AI Usage at a Glance
Timeline
Nov 1, 2019
OtherPractice documented: Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) uses machine learning running directly in the browser to identify advertising networks and data companies that track users across different websites, and then blocks or limits their ability to do so. First introduced in September 2017, ITP has been updated continuously and now blocks third-party tracking cookies entirely by default.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jul 28, 2021
Data AnalysisPractice documented: The Photos app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac uses AI to automatically scan a user's photo library, recognize faces, identify scenes and objects, and organize pictures into searchable albums — all without sending images to Apple's servers. These features have been present since iOS 10 in 2016 and have been continuously improved, with AI-powered object removal (Clean Up) added with iOS 18.1 in October 2024.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 10, 2022
OtherPractice documented: Apple Watch uses machine learning algorithms to detect when a wearer has had a hard fall or been in a car crash, and can automatically contact emergency services if the person is unresponsive. Fall Detection has been available since Apple Watch Series 4 in 2018. Crash Detection for severe car accidents was added with the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 in 2022.
Practice DocumentedView practice →May 16, 2023
Creative GenPractice documented: Personal Voice is an accessibility feature introduced with iOS 17 in September 2023 that lets users create a synthetic voice that sounds like their own. It is designed primarily for people who are at risk of losing their ability to speak due to conditions like ALS. After recording 150 short phrases (roughly 15 minutes of audio), the device processes the recordings overnight using on-device machine learning and creates a voice clone the user can speak through in calls, FaceTime, and apps.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 1, 2023
ModerationPractice documented: Apple uses automated tools as part of the App Store review process to screen apps and user-submitted reviews before they are published. These tools check for spam, fake reviews, profanity, malware, and policy violations, and are documented in Apple's EU Digital Services Act transparency reports.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Dec 18, 2023
Creative GenNew evidence: Advancing Speech Accessibility with Personal Voice
Evidence AddedView practice →May 7, 2024
ProductivityPractice documented: Logic Pro's Stem Splitter uses AI to separate a single mixed audio recording — like a finished song — into up to six individual components: drums, bass, vocals, guitar, piano, and other instruments. Musicians and producers can use these separated parts to remix, edit, or repurpose existing recordings. The feature launched in May 2024 and requires Apple Silicon hardware.
Practice DocumentedView practice →May 13, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: Logic Pro, Apple's professional music production software, includes a set of AI-powered virtual musicians called Session Players. A music producer can add a Drummer, Bass Player, Keyboard Player, or Synth Player to a song and the software will automatically generate realistic instrumental performances that follow the song's chords and respond to the producer's style choices. The Drummer feature launched with Logic Pro X in 2013; Bass Player, Keyboard Player, and Synth Player were added in May 2024.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jun 10, 2024
ProductivityPractice documented: Apple Intelligence Writing Tools help users rewrite, proofread, and summarize text anywhere on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Introduced in October 2024 with iOS 18.1, the tools act like a built-in editor that can adjust the tone, length, or style of whatever a user is typing.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jun 10, 2024
ProductivityPractice documented: Xcode 16, Apple's app development tool, offers a built-in AI feature that suggests code as developers type — completing single lines, filling in function arguments, or generating entire function bodies based on comments. The feature launched in September 2024 and runs entirely on the developer's own Apple Silicon Mac.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jun 10, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: Apple Intelligence lets users generate custom images and emoji using text descriptions via Image Playground and Genmoji. Image Playground launched in December 2024 with iOS 18.2 offering stylized, non-photorealistic images; at WWDC 2026, Apple announced an overhauled Image Playground capable of photorealistic image generation, expected in iOS 27.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jun 19, 2024
ProductivityNew evidence: Xcode 16 Brings Predictive Code Completion Using Custom Model
Evidence AddedView practice →Oct 28, 2024
Data AnalysisNew evidence: Apple Intelligence is available today on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Evidence AddedView practice →Oct 28, 2024
Customer SvcPractice documented: Apple offers an upgraded Siri voice assistant — now called Siri AI — powered by Apple Intelligence and, since January 2026, co-developed with Google's Gemini models. The upgraded Siri launched incrementally starting with iOS 18.1 in October 2024 and received its most significant overhaul at WWDC 2026, gaining system-wide personal context awareness, cross-app action-taking, and on-screen content understanding.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 28, 2024
