The Apple Intelligence feature has hardware limitations that are adequate only for running on certain devices, specifically the iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max. This means that the iPhone 15 / 15 Plus, which are not even a year old yet, are considered outdated.
Although Apple has not clearly stated which hardware models are compatible with Apple Intelligence and why, Wired’s analysis suggests that the main reason could be related to RAM. The iPhone 15 has 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone 15 Pro has 8GB.
Wired speculates that the issue with the iPhone 15 is unlikely to be related to the NPU chip, as the NPU chip in the older iPhone 14 is even more powerful than the NPU in the MacBook M1 (which supports Apple Intelligence). Therefore, it is worth noting that this year’s non-Pro iPhone 16 model may receive an upgrade to 8GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence.
However, the overall functionality of Apple Intelligence running on-device is limited to less complex tasks such as Siri suggestions, voice recognition/transcription, and features within the Photos app. For more advanced generative AI features, processing on the cloud is still required.
TLDR: The Apple Intelligence feature has hardware limitations, with the iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max being the only compatible devices. RAM may be a key factor, and future non-Pro iPhone models may need to upgrade to support Apple Intelligence fully.
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