Apple reveals brand new AI features for iPhones in ‘game-changer’ for the company

Published

12 months ago

June 11, 2024

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Apple unveiled AI features called Apple Intelligence” and a partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI across its devices on Monday as the Big Tech giant seeks to convince Wall Street it is keeping pace in the race to develop the burgeoning technology.

OpenAI boss Sam Altman was seated in the VIP section during Apples Worldwide Developer Conference, which kicked off with a heavily stylized intro in which Apple executives were seen skydiving down to the companys headquarters.

As part of a long-teased partnership with OpenAI, ChatGPT will be integrated into Apples Siri voice assistant for free starting this fall.

Apple CEO Tim Cook called the AI integration a “game changer” and the next big step for the company as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman watched from the audience in Cupertino, Calif.

The features, however, only will be available on Apples most expensive iPhone 15 Pro model, as well as Macs and iPads equipped with its in-house computer chips.

Despite the hype, Apple shares sank nearly 2% as Cook and other executives detailed the plans.

Elon Musk, who is launching his own AI company, wasn’t thrilled with the Apple’s new partnership.

The Tesla and SpaceX mogul said he will ban Appledevices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the OS level.

“That is an unacceptable security violation,” Musk wrote on X.

“And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage.”

Apple’s new AI softwares capabilities include prioritizing notifications based on importance, writing tools that can proofread and summarize text and the creation of AI-generated images within text conversations, or pulling up specific pictures or files based on a user prompt.

Siri will also be capable of carrying out tasks in specific apps based on the users voice prompts or answering questions about how device features work.

Cook insisted Apple Intelligence was built with privacy from the ground up. The company said its AI system does not collect personal data from users,

The event was considered a critical moment for Apple, which has been under some pressure since the start of the year due to broadening antitrust scrutiny and questions from investors about its slow entry into AI.

While the integration will likely bolster Apples slumping iPhone sales by forcing users to upgrade their devices, investors were underwhelmed by a lack of in-house AI innovations from Apple itself, according to Daniel Newman, CEO of the tech research firm Futurum Group.

It was good, but you didnt build a $3 trillion valuation on being good, Newman told The Post. You built it on being great and a lot of what I saw here felt like what Microsoft has been doing over two years. Apple has the install base advantage, but I think everyone wanted more.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives disagreed. He described the AI-centric presentation as the biggest event in over a decade for Apple and said the company is poised for a major uptick and smartphone sales.

Apple is taking the right path to implement AI across its ecosystem while laying out the foundation for the companys multi-year AI strategy across the strongest installed base of 2.2 billion iOS devices over the coming years, with the Street giving no credit for AAPLs AI monetization, Ives said in a note to investors.

Apple also detailed upgrades included in the latest iPhone software, iOS 18.

New features include the ability to personalize app placements and icon colors on the home screen.

Users can lock specific apps to ensure that strangers cant access them without Face ID or log-in credentials, even if they are past the home lock screen.

On the messages app, users will be able to react to texts with more emojis and animated effects via an expanded Tapbacks feature, as well as send texts on a delay via a send later feature.

Later this year, Apple plans to roll out updates for its Mail app that organize emails by various categories, including transactions, social updates and shopping promotions.

On the companys streaming service Apple TV+, viewers will gain the ability to highlight specific actors or songs from shows as they play.

Elsewhere, iPad users will get access to a long-awaited Calculator app specifically for the tablets, as well as new home screen personalization features.

The tech giant also announced updates for its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. The company is expanding its availability to other countries, with pre-orders set to begin in China on June 13 and in the UK, Australia, Canada, France and Germany beginning June 28.

Apple unveiled upgraded VisionOS 2 operating system for the headsets and said there are now more than 2,000 apps developed specifically for the device.

Executives touted the Vision Pros use on trips by noting that its Travel Mode is now compatible with train trips as well as well flights.

The companys computer operating system, macOS, will get iPhone notifications for Macs and Phone Mirroring for Mac displays, as well as a Passwords app to securely store log-in information for a variety of apps.