ProductivityNew evidence: Apple Intelligence is available today on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Evidence AddedView practice →Nov 13, 2024
ProductivityPractice documented: Final Cut Pro 11, launched in November 2024, offers AI-powered video editing tools including Magnetic Mask for automatically isolating subjects from backgrounds without a green screen, Transcribe to Captions for auto-generating closed captions from spoken audio, and Visual Search for finding clips by describing their contents in plain language.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Dec 11, 2024
Customer SvcNew evidence: Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence
Evidence AddedView practice →Dec 11, 2024
Customer SvcNew evidence: Apple launches its ChatGPT integration with Siri
Evidence AddedView practice →Dec 11, 2024
Creative GenNew evidence: Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence
Evidence AddedView practice →Dec 11, 2024
ProductivityNew evidence: Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence
Evidence AddedView practice →Jun 9, 2025
OtherPractice documented: Apple Watch's Workout Buddy feature, launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, uses Apple Intelligence to analyze a user's real-time workout data and fitness history and deliver personalized, spoken motivational coaching during exercise sessions. The voice is generated by a custom text-to-speech model trained on Fitness+ trainer voices.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Sep 9, 2025
OtherNew evidence: Apple debuts Apple Watch Series 11, featuring groundbreaking health insights
Evidence AddedView practice →Sep 9, 2025
OtherPractice documented: Apple Watch uses an on-device algorithm to passively monitor optical heart sensor data over 30-day periods and alert users if it detects consistent signs of high blood pressure (hypertension). The feature launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, received FDA clearance, and is available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later in more than 150 countries.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Sep 15, 2025
OtherNew evidence: Apple Watch's New High Blood Pressure Detection Feature Now Available
Evidence AddedView practice →Oct 5, 2025
RecommendationPractice documented: Apple Music uses a combination of machine learning and human curation to build personalized playlists and recommendations for each listener. Features like New Music Mix, Favorites Mix, and Get Up! Mix refresh automatically each week and are unique to each user, based on their listening history, songs they have 'Loved,' and tracks they have added to their library.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 16, 2026
Data AnalysisNew evidence: Find People and Pets in Photos on your iPhone or iPad
Evidence AddedView practice →Recent activity
Apple Watch's Workout Buddy feature, launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, uses Apple Intelligence to analyze a user's real-time workout data and fitness history and deliver personalized, spoken motivational coaching during exercise sessions. The voice is generated by a custom text-to-speech model trained on Fitness+ trainer voices.
Workout Buddy analyzes data including heart rate, pace, distance, Activity ring progress, and personal fitness milestones during a workout session to produce contextual spoken feedback — such as encouragement when the user reaches a new milestone or a pacing reminder based on their history. A custom text-to-speech model converts these insights into audio using voice data from Fitness+ trainers. The feature requires Bluetooth headphones and an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone nearby. Initial support covers outdoor and indoor running, walking, cycling, HIIT, and strength training. The feature launched first in English, with additional languages expected later.
Final Cut Pro 11, launched in November 2024, offers AI-powered video editing tools including Magnetic Mask for automatically isolating subjects from backgrounds without a green screen, Transcribe to Captions for auto-generating closed captions from spoken audio, and Visual Search for finding clips by describing their contents in plain language.
Magnetic Mask uses on-device machine learning to analyze video frames and isolate people, objects, or shapes automatically, tracking them through a clip without requiring a green screen or manual rotoscoping. Transcribe to Captions uses an Apple-trained large language model to generate accurate closed captions from spoken audio in the editing timeline. Visual Search, added with Final Cut Pro 12 in January 2026 alongside Apple Creator Studio, lets editors type natural language descriptions of what they are looking for — such as 'person smiling outdoors' — and the AI locates matching moments in the video library. All these features run locally on Apple Silicon Macs without uploading footage to a server. An additional Auto Mask tool was added in July 2026, using on-device AI to recognize subjects by type (skin, hair, sky, foliage, clothing) and apply selective effects.
Apple Watch uses an on-device algorithm to passively monitor optical heart sensor data over 30-day periods and alert users if it detects consistent signs of high blood pressure (hypertension). The feature launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, received FDA clearance, and is available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later in more than 150 countries.
