The long-awaited major updates to Apple’s macOS, iOS, and iPadOS operating systems have arrived, as Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.1, iOS 18.1, and iPadOS 18.1 on Monday.
The operating systems introduce the first of the Apple Intelligence features for Macs that are equipped with an M-series chip as well as the most recent iPhone and iPad models. Not all Apple Intelligence features are available, but the update includes support for Writing Tools, a new Siri design, AI-powered Focus modes, smart replies, and summaries.
The updates offer the following new features and fixes:
Writing Tools:
- Writing Tools are available nearly everywhere you type, allowing you to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text right in the app you’re working in
- Rewrite suggests different versions of your text so you can choose which combination of flow and wording you like best
- Proofread lets you view suggested improvements to what you’re writing, like grammar fixes and language refinements
- Summarize allows you to select text wherever you’re writing and generate a high-quality summary
Siri:
- A new look and feel includes a glowing light that wraps around the edge of your screen, animates responsively to the sound of your voice, and lets you keep scrolling or typing while you talk to Siri
- Type to Siri when you don’t want to speak a request out loud
- Richer language understanding enables Siri to follow along if you stumble over your words or change your mind mid-sentence
- Conversational context is maintained over the course of a session, so you can refer more naturally to something you said in a recent request or something Siri mentioned in a recent response
- Product knowledge helps you get answers to thousands of questions about the features and settings on your Apple products
- Voice enhancements make Siri sound more natural, expressive, and clear
Photos:
- Memory movies can be created by describing the story you want to see
- Photos search lets you find photos and videos simply by describing what you’re looking for
- Clean Up removes distractions in your photos
Notifications:
- Notification summaries make it easy to catch up on your notifications with a glanceable summary of the most important information
- Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus that ensures the most urgent notifications get through to you while silencing potential distractions
Additional Features:
- Smart Reply in Mail and Messages help you quickly respond to messages with suggested responses
- Transcription summaries in Notes give you an intelligently created summary of the transcript from your audio recording
iPhone Mirroring:
- Drag and drop support lets you seamlessly move files, photos, videos, and more between your Mac and iPhone
AirPods:
- Hearing Protection feature helps users minimize exposure to loud environmental noise across listening modes (available in the United States and Canada)
- Features require AirPods Pro 2 with firmware version 7B19 or later. All features may not be available for all countries or regions, for more information visit: https://apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/
This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:
- Option to automatically download and install games and apps to an external disk drive
- Game Center friend invites can be sent directly from the Contacts app and Friend Suggestions and receivers can see the invites in the inbox in Settings
As always, you can locate, download, and update the operating system by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update.
If you’ve had a chance to try the updates, please let us know about your experience in the comments.
