Apple Intelligence: here’s a full list of the iPhones, iPads and Macs that’ll get Apple’s new AI powers
Apple Intelligence isn’t coming to every device
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Having seen the demos, we’re eager to test outApple Intelligencefor ourselves – but the suite of AI features thatAppleis introducing withiOS 18, iPadOS 18, andmacOS 15 Sequoiaaren’t coming to all of the devices that support those software updates.
As well as the latest software, you’re also going to need certain hardware requirements on your device to support Apple Intelligence. That’s because a lot of the necessary AI processing is done locally, rather than in the cloud, and your iPhone, iPad, or Mac needs a modern processor inside to be able to cope.
If you’re wanting to try out the article summary, text rewriting, and image generation capabilities of Apple Intelligence, you’re going to need one of the devices below. Note however that even when iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 Sequoia roll out in full later in the year, Apple Intelligence will still have a ‘beta’ tag attached, so expect some bugs.
Apple has also said the AI features will “initially be available in US English”, so it’s not yet clear how quickly they’re going to roll out internationally. If you’re not in the US, you might have to be patient a while longer.
If all you want is a quick check, here’s the full list of devices that support Apple Intelligence, with more details further down:
Apple Intelligence compatibility: iPhones
If you want to use Apple Intelligence on an iPhone, you’re going to need a handset with an A17 Pro chipset inside it: right now, that means you’re limited to theiPhone 15 Proand theiPhone 15 Pro Max, though come September we would expect it to apply to theiPhone 16,iPhone 16 Plus,iPhone 16 Pro, andiPhone 16 Pro Maxas well.
You won’t be able to use Apple Intelligence on theiPhone 15or theiPhone 15 Plus, because those phones use the A16 Bionic chip. Apple says the Neural Engine on the A17 Pro – the part of the chip that handles AI processing – is twice as powerful as it is on the A16 Bionic, and all of that power is needed for Apple Intelligence.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Apple Intelligence compatibility: iPads
With iPads, as with iPhones, it’s all about the processors running inside the hardware. In the case of iPads, you need at least anM1 chip– it has a 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks, capable of getting through an impressive 11 trillion operations per second.
That rules out the cheapest entry-level iPad, but it does mean the 5th-genM1 iPad Air (2022)and 6th-genM2 iPad Air (2024)get Apple Intelligence, as do the 5th-genM1 iPad Pro (2021), 6th-genM2 iPad Pro (2022), and 7th-genM4 iPad Pro (2024).
Apple Intelligence compatibility: Macs
When it comes to AI-capable chipsets inside Macs, again we’re looking at the M1, made with an Apple Silicon design –Intelchips don’t qualify. As long as your Mac has Apple Silicon inside, you can take advantage of Apple Intelligence.
As far as the MacBook Air goes, it got the M1 chip in 2020. TheM1 MacBook Air (2020),M2 MacBook Air (2022),M2 MacBook Air (2023), andM3 MacBook Air (2024)all get the Apple Intelligence goodies that have been showcased.
With the MacBook Pro laptops, they too got the M1 upgrade in 2020: the 13-inch Touch BarM1 MacBook Pro (2020)andM2 MacBook Pro (2022)qualify, as do the 14-inch and 16-inch sizes of theM1 MacBook Pro (2021),M2 MacBook Pro (2023), andM3 MacBook Pro (2023).
Over to the desktop units, and you’ll be able to use Apple Intelligence on theM1 iMac (2021), theM3 iMac (2023), theM1 Mac mini (2020), theM2 Mac mini (2023), theM1 Mac Studio (2022), theM2 Mac Studio (2023), and theM2 Mac Pro (2023).
Apple Intelligence compatibility: what doesn’t support it?
Apple is making a big song and dance about the new AI tricks coming to its platforms, but they’re not going to be available on every Apple device you use. For example, you won’t find them built into theApple Watch– not even the premiumApple Watch Ultra 2. That may change in the future, but there’s no sign of it yet.
We haven’t heard anything about Apple Intelligence appearing on theApple Vision Proor the Apple TV streaming boxes either. This is most likely because of the various demands that AI processing puts on the hardware, which need one of the high-end, AI-equipped chipsets that we’ve already mentioned.
You might also like
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
Another reason to avoid edge-lit 4K TVs: they may fail faster than others, according to this report
Google TV will require more RAM for future upgrades – which might leave older TVs and streaming boxes behind
A newly reported iPhone phenomenon could be bad news for both cops and robbers
