Well, Apple kind of fooled us, didn’t it? The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max are now here and there’s a public beta of Apple Intelligence to supercharge your new iPhone at launch.
Yes, the public beta isn’t as stable as the upcoming iOS 18.1 release next month, but I decided to install it on my brand new iPhone 16 Pro Max, and I’m impressed with the results so far.
For full transparency, I initially installed iOS 18.1 developer beta 1 on my iPhone 15 Pro Max in July and after testing out Apple Intelligence for a few days I uninstalled the buggy mess from my device. It wasn’t so much an Apple Intelligence problem, but more related to how unstable a developer beta can be and why no one should install any developer betas on their primary device.
Fast forward to September 20 and not only do I have the shiny new iPhone 16 Pro Max in Desert Titanium but I’ve reinstalled iOS 18.1 thanks to Apple’s surprise public beta drop. Public betas are still in development but they are usually far more stable than any developer beta, and so far, so good.
So I unboxed my 16 Pro Max, instantly updated to iOS 18.1 public beta (if you’re looking to find out how to do this, check out our iOS 18.1 public beta install guide), and jumped on the Apple Intelligence waitlist.
Within minutes, my new iPhone had Apple Intelligence and my worry of Apple Intelligence’s messy launch was somewhat defused.
Just to be clear, iOS 18.1 public beta is exactly that, a beta, so while I’m happy to use it on my primary device, I don’t suggest you install it unless you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I’ve had no bugs or performance issues so far and the Apple Intelligence features that are available work pretty well, but everyone’s experience with beta software is different depending on the apps you use.
Back to Apple Intelligence: You’ll find all of the features my colleague Lance Ulanoff discussed in his iPhone 16 Pro Max review, which means Writing Tools to proofread and summarize text, smart replies in Messages, Siri’s redesign albeit not the super smart one you’re waiting for, Clean Up in Photos to remove objects from pictures, the ability to create Movie Memories, and the most underrated Apple Intelligence feature of them all: Reduce Interruptions Focus mode.
On paper, it might not sound like a lot of new additions to iOS on the best iPhone, but Apple Intelligence gives your smartphone a 2024 AI-fuelled glow-up making my new device feel fresh, rather than an incremental upgrade on my already fantastic 15 Pro Max from last year.
It’s not quite ripe, yet
So far I’ve used Apple Intelligence to reply to my girlfriend more often than I care to admit (she’s definitely realizing, so I need to be careful), quickly removed a dog toy from the background of a photo of my French Bulldog, and used Reduce Interruptions to silence unnecessary notifications. I’ve had no problem with Apple Intelligence’s performance so far while using the iOS 18.1 public beta, everything works just as expected and so much better than that initial developer beta I tried all those months ago. While it does feel like the AI features aren’t quite ripe yet, this is enough of a taster to get me excited for the lifespan of my iPhone 16 Pro Max and all the Apple Intelligence it has to look forward to.
If you’re on the fence, there are worse things you can do than try out the iOS 18.1 public beta with Apple Intelligence. But remember, it’s a beta after all.