iOS 18 & iPadOS 18 Public Release
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are now publicly available with a reported performance jump in machine learning workloads. This performance increase on flagship hardware signals that client-side compute capacity is no longer a bottleneck for rich, real-time AI features.
iOS 18 significantly enhances the iPhone 15 Pro Max's Neural Engine, delivering up to a 25% performance boost in machine learning tasks. This improvement is reflected in Geekbench ML scores, jumping from 6,249 on iOS 17.5.1 to 7,816 on iOS 18. The A17 Pro chip's Neural Engine can now handle up to 35 trillion operations per second. This performance gain is attributed to optimizations within Core ML, Apple's machine learning framework, and the addition of MLTensor. Core ML enables on-device processing, enhancing speed and preserving user data privacy. The improved Neural Engine performance and Core ML enhancements are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. Apple is also partnering with Google to integrate Gemini models, costing Apple an estimated $1 billion annually. This collaboration aims to enhance Siri with AI capabilities, evolving it into a more intelligent agent, similar to Google Gemini 2.0. The partnership will allow Apple to leverage Google's AI technology while maintaining user privacy. iPadOS 18 mirrors many iOS 18 features, including home screen customization options and the Apple Intelligence platform on iPads with M-series chips. A notable addition is Smart Script in the Notes app, which uses on-device machine learning to refine handwriting in real-time. iPadOS 18 also brings the Calculator app to iPad with Math Notes, designed for use with the Apple Pencil.
