All Apple Intelligence Features Coming with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and watchOS 26

Circle September 15 on your calendar. Because that’s the day Apple will push out iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 (codenamed Tahoe), visionOS 26 and watchOS 26 — and with them, a truckload of Apple Intelligence features.

But before you get too excited, here’s the catch: not everyone, and not everywhere, will get the full experience right away. Apple Intelligence is limited to newer devices, certain languages, and specific regions. Still, for those who qualify, this update is set to make your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, and even Vision Pro feel way smarter and more personal than ever before.

Let’s break down everything you can expect when your device gets the update — and yes, this is big.

Live Translation Everywhere

Apple clearly wants you to break language barriers like a pro:

• Messages, Phone, and FaceTime will now handle live translations on the fly.
• AirPods (but only the latest ones — AirPods 4 ANC and AirPods Pro 2) will let you listen and speak in another language as if you’re in a sci-fi movie.
• Supported languages include English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, though availability depends on the specific feature.

Imagine traveling and your AirPods are literally whispering translations into your ear.

A More Magical Photos App

Apple Photos is stepping into AI territory in a big way:

• Clean Up Tool: Remove unwanted objects from photos (bye-bye photobombers).
• Image Playground: Create images from scratch using prompts.
• Image Wand: Sketch something rough, let AI make it polished.
• Memory Movies: Auto-generate emotional, shareable highlight reels from your photos.
• Natural Language Search: Type “me at the beach in 2023” and Photos will find it.

Writing, Messaging & Siri Get Supercharged

Apple knows we spend most of our time writing, messaging, and asking Siri dumb questions. That’s why it’s going all in:

• Writing Tools: Rewrite, proofread, or summarize anything.
• Compose with ChatGPT: Let ChatGPT draft directly inside Apple’s Writing Tools.
• Smart Replies: In Mail and Messages, AI will suggest context-aware replies.
• Summaries Everywhere: Long emails, chat threads, notifications, voicemails, and even Notes transcriptions get condensed into digestible snippets.
• Priority Messages in Mail: Important emails automatically surface to the top.
• Intelligent Poll Suggestions in Messages: AI notices group chatter and suggests creating a poll to settle it.
• Siri 2.0: Now with better product knowledge, natural voice, type-to-Siri, and more resilience when your requests don’t make sense.
• ChatGPT Integration: Yep, Siri now has ChatGPT as a backup brain. This comes amid reports that Apple is weighing Google Gemini for Siri as its internal AI development lags.

Either way, this is Apple admitting that sometimes, Siri needs a friend.

Productivity Boosts Across Apps

Apple’s sprinkling AI across all corners of your workflow:

• Reminders: Suggested tasks and auto-categorization.
• Shortcuts: “Intelligent actions” let Siri trigger more advanced automations.
• Focus Mode: Now powered by Reduce Interruptions, Intelligent Breakthrough, and Silencing so only what really matters gets through.
• Wallet: Enhanced order tracking (currently English + US/UK).
• Notes: Transcription summaries automatically condense long recordings.

It’s the little touches that make productivity feel less… like work.

Fitness & Lifestyle Perks

• Workout Buddy (iPhone + Apple Watch): Coaches you, cheers you on, and keeps workouts personalized.
• Visual Intelligence (iPhone only): Point your camera at plants, animals, landmarks, or posters, and your iPhone will explain, identify, or even add events to your calendar.
• Reduce Interruptions Focus: Keeps your day calmer by filtering non-essential distractions.
• Basically, your iPhone now doubles as a trainer, teacher, and stress manager.

On Apple Vision Pro

Vision Pro isn’t left out. Most of the big Apple Intelligence tricks are coming too with visionOS 26:

• Genmoji, Image Playground, Image Wand
• Writing Tools + ChatGPT Compose
• Smart Replies, Summaries, and Notification Summaries
• Notes transcription summaries
• Memory Movies, Natural Language Search in Photos
• Reduce Interruptions Focus + Priority Messages
• Background creation in Messages

That’s a lot of AI magic for something you wear on your face.

On Apple Watch

Paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, your Watch gets the following once it’s updated to watchOS 26:

• Workout Buddy (English only)
• Live Translation in Messages
• Notification Summaries

Smaller in scope than iPhone or Mac, but still a noticeable upgrade.

Apple Intelligence Minimum Requirements

Here’s the fine print you’ll want to know before getting too excited:

• Devices: iPhone 15 Pro and newer, iPhone 16 series, iPads with M1 or later, Macs with M1 or later, iPad mini (A17 Pro), Apple Vision Pro, and Apple Watch Series 6 and newer.
• Storage: You’ll need at least 7 GB free (except on Apple Watch).
• System versions: iOS 18.1+, iPadOS 18.1+, macOS Sequoia 15.1+, visionOS 2.4+, watchOS 11+.
• Languages at launch: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
• Coming soon: Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese (Portugal), Vietnamese, and Turkish.

Basically, Apple Intelligence is not for your old iPhone 13 or your storage-choked iPad from 2019 even with updates to the latest iOS 26 or iPadOS 26. Sorry.

Regional Restrictions to Note

• EU: AirPods Live Translation won’t work if your Apple account is registered in the EU.
• China mainland: Apple Intelligence isn’t available (yet). Even supported devices won’t activate AI features if your account or region is China.

Apple isn’t trying to beat ChatGPT or Google Gemini at their own game. Instead, it’s weaving AI seamlessly into apps we already use daily, from Photos and Messages to Siri and Mail. That’s classic Apple: less about “look at this AI trick” and more about “you’ll just use your phone, and it’ll feel smarter.”

And now, the wait is almost over. On September 15, Apple will flip the switch with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, visionOS 26 and watchOS 26, officially bringing Apple Intelligence into our lives. The rollout won’t be instant or equal everywhere. Your device model, language, and even region will decide what you actually get on day one.

Still, for those with the right gear, September 15 isn’t just another software update day. It’s the beginning of Apple’s AI era.