Apple launched the new iPhone 16 Series at the ‘Glowtime’ event on Monday. The new iPhones get a new button for camera controls and a few tweaks to the form factor and design. The biggest upgrade comes under the hood in the form of the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets (depending on the variant). These chipsets have a more powerful Neural Processing Unit compared to their predecessors. This allows the new series of iPhones to run the artificial intelligence suite of features – Apple Intelligence. Among older iPhones, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (powered by the A17 Pro chipset) are the only two models with an NPU powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence. If you have an older iPhone, there are some alternatives you can turn to in order to get AI features on your device.
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In This Article
Before you begin
One of the key attributes that separates Apple Intelligence from its Android peers is the way in which it goes about computing AI tasks. One of the reasons why Apple’s AI features aren’t available on older iPhones is that they do not have powerful neural cores to handle on-device AI computation. Most of the AI tasks on the iPhone are performed on the device itself, thereby protecting the privacy of users by not transferring their data to external servers. Of course, in some scenarios, Apple may seek the help of cloud servers, but the user is made aware of the change.
All the alternatives to Apple Intelligence that we’ve mentioned on this list rely on cloud servers for AI computation. This is the key tradeoff you will need to make if you don’t want to upgrade to the new iPhone 16 series. In terms of output, these alternatives match the performance of Apple Intelligence.
Use Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard
Out of all the AI features in the Apple Intelligence package, ‘Writing Tools’ will be the most popular among iPhone users due to its utility, versatility, and easy access. Writing Tools help you frame your emails, photo captions, notes, texts, and more. Any time you tap on a text box, Writing Tools are there to help you. As eye-catching as this feature is, it is not exclusive to iPhones.
The Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard offers the same set of features as Writing Tools. You can use SwiftKey to generate responses and change the tone of your text to make it look more casual or professional. The keyboard is integrated with Copilot, GPT-4, and Dall-E 3. You can access Copilot with just one tap and enter any prompt or query that you want to be answered. The emoji tab in the keyboard has an image generator powered by Dall-E 3. This tool is the perfect alternative to Image Playground as it can create images based on your prompts at any given time.
Use the ChatGPT app
Apart from text composition, Writing Tools can summarise any piece of text for you. The ChatGPT app for iOS can do the same. The only catch is that you will need to paste the text into the app. On the bright side, ChatGPT can summarise PDFs with ease. All you need to do is upload the document on the app and give the chatbot the summarisation command. Once you get used to the process, it will not be any different than using Writing Tools.
The ChatGPT app also acts as a viable alternative to Image Playground. OpenAI’s Dall-E image generator is integrated with the app and can be summoned at any time. You can throw imaginative prompts at ChatGPT and it will produce relevant images in a short period of time.
Use the Google Photos app
Apple’s new ‘Clean Up’ tool to erase unwanted objects from pictures is integrated into its Photos app. This AI tool does not rely on cloud servers to carry out the computation required to edit the pictures. If you use an old iPhone, the Google Photos app is the closest alternative to this tool. Google’s Magic Eraser has been around for several years. Previously available on only Android smartphones, Google rolled out this feature on its iOS app in 2023. Some may even prefer it over Apple’s Clean Up tool. Both tools require the user to circle or highlight the object they want to erase from the picture. The Magic Eraser uses AI to scan the image for contextual cues and appropriately fills up the blank pixels left behind by the erased object.
Use Magmo Magnetic Call Recorder
One of the highly anticipated features of iOS 18.1 is the ability to record calls on the device. Not only can the iPhone record calls, but it can also transcribe them using Apple Intelligence. The process is completely on-device to retain your privacy. If you do not wish to upgrade to the iPhone 16 yet, the Rev Call Recorder app and Magmo Magnetic Call Recorder are decent alternatives to this feature. The latter is a device that snaps on your iPhone’s back panel using MagSafe and creates audio recordings of your calls. The advantage of using this device is that it does not send recording alerts to other users on the call. If you want AI transcriptions of your calls, use the Auxxy Magnetic Call Recorder.
Use Meta AI on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger
Out of all the Apple Intelligence features, Genmoji is the toughest nut to crack. An AI spin on ‘Memoji’, Genmojis can be prompted to match the conversation you’re having with a friend. For example, if you’re talking about attending a football game, you can instantly create a Genmoji of a character with a football at its feet. The closest alternative to Genmoji right now is Meta AI. This chatbot is integrated into all of Meta’s major messaging services. It allows users to generate custom stickers by entering the relevant prompts. The only drawback is that it cannot be used in iMessage. We suggest sticking with SwiftKey’s image generator in this situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which older iPhones will get Apple Intelligence?
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the only older iPhones that will receive Apple Intelligence as a part of iOS 18.
Does Apple Intelligence use cloud servers?
The majority of the AI computation is carried out on the device itself. When Apple Intelligence needs more power to carry out the computation, it reaches out to external servers.
Does Apple train its AI model with user-generated data and interactions?
No, Apple does use the data and interactions created by the user to train its AI model.
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Conclusion
These are the top 5 alternatives to Apple Intelligence that users with old iPhones can use to get AI features on their devices. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of using multiple third-party apps on your iPhone for AI, you may want to upgrade to the iPhone 16 series. Are there any AI tools that we missed out on? Let us know in the comments!
