Visual Intelligence was initially exclusive to the iPhone 16. Although the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max could leverage other AI functionalities, they missed out on Visual Intelligence.
With the release of iOS 18.4, however, this feature now makes its way to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16, despite the absence of dedicated Camera Control buttons.
This accessibility is achieved through a new button in the Control Center, which users can also assign to the Action Button or Lock Screen controls.
Image Playground Receives a Fresh Style
When Apple first showcased its Image Playground app designed for generating original images, it offered three styles:
- Animation
- Illustration
- Sketch
Image Playground was introduced with iOS 18.2 last December, but initially only provided Animation and Illustration styles.
Now, in iOS 18.4, the Sketch style has been added, completing the selection. This allows any existing or new AI-generated images to adopt a fresh design resembling pencil sketches.
App Store Review Summaries
AI excels at condensing and summarizing vast amounts of data, making it perfect for customer reviews. In iOS 18.4, the App Store leverages this capability.
With Apple Intelligence, users can now find review summaries for applications and games within the App Store. Though you can still explore complete user reviews, there’s now a quick overview of user feedback through AI-generated summaries.
New AI Language Support
A significant limitation when Apple Intelligence first launched was its exclusive support for English. Apple did expand it to include several localized English variants, but for a long time, it remained solely English-speaking.
With the rollout of iOS 18.4, users can now access support in eight additional AI languages:
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Spanish
- Japanese
- Korean
- Chinese (simplified)
Localized English options are now also available for users in India and Singapore.
Apple Intelligence Expansion in the EU
Apple Intelligence has been absent in two major territories, namely the EU and China. Now, the EU will finally benefit from these AI capabilities.
With the introduction of iOS 18.4, AI functionalities are available in the EU for the first time. While Mac users could previously utilize AI features, iPhone and iPad users can now join in as well.
Summary of New AI Features in iOS 18.4
Apple’s ongoing deployment of new Apple Intelligence features continues robustly, extending over a period of nine months. However, some of the most anticipated features, such as significant Siri enhancements, won’t arrive just yet. Nevertheless, as older promised AI features are gradually introduced, anticipation grows for WWDC 2025, where iOS 19 could introduce its own suite of new AI functionalities.
Which of the new iOS 18.4 AI features excites you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments.