Politics

‘I wish I’d never met him’: Peter Mandelson ‘regrets’ association with Jeffrey Epstein

Published

1 hour ago

May 27, 2025

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'I wish I'd never met him': Peter Mandelson 'regrets' association with Jeffrey Epstein

Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to the United States, has told Sky News he “regrets” his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Lord Mandelson‘s links to the late billionaire were exposed in a 2019 report by JP Morgan bank, filed in a New York court.

Epstein killed himself in August of that year while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.

He had previously served an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.

Whilst serving that sentence, the JP Morgan report suggests that Mr Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan flat.

Epstein wrote to his private banker on 17 June 2009: “Peter will be staying at 71st over weekend…”

At the time, Lord Mandelson was the Business Secretary in the UK government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He was appointed UK ambassador to the United States in December 2024.

Sky News asked him if he did, indeed, stay at Epstein’s flat while the disgraced financier was in jail.

He replied: “I’m not answering any questions about him. My knowledge of him is something I regret, I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

Asked why he had an association with Epstein whilst he was in jail, Lord Mandelson replied: “Why did many people meet him? He was a prolific networker. And I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

As US ambassador, Lord Mandelson represents Britain’s interests in Washington and has vowed to treat Donald Trump‘s administration with “respect, seriousness and understanding of where they are coming from politically”.

This comes after Lord Mandelson described the US president as a “danger to the world”, for which he apologised earlier this year.

He told the Alain Elkann Interviews podcast in 2019: “What Donald Trump represents and believes is an anathema to mainstream British opinion.”

Mr Mandelson added: “Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump because of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless, and a danger to the world.”

But in January this year, Lord Mandelson said he now considered his remarks “as ill-judged and wrong”.

World

Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns – as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Published

1 hour ago

May 27, 2025

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Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns - as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Thousands of Palestinians have flocked to aid distribution sites in Gaza with desperation for food overcoming concerns over Israeli-enforced checks at the centres.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, said on Tuesday it had distributed around 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to about 462,000 meals – just a fraction of what is needed, aid agencies say.

The centres have opened as hundreds of legal professionals in the UK, including lawyers and former judges, accused Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes”.

Crowds including women and children could be seen at one centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, where people received packages including rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.

Witnesses in Rafah said Israeli gunfire was heard after desperate people broke fences to reach supplies.

The Israeli military said its forces did not direct aerial gunfire towards the centre, but rather fired warning shots in an area outside the hub.

In a statement, it said control over the situation had been established, with aid distribution to continue as planned.

Many Palestinians stayed away amid fears over Israel’s plan to use biometric screening procedures on those receiving vital food packages.

Israeli officials said one advantage of the new aid system is the chance to screen recipients to exclude anyone they say is connected with Hamas.

Humanitarian groups briefed on the plans say anyone receiving aid will have to submit to facial recognition technology – which many Palestinians fear will end up in Israeli hands to track and possibly target them.

Father-of-seven Abu Ahmed said: “As much as I want to go because I am hungry and my children are hungry, I am afraid.”

He continued: “I am so scared because they said the company [GHF] belongs to Israel and is a mercenary, and also because the resistance [Hamas] said not to go.”

UN boycotts aid foundation

Israel previously said its forces would not be involved in the distribution points but its endorsement of the plan, which resembles Israeli schemes floated previously, has led to many questioning the neutrality of GHF.

The United Nations and major international aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF – accusing it of undermining the principle that aid should be distributed based on need.

“Humanitarian assistance must not be politicised or militarised,” said Christian Cardon, chief spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ex-judges call for sanctions on Israel

Over 800 legal professionals – including former Supreme Court judges – have published an open letter calling for the UK to impose sanctions on Israel.

The letter says “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide”. It continues: “War crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law are being committed.”

Israel has consistently denied these accusations.

As a small flow of aid has arrived in Gaza after Israel’s months-long blockade, Israeli forces have kept up attacks on various targets in the territory.

Some 3,901 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

As the GHF centres opened on Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 36 people in a school-turned-shelter that was hit as people slept, according to local health officials.

Israel said it targeted militants operating from the school.

US