Apple Intelligence arrives for E.U. iPhone users ahead of time with global release of iOS 18.4
While this is a notable expansion, it’s also a bit of a catch-up moment for Apple. The company had originally designated April as the release month for this particular version and stage of the Apple Intelligence rollout, but today’s update quietly arrives ahead of schedule. That’s a rare and welcome surprise, especially considering how Apple has been slower than competitors to deliver AI features at scale. It’s been nearly a year since Apple Intelligence was first introduced, and despite impressive early demos, the rollout has been staggered, limited, and cautious—particularly outside the U.S. This early release is a small but positive sign that Apple is accelerating its AI efforts as rivals like Google and Samsung continue to push ahead.
iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4 and visionOS 2.4 are all out today, Apple confirms. In a first, the company beat its own April timeline!
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) March 31, 2025
So, what’s new in this rollout?
Here’s a quick look at some of the upgraded and new Apple Intelligence features:
- Priority Notifications: AI sorts your notifications and highlights the ones it thinks you’ll care about most—great if you’re always buried in alerts.
- Memory Movie on Mac: Type out a description, and your Mac turns it into a custom memory video.
- Sketch Style in Image Playground: A new visual style that creates detailed academic-style sketches.
- Apple Vision Pro integration.
For those using Apple devices in regions that didn’t previously have access, this is a welcome change. And with Vision Pro now in the mix, it’s clear Apple is trying to lay the groundwork for a more AI-driven experience across its entire ecosystem. Let’s hope Apple can keep that pace going for the remainder of the promised Apple Intelligence features.