Hypertension notifications use data from the optical heart sensor (photoplethysmography) to analyze how a user's blood vessels respond to heartbeats — a pattern associated with arterial stiffness and elevated blood pressure. The algorithm runs passively in the background and evaluates data over rolling 30-day periods before alerting the user. The feature was developed using training data from over 100,000 participants and validated in a clinical study of more than 2,000 participants, as stated in Apple's Apple Watch Series 11 launch. Apple states the feature will not detect all instances of hypertension and is not intended to replace clinical diagnosis. It is intended for users 22 years or older who have not been previously diagnosed with hypertension and are not pregnant.
All practices by category
Apple Watch's Workout Buddy feature, launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, uses Apple Intelligence to analyze a user's real-time workout data and fitness history and deliver personalized, spoken motivational coaching during exercise sessions. The voice is generated by a custom text-to-speech model trained on Fitness+ trainer voices.
Apple Watch uses an on-device algorithm to passively monitor optical heart sensor data over 30-day periods and alert users if it detects consistent signs of high blood pressure (hypertension). The feature launched with watchOS 26 in September 2025, received FDA clearance, and is available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later in more than 150 countries.
Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) uses machine learning running directly in the browser to identify advertising networks and data companies that track users across different websites, and then blocks or limits their ability to do so. First introduced in September 2017, ITP has been updated continuously and now blocks third-party tracking cookies entirely by default.
Apple Watch uses machine learning algorithms to detect when a wearer has had a hard fall or been in a car crash, and can automatically contact emergency services if the person is unresponsive. Fall Detection has been available since Apple Watch Series 4 in 2018. Crash Detection for severe car accidents was added with the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 in 2022.
Final Cut Pro 11, launched in November 2024, offers AI-powered video editing tools including Magnetic Mask for automatically isolating subjects from backgrounds without a green screen, Transcribe to Captions for auto-generating closed captions from spoken audio, and Visual Search for finding clips by describing their contents in plain language.
Xcode 16, Apple's app development tool, offers a built-in AI feature that suggests code as developers type — completing single lines, filling in function arguments, or generating entire function bodies based on comments. The feature launched in September 2024 and runs entirely on the developer's own Apple Silicon Mac.
Logic Pro's Stem Splitter uses AI to separate a single mixed audio recording — like a finished song — into up to six individual components: drums, bass, vocals, guitar, piano, and other instruments. Musicians and producers can use these separated parts to remix, edit, or repurpose existing recordings. The feature launched in May 2024 and requires Apple Silicon hardware.
Apple Intelligence Writing Tools help users rewrite, proofread, and summarize text anywhere on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Introduced in October 2024 with iOS 18.1, the tools act like a built-in editor that can adjust the tone, length, or style of whatever a user is typing.
Personal Voice is an accessibility feature introduced with iOS 17 in September 2023 that lets users create a synthetic voice that sounds like their own. It is designed primarily for people who are at risk of losing their ability to speak due to conditions like ALS. After recording 150 short phrases (roughly 15 minutes of audio), the device processes the recordings overnight using on-device machine learning and creates a voice clone the user can speak through in calls, FaceTime, and apps.
Logic Pro, Apple's professional music production software, includes a set of AI-powered virtual musicians called Session Players. A music producer can add a Drummer, Bass Player, Keyboard Player, or Synth Player to a song and the software will automatically generate realistic instrumental performances that follow the song's chords and respond to the producer's style choices. The Drummer feature launched with Logic Pro X in 2013; Bass Player, Keyboard Player, and Synth Player were added in May 2024.
Apple Intelligence lets users generate custom images and emoji using text descriptions via Image Playground and Genmoji. Image Playground launched in December 2024 with iOS 18.2 offering stylized, non-photorealistic images; at WWDC 2026, Apple announced an overhauled Image Playground capable of photorealistic image generation, expected in iOS 27.
Cite this record
Trace Foundation. (2026). Apple: documented AI practices (data as of 2026-09-02) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/company/77c23dc5-b462-47bd-b88f-0b72c41485eb. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Stable link
- https://www.aitrace.org/r/company/77c23dc5-b462-47bd-b88f-0b72c41485eb
- Data as of
- September 2, 2026
- Last verified
- March 24, 2026
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