Apple has added new AI features to its devices — iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and Vision Pro headsets. These capabilities began rolling out at WWDC25 in June 2025 and became widely available with Apple's September 2025 software updates. The updates cover automation, real-time translation, photo editing, and home control — shifting Apple Intelligence from a standalone feature into something built into the core of Apple's operating systems.

Shortcuts Gets Smarter

The most significant change is how Apple has upgraded Shortcuts, a tool that lets you automate tasks on your device. Previously, you had to manually string together steps to accomplish something — like "when I wake up, turn on the lights and start playing music." Now, you can just describe what you want in plain English, and the system figures out the steps automatically.

Apple's September 2025 update made this possible by letting Shortcuts use Apple Intelligence models to understand your intent and build the automation. Think of it like asking a helpful assistant to carry out your instructions rather than writing a detailed checklist yourself.

For app developers, this matters because apps can declare what tasks they perform — like "send a message" or "check the weather" — and the AI system can weave those abilities into automations without developers having to write extra code. It simplifies things for everyone involved.

Live Translation Now Works Everywhere

Apple has added real-time translation across Messages, Phone, FaceTime, and on iOS devices, also through AirPods headphones. You can now have a conversation in one language and see or hear it translated instantly into another, all happening on your device without being sent to an outside service.

The AirPods feature is particularly useful: the translation happens in your headphones, so during a face-to-face conversation you can understand what someone is saying without constantly looking at your phone screen. Apple has not said exactly how much of the translation happens on your device versus on Apple's servers, though the company typically processes sensitive tasks locally when possible.

Editing Photos and Managing Your Home

Apple has also added a new editing tool in the Photos app called Clean Up. You can point to something unwanted in a photo — a person in the background, a stray object — and the AI removes it and fills in the background naturally. Similar tools exist in other apps, but having it built into Apple's standard Photos app means hundreds of millions of regular users will have access to photo editing they might never have discovered otherwise.

In the Home app, which manages smart home devices, Apple Intelligence now groups together alerts and notifications. Instead of seeing dozens of separate notifications about motion sensors and door locks, you get a summary that explains what actually happened in plain language. This cuts down on the information overload for people juggling multiple smart devices.

What Devices Can Use These Features

Apple Intelligence only works on newer devices with Apple's own chips — iPhone 15 Pro and later, and iPads and Macs with M-series processors. This is an important detail: not every Apple user can access these features. Some of the more powerful capabilities may eventually require even newer hardware, which could create a split between higher-end and standard Apple devices.

The features have been extended to Apple Watch and the Vision Pro headset as well, though what each device can do depends on how much computing power it has and how people interact with it.

The Bigger Picture

Over the past thirty years, we have watched Apple absorb features from smaller apps into its core system software again and again. In the 2000s, the independent media player apps disappeared once iTunes became built-in. Later, features like flashlight apps, notification management, and QR code readers moved from the App Store into the system itself. The same thing is happening now with AI-powered automation, translation, and photo editing — capabilities that were once sold as premium add-ons are becoming standard.

This shift matters for app makers who were selling these specialized tools. It also tends to reset what people expect from their devices, pushing developers and Apple to build more ambitious features rather than staying comfortable with the basics.

For people who use Shortcuts to manage workflows or who want to automate complex tasks, this is a real improvement. The ability to describe what you want instead of manually assembling steps saves time and effort. One question worth watching is how transparent the system will be about which steps it chooses and why. If Apple keeps the reasoning hidden, it could be harder to spot mistakes or change what the system decides to do — a problem every AI system like this has faced so far, and something Apple has not yet addressed publicly.

September 2025's updates show that Apple is serious about weaving AI deeper into its platforms. The approach — processing what you can locally on your device, handling heavier tasks on Apple's servers, and requiring up-to-date hardware — is the same philosophy Apple laid out when it first introduced Apple Intelligence. What keeps changing is how many places you will encounter these features in your daily life.