Apple has regularly expanded its slate of AI features on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and the next software update continues that trend.iOS 18.4 is launching soon and will bring six new features and enhancements to Apple Intelligence on your iPhone.Here’s what’s coming.
Priority notifications One of my favorite current Apple Intelligence features is notification summaries.And in iOS 18.4, AI powers another feature that similarly makes your notifications better than before: Priority Notifications.This addition basically gives your notifications two different levels of prominence on the Lock Screen.
If Apple Intelligence determines that an alert seems especially important, it will be surfaced more prominently in a new Priority Notifications highlighted area.Less important alerts are still present too, but they live below Priority Notifications and don’t get the same visual decor.You can manually enable or disable the feature not just for all apps, but even on a per-app basis.
That way Priority Notifications can reflect what’s actually important for you personally.Visual Intelligence expansion Visual Intelligence launched as an iPhone 16-exclusive feature.iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, despite supporting all other AI features, missed out on Visual Intelligence.
But iOS 18.4 changes that, as it brings the feature to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16e despite their lack of Camera Control buttons.It does this by making Visual Intelligence accessible via a new Control Center button, which can also be assigned to your device’s Action Button or Lock Screen controls.Image Playground gains new style When Apple originally demoed its Image Playground app for creating original images, there were three styles available to choose from: Animation Illustration Sketch Image Playground shipped in iOS 18.2 last December, but it only included the first two style options.
Now, in iOS 18.4, Sketch has completed the trio.This means any of your existing AI image creations, or new ones you make in the future, can utilize a new design that looks pencil-drawn.App Store review summaries AI can be great at aggregating and summarizing large swaths of information, making it a good fit for customer reviews.
And in iOS 18.4, the App Store benefits from that.Apple Intelligence brings review summaries to app and game listings inside the App Store app.While you can still browse full user-written reviews yourself, now you can also get a quick snapshot of users’ opinions on an app by reading the AI review summary.
New AI languages One of Apple Intelligence’s biggest limitations at launch was being English-only.Apple expanded support to multiple localized English options, but until now AI has still been an English-only affair.In iOS 18.4, eight new AI languages are now supported: French German Italian Portuguese (Brazil) Spanish Japanese Korean Chinese (simplified) India and Singapore now get localized English support too.
Apple Intelligence in the EU One of the two major territories that Apple Intelligence has so far been unavailable—the EU and China—is officially done waiting.iOS 18.4 brings AI support to the EU for the first time.Previously, you could only use AI features in the EU on a Mac, but now iPhone and iPad users benefit too.
iOS 18.4 new AI features: wrap-up Apple’s steady rollout of new Apple Intelligence features has continued for nine months now.Unfortunately, some of the biggest promised features—major Siri upgrades—aren’t arriving any time soon.Regardless, with the decks just about cleared of other AI features Apple had previously announced, we’re getting closer to WWDC 2025 where iOS 19 is likely to offer its own new AI features.
Which new iOS 18.4 AI features are you most interested in? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessories AirPods Pro 2 (now only $169, down from $249) 100W USB-C power adapter for fast charging HomeKit smart plug 4-pack MagSafe Car Mount for iPhone 10-year AirTag battery case 2-pack You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.
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