Apple Intelligence, the company’s overarching branding for AI tools, features, and curiosities, is finally here. Did you think Apple launched this years ago? It was announced in June and was first made available to beta testers in developer preview and then open preview.
This was a big part of the iPhone 16’s sales pitch when it launched, but Apple’s latest smartphones haven’t had these AI features until now. It arrived as part of Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, and macOS updates, and while it wasn’t all teased at WWDC (creating your own emojis is banned for now), it does offer some insight into how the company is tackling AI in its software. There are a number of new features that show what’s going on.
New proofing and rewriting tools, plus live transcription of phone calls and Notes audio recordings. Apple Intelligence also adds text summaries of websites, emails, and transcriptions of all of them. My personal favorite is the notification summary.
We’ll take a closer look at Apple Intelligence’s capabilities, but broadly speaking (and from our experience testing preview builds) the additions won’t change your smartphone life. Some of them are very useful, while others, such as photo editing, fall short of rivals like Google and Samsung.
— Matt Smith
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It has the same design as the previous two models.
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To go along with these new features, Apple’s new iMacs come in new colorways and the latest Apple silicon. The new model features the same display and design as the previous model, but with a new nano-textured glass screen option for just the right amount of luxury. Apple says the M4 in the new iMac makes it 1.7x faster for everyday productivity and up to 2.1x faster for more demanding tasks (like gaming and photo editing) compared to M1-powered models. The M4 iMac will be available on November 8th, starting at $1,299, the same price as its predecessor.
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Moments are a lot like YouTube clips.
Netflix is rolling out a new feature called Moments that lets you save, share, and rewatch specific scenes from shows and movies. For now, it’s mobile-only, starting with Netflix’s iOS app and coming to Android in the coming weeks. Netflix says that when you rewatch an episode or movie, it will start playing from the bookmarked scene, and there are plenty of sharing buttons for messaging and social media apps. Perfect timing since I’ve been bingeing Kath and Kim lately. All 4 series have been completed.
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Currently only available on Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 devices.
Google sells refurbished Pixel 6, Pixel 6A, and Pixel 7 devices directly through the Google Store. The discount is up to 40% compared to newer models, but since I’m currently using a Pixel 9, there are no new Pixel 6s for sale, at least not from Google. Prices start at $339 for the Pixel 6.
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