The first visual cue of the new Apple Intelligence on the iPhone in iOS 18.2 is Siri’s improved look — a pulsating rainbow of colors around the edge of the entire screen. But did you update your iPhone and are seeing the same animated sphere that’s anchored the bottom of the screen for the last couple of years?
I ran into the same thing and was also confused.
Turns out I needed to take one more step before I could try the smarter Siri — as well as other Apple Intelligence features like the writing tools, notification summaries and the Clean Up feature in Photos.
If you’re seeing the same thing, here’s why.
The new design of Siri is a glowing border that distorts everything briefly.
Watch this: Apple Redesigns Siri With AI and Glowing Borders
Your iPhone might not be able to run Apple Intelligence
The latest system update is for everyone with an iPhone XS or later, but that doesn’t mean everyone gets Apple Intelligence. In fact, because much of the AI computation is done on device, only a handful of models can run the new technologies:
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
Apple Intelligence will also run on Macs and iPads with M-series processors, as well as the latest iPad Mini (which is powered by the A17 Pro chip).
If you have any of those models, you’ll see the shimmering new look when you invoke Siri. On the Mac, the Siri search field gets the same effect instead of the entire screen edges. If you have a different model, you’ll see the same Siri orb.
Siri under iOS 18 looks the same as it did in iOS 17 for many people.
You might be idling on the Apple Intelligence waitlist
Officially, Apple Intelligence is considered a beta feature, even on supported devices. As part of this prerelease program, Apple is granting access to people who request it in waves. (For more, check out why Apple is using this waitlist approach.)
After installing iOS 18.2 (or iPadOS 18.2 or MacOS Sequoia 15.2), you need to go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and tap Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist > Join Waitlist. The new Siri effect shows up only after you’ve requested and been granted access.
Reports online and from friends suggest that people are able to start using Apple Intelligence after only a few hours of waiting. That will no doubt fluctuate as Apple balances the demand on its network of Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.
For more, here’s the right way to back up your iPhone before you install iOS 18.2 and eight settings you want to change first in iOS 18.2.
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Source: CNET
