Apple confirms iPhone 15 Pro is getting Visual Intelligence in future update
Apple confirmed to Daring Fireball that its 2023 flagship is being updated with a new AI feature, thanks to the Action button
🤖 The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are getting a new Apple Intelligence feature
🍎 Apple has confirmed it’s bringing Visual Intelligence to the phones for the first time
🤳 The feature will be available through the Action button, just like on iPhone 16e
📅 It’s unclear when Visual Intelligence will roll out, but it might be in iOS 18.4
Apple has been slowly rolling out Apple Intelligence features since the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro were released, and now, one of the biggest additions to the phones is coming to the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple has confirmed to John Gruber of Daring Fireball that Visual Intelligence will arrive on Apple’s 2023 flagships in a future software update. The feature will be accessible from the Action button, much like it is on the newly announced iPhone 16e.
Gruber said:
Apple representatives also told me today that owners of the iPhone 15 Pro will soon be able to bind their Action Button to visual intelligence, “in a future software update”. I suspect that future software update is iOS 18.4, which should be launching in beta any day now, but Apple wouldn’t comment, on or off the record, when exactly this feature will come to the iPhone 15 Pro.
Until this point, it seemed like the iPhone 15 Pro wouldn’t get access to Visual Intelligence. Apple designed the feature to be trigged by the Camera Control on the right side of the iPhone 16. However, the iPhone 16e lacks the button, so to accommodate (and ensure Apple doesn’t ship a new iPhone without Visual Intelligence), the feature can be triggered by the Action button on the left.
Since the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max both come with an Action button, all Apple has to do is flip a switch to add the feature to the older flagships. The company confirmed it’ll do that, as well as make Visual Intelligence accessible from the Control Center.
As Gruber noted, there’s speculation that Visual Intelligence will come to the iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 18.4, which is expected to include a new round of Apple Intelligence features for iPhone users. We still haven’t gotten the first beta of the update yet, so there’s no way to know for sure. However, the update is rumored to arrive in April, so we’ll likely know sooner than later whether it’s the right one.
Visual Intelligence was released on the iPhone 16 series with iOS 18.2. It gives you an easy way to point your camera at something and learn more about the world around you. It analyzes a snapshot of whatever you’re looking at to provide more context, translate text, and more. It’s reminiscent of Google Lens on Android phones, except with all of Apple’s sexy animations and UI design.
Max Buondonno is Editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, Newsweek, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.
