iOS 26: New Apple Intelligence features are now live

Apple just rolled out its suite of “Apple Intelligence” features. They inject a dose of AI smarts into iPhones, Macs, and iPads with the public release of iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26. Let’s dive in.

From real-time translation in your AirPods to an AI workout coach

One of the headline acts is Live Translation. The feature is now baked directly into Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app, letting you communicate across languages without a hitch.

You can even use a new gesture on your AirPods for real-time translation during face-to-face chats. Apple is making a big deal about privacy, stressing that the processing happens right on your device so your conversations stay yours.

The whole OS also gets a new pair of eyes with updated visual intelligence. You can highlight an object on your screen, like a pair of shoes in a video, and instantly search for it online.

Creative tools got a glow-up too. Image Playground can now generate unique images using new styles like Watercolour through a ChatGPT integration, while Genmoji lets you mash different emoji with text descriptions to create your own unique reactions.

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For fitness fans, a new AI-powered Workout Buddy on Apple Watch acts like a personal trainer. It analyses your real-time stats like heart rate and pace to give you spoken motivational nudges during your session. The voice is even generated to sound like a Fitness+ trainer.

Elsewhere, the Shortcuts app is now way more powerful. It can tap into Apple’s AI models to perform complex tasks like summarising a transcribed audio file automatically.

The updates are already live in beta and bring smaller quality-of-life improvements too, like Reminders intelligently pulling tasks from emails. This initial rollout supports English and eight other languages, with more on the way.