With each macOS update, Apple strives to improve the user experience and this time, macOS Sequoia introduces a revolutionary feature: Apple Intelligence.
This tool based on artificial intelligence and machine learning promises to optimize performance, personalize recommendations and automate tasks, in order to make our lives more comfortable and be able to offer a differentiating aspect compared to other operating systems that have not yet implemented it.
Throughout this post, we explain in detail what you need to prepare your Mac for this innovative feature and how Apple Intelligence will change the way you interact with your computer. Come on, let's get to it!
What is Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is a set of technologies we uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve various operating system functions, which have been rumored for several months now under the name of “Apple GPT” or similar.
But instead of being an LLM text generator, here what we find is a suite that relies on existing tools to “elevate” their use. Specifically, Apple Intelligence focuses on five main areas:
- Task automation: Learn from user habits and automate repetitive processes.
- Performance Optimization: Dynamically adjusts system resources to improve efficiency and speed
- Custom recommendations: Offers suggestions based on usage and user preferences, adapting to your habits.
- Enhanced Security: Uses AI to detect and prevent security threats in real time.
- Smart Assistance: Improves the capabilities of Siri and other assistive applications.
Hardware Requirements: what we need to run Apple Intelligence
To enjoy Apple Intelligence, your Mac must meet certain hardware requirements, which surely won't surprise you at all, because they are basically required to be modern Macs:
Processor
- Apple Silicon: The M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2 and M3 family chips are fully compatible, something totally normal because They have been designed for and by Apple with the idea of Apple Intelligence in mind.
- Intel: Processors 8th generation or later They can support some functions, although not all, without specifying which ones we lose in general. And although we cannot say that they are not robust, we half-understand that the lack of hardware dedicated to AI could work against them.
RAM
A Minimum of 8 GB of RAM for basic operation, although 16 GB is ideal for an optimal experience. As the saying goes: “a big horse, whether it works or not”, so the more RAM you have, the better for your device.
Storage
And with this comes the most unpleasant surprise from Apple Intelligence, since requires a whopping minimum of 256 GB of SSD storage to run it, making it clear to us that the advanced functions integrated into it may require additional space for machine learning data.
Here, dear readers, is where we see the price that must be paid for having AI independent of the Internet, and it is having approximately 1/3 of what a 1 TB SSD would be hijacked. Something that for many (a server included) may seem scandalous at the resource level.
GPU
For Macs with Apple Silicon, the integrated GPUs are highly efficient for artificial intelligence tasks and are good as is, but in the case of Macs with Intel, a dedicated GPU is recommended, such as AMD Radeon Pro series, to improve performance.
Let's remember that AI usually needs fast memories and processors for calculations, which is why companies like NVIDIA are making money selling "rehashed" GPU SOCs with this whole issue. So connect the dots and you'll probably see that With the integrated GPU of the Intel, little can be done.
Software Requirements
In addition to hardware, your Mac must meet certain software requirements that are totally logical and to a certain extent are completely aligned with the hardware requirements.
MacOS version
You need to have the latest version of macOS Sequoia installed, as Previous versions do not include support for Apple Intelligence, nor will they have it. Up to this point there is no surprise, because it is precisely one of the differentiating characteristics of the operating system.
Firmware Updates
What is going to be crucial no matter what from now on is keep your Mac up to date with the latest patches and firmware updates provided by Apple, since it will surely have improvements in order to streamline processes and make Apple Intelligence stronger, so we advise you to follow the update schedule strictly.
Compatibility Check
To make sure your Mac supports Apple Intelligence, follow these steps:
- Check your Mac model: Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen and select About this Mac, where you can see the model and year of your Mac. With that information, you can go to the Apple compatible models website and see if yours is among the lucky ones.
- Check storage and memory: In "About this Mac", select the "Storage" and "Memory" tab to verify that you meet the minimum requirements and if not... you already know that you will have to do a memory expansion soon.
To guarantee the proper functioning of Apple Intelligence, we believe that the “magic number” for everything to work is to have at least 20% of your hard drive free, with this you will have the necessary space for the program to work without problems.
Apple Intelligence: our opinion
It would be necessary to see in real life how Apple Intelligence is going to work, but seeing what there is "on paper", as an idea it seems that it is very cool and that it can be something different for Mac users.
Yes, as long as the execution is well done and can provide sufficient value so that consumers do not see it as “something else”, as has happened in innovations from other companies such as Microsoft Cortana, which started out looking like a bomb and ended up disappearing into ostracism.
For now, what we do know is that if you want to use Apple Intelligence, Your homework will be to prepare your Mac making sure you have the right hardware, update to the latest version of macOS, and keep your system optimized and with enough storage space.
Once you have all this, without a doubt, you will be ready to take advantage of all the advantages that Apple Intelligence has to offer and many will surely surprise you.