Apple iOS 18 AI to Ditch Server-Side Privacy For On-Device Privacy

According to a new report, Apple’s AI push in iOS 18 will be heavily focused on data privacy. But what’s more interesting is that the new operating system will offer on-device privacy instead of server-side privacy. All the processing will be done on the iPhone, thanks to the upcoming AI-powered iOS 18.

In the last few months, a lot of speculations and rumors have been doing rounds about Apple’s ambitions in AI and the features it wants to bring to the iPhones later this year with iOS 18 and macOS 15. 

Several sources have reported that the Cupertino-based company will bring AI advancements. It seems that the initial batch of features will work without having to connect to the internet or cloud.

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Apple iOS 18 To Take Privacy A Notch Higher

As per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the initial set of AI-related features the company plans to launch with iOS 18 "will work entirely on the device." In his weekly PowerON newsletter, Gurman also pointed out that these AI features will be capable of functioning without an internet connection or any form of cloud-based processing.

According to the information received by AppleInsider, many individuals close to the matter say that these reports aren’t baseless and have some truth to them. The company is also working on an in-house LLM (large language model) that will be named “Ajax.”

While more advanced features will eventually need an Internet connection, basic text analysis and response generation features won’t require cloud processing or the Internet. As for individual apps, Messages, Safari, Spotlight Search, and Siri are likely to witness big upgrades. Apple has been testing on-device text-based response generation for some time, which means this feature will most likely be released first.

Apple has reportedly discussed licensing OpenAI and Google’s AI tech to use in iOS 18 rather than developing its own LLM.

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Apple To Soon Join The AI Race

The notable boom in the popularity of AI projects in the past few years is likely the reason for Apple’s interest in the field. AI tools are being offered to more consumers, and there have been some legal and educational concerns.

On-device processing could curb issues seen on server-side AI tools. For instance, these tools have been known to provide misinformation, which means they make up information with confidence.

And, this problem is growing at an alarming rate, as AI models continue to feed on content generated by other AI models. With Apple’s Ajax LLM, the company aims to build a rival to the tools available out there. 

By eliminating the need for cloud-based processing and improving the quality of text generation, Apple could get an edge over other AI-powered services and tools. Apple will be revealing its AI plans during WWDC, which kicks off on June 10.