Apple’s iOS 18 is expected infuse iPhones with Gen AI features 

Apple's iOS 18 to feature offline AI capabilities, showcased at June developer conference, leveraging on-device LLMs for improved user experience.

Apple is expected to load iOS 18 with AI features that can be accessed offline and on-device. It will showcase the upcoming features at its developer conference scheduled in June.

The iPhone maker has been investing heavily in all sorts of AI technologies, including large language models (LLMs), with reference to on-device model called Ajax found in iOS 17.4.

Though on-device LLMs are not as powerful as the ones that run on servers, Apple engineers are expected to make the maximum use of the full stack vertical integration of its platform, with software tuned to Apple’s silicon chips.

While on-device LLMs lack the rich real-time knowledge database when compared to models that power AI features like ChatGPT to answer questions, they can generate auto-replies to messages, and improve Siri requests.

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LLMs running on devices may also be able to do generative AI tasks, and Apple still has the option of partnering with Google to make use of Gemini on the server for certain tasks.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that Apple is in talks with Google to negotiate the use of Gemini to power some generative AI features coming to the iPhone.