Today at WWDC Apple unveiled its next generation of Apple Intelligence, including the new Siri AI. But the most powerful on-device AI model will be restricted to some of Apple’s newest products. Here are the details.
Apple has strict hardware requirements for iOS 27’s most advanced on-device model
Apple shared a lot about the new Siri AI and next-gen Apple Intelligence today during WWDC.
But one especially surprising announcement involves the system requirements for its most powerful on-device AI model.
While many of the new AI features in iOS 27 run on the same hardware supported today (e.g., iPhone 15 Pro), Apple has higher standards for a new on-device model.
To run Apple’s most powerful on-device model, you’ll need:
- iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone Air
- iPad with M4 and later with 12GB or more in memory
- Mac with M3 and later with 12GB or more in memory
Essentially, while Apple Intelligence used to require a minimum of 8GB of memory, in order to run the most advanced new on-device model, you’ll need 12GB.
The biggest shock is that the base iPhone 17 isn’t included. But that’s because the model only has 8GB of memory.
Users with non-supported iPhone, iPad, and Mac models should still be able to access many of the same features, but they will rely on Private Cloud Compute and thus will perform slower than the on-device versions.
Check out our WWDC News Hub for all the latest announcements from Apple.
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