Apple Intelligence Has a Waitlist for iOS 18.1, Here's Why

iOS 18.1 is here, and it brings the first set of Apple Intelligence features. But if you've updated your iPhone, you may have noticed that access to the AI requires joining a waitlist. Here's why.

Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist

If you have a compatible iPhone, iOS 18.1 is a huge update with a ton of new AI features.

To get these new features, you'll first need to request access.

Apple will add you to the waitlist and notify you when AI access is granted.

If you haven't yet joined the Apple Intelligence Waitlist, you can do so by going to Settings ⇾ Apple Intelligence & Siri.

But why does the waitlist even exist?

Why is there a waitlist for Apple Intelligence?

Apple launches its new AI features with the label “beta.” This means that the technology is still in its early stages.

According to Apple's support documentation:

Apple Intelligence uses generative models, and the output may be inaccurate, unexpected, or offensive. Review important information for accuracy.

To minimize the potential risk of failure in AI features, Apple provides access for a period of time.

Apple Intelligence was first tested by developers and public beta users over the summer. Now, Apple is rolling it out to a wider audience while the company gathers feedback to help improve its AI features in the future.

The nascent nature of these features is a big reason why Apple isn’t rolling them out to everyone right away. It wants to make sure not only that the features don’t produce inaccurate or unexpected results, but that they don’t run into capacity issues with Apple’s servers.

While Apple Intelligence primarily runs on-device, it first needs to download a few generative models from Apple. Some AI features will also need to ping Apple’s servers each time they’re used via Private Cloud Compute.

How long should I wait?

Waiting for access to Apple Intelligence will depend on when you first installed iOS 18.1 and requested access to AI.

Best comment by avr91

Like 2 people

Does this mean iOS 18.1 is actually on the waitlist? There is no point in there being a waitlist for models on a device. You either have them or you don't. Does Apple distribute these in some way other than through an iOS update, so that you can use iOS 18.1 but still need to download the models separately?

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If you installed the update and immediately joined the waitlist, you've likely already been granted access to the new features.

But the longer you wait for the update, the longer the delay may be before you're removed from the waitlist.

Typically, during developer betas and public betas, the wait time for access to AI has been relatively short. But now Apple is rolling out Apple Intelligence to many millions of users, so the previous pattern won't necessarily hold here.

Have you been removed from the Apple Intelligence waitlist? How long did it take? Let us know in the comments.