The iPhone 16‘s signature feature is, without a doubt, Apple Intelligence. That’s what the iPhone 16 marketing is all about. However, that signature feature is missing in action right now, as Apple needed more time to roll out the first of its homegrown AI features. The good news is that Apple is getting ready to roll out iOS 18.1, which will bring the first Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 16 buyers. Last year’s iPhone 15 Pros will also support Apple Intelligence.
But Apple Intelligence isn’t Apple’s version of ChatGPT. It’s a new computing experience with AI built-in, similar to what Google and Microsoft are trying to achieve. And unlike rivals, Apple places a big emphasis on data security and privacy.
That’s why the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pros will try to process AI requests directly on-device first rather than beaming the prompts to Apple’s servers. However, Apple has also deployed “Private Cloud Compute” technology that will safeguard user data privacy while it’s processed in the cloud.
So, how does the iPhone decide what to process locally and what to send to the cloud? Apple’s software guru, Craig Federighi, explained all that in an interview ahead of the Apple Intelligence rollout that’s set to begin next week.
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“Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy promise of your phone into the cloud to enable more powerful Intelligence experiences for you,” Apple’s software chief told The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern before explaining how the technology works to preserve your privacy.
Federighi said that Apple designed Private Cloud Compute so the iPhone user would not have to think about the compute requirements for Apple Intelligence features and then wonder whether sending any data to Apple’s cloud will impact their privacy.
Instead, Apple focused on guaranteeing privacy no matter the computer requirements for any given Apple Intelligence process. Therefore, iPhone 16 users won’t have to wonder or care whether their phone can process an Apple Intelligence request locally or whether it needs to be sent to Apple. It’ll all happen automatically without impacting the privacy of their data.
Federighi said the local AI model will handle that request whenever Apple Intelligence can be processed on today’s iPhone with local resources. If the iPhone determines the request is too big for its capabilities, it’ll send the data for cloud-based processing.
Apple Intelligence features on the iPhone 16 phones. Image source: Apple Inc.
The high-ranking Apple exec also provided an example of sending AI data to Apple’s servers. He said that long-form summarization is better done in the cloud than on the iPhone. The iPhone could try to do it, but it would probably not provide the best result, Federighi said. If you run the same process in the cloud, you get faster results and a higher-quality summarization.
The key thing to remember here is that Apple doesn’t see the data, and nobody else has access to it. Private Cloud Compute encrypts the item you want to be summarized to a trusted device in the cloud. The AI processing is done in the cloud, and then the summary is returned to the user. None of the data associated with the entire process will be recorded.
The obvious bad news is that you will always need an internet connection to ensure Apple Intelligence works on your iPhone. This makes me wonder how much data Apple Intelligence will consume on its own, especially when one might be roaming. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Later in the interview, Federighi repeated something he said on stage at WWDC 2024, that security researchers can independently inspect the Private Cloud Compute tech.
I wouldn’t blame you if you wondered why the likes of OpenAI, Google, and Meta aren’t offering similar privacy guarantees with their AI products. Federighi answered a similar question from Stern, saying there are two reasons.
First, the tech is hard to build. Second, “it also runs counter to many companies’ entire philosophy about how they see data.” Federighi did not name any names, but it’s pretty clear who he was referring to.
As a longtime iPhone user excited about Apple Intelligence, Apple’s privacy guarantees are great news, even if I have to wait for Apple Intelligence to match what’s available from OpenAI and Google. I don’t ever want to wonder whether an AI task will be processed locally or sent to the cloud. Instead, I want it all to “just work” without wondering about the security of my data.
I say that as an iPhone 16 Plus owner in the EU who won’t get any Apple Intelligence features anytime soon. It’s unclear when Apple Intelligence is coming to the region.
A shorter version of Federighi’s interview is available on YouTube, and you can watch it below. But I’d recommend the full 25-minute interview with Federighi, which can be read on The Wall Street Journal website.
