How to Enable Apple Intelligence If You're Outside the US

[MacRumors]

Apple is introducing a set of AI features in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 under the banner "Apple Intelligence." These features are officially only currently available in beta to developers in the US, but it's actually pretty easy to get it up and running on iPhones and iPads in most other locations with the exception of the European Union and China.

The main reason Apple has limited region access to Apple Intelligence is that it only supports US English at this time, but if you can work with that – and you have a compatible device – then there's no technical reason why you can't start exploring the new AI features.

Supported Devices

Apple Intelligence encompasses a range of capabilities, including composing text and emails, automating actions across various apps, generating images, summarizing documents and texts, and more. However, these features require a lot of on-device computing power, so before you do anything, it's worth checking if your device is compatible. iPhone users need either an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to run Apple Intelligence, while only iPads powered by M1 or later Apple silicon processors are compatible.

Install Beta Software

If your device is supported, the first thing you need to do is install the developer beta for your device. Once you've followed the instructions provided in the linked article and your device is up and running with the latest beta, follow these steps on your iPhone or iPad.

1. Open Settings, then tap through to General ➝ Language & Region.
2. Tap Add Language.. and choose English (US).
3. Tap Region and choose United States. (Note that this won't affect your App Store regions or purchases.)
   
   
   
   Return to the main Settings menu and tap Apple Intelligence & Siri.
4. Tap Language and choose English (United States).
5. You will now be able to join the Apple Intelligence waitlist, which in most cases gets accepted in just a few minutes. Under the Apple Intelligence header text, tap Join Waitlist.
   
   
   
   After what should hopefully be a short wait, the message will change to Turn On Apple Intelligence. Tap it, and a welcome message should appear, indicating you have sucessfully enabled the AI features on your device.

You can learn more here about all of the Apple Intelligence features available in the iOS 18.1 developer beta. Note that some of the Apple Intelligence additions won't be coming until later.

Article Link: How to Enable Apple Intelligence If You're Outside the US

 

[Mobster1983]

No support for iPhone 14 Pro. That's rough. :-(

 

[Tripps9000]

I feel really sorry for those people who only have the standard 15 they like the rest off us with older phones won’t get to enjoy the ai experience!

 

[theolderoldcoot]

Is Apple allowing people to leave it turned off completely or even delete it from their devices?

 

[Bustycat]

Good luck with my newest iPhone 15 Plus

 

[klasma]

Is Apple allowing people to leave it turned off completely or even delete it from their devices?

The former.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Works fine on my MacBook Air M1. Being in Norway we're not covered by the EU embargo.

Not used it much, though. I think it's nice to have, but still waiting for some real use cases...

One thing though: Does the "Learn more..."-link on the top of the Settings window work for anyone else?

 

[BigBrotherNowWatching]

You need to apply and make a wish to be accepted by the data kraken ?

Nice move, .

We might wait for  to let their own "A.I." replace their incredible inventive Ceo.

 

[Kwikyy]

Works fine on my MacBook Air M1. Being in Norway we're not covered by the EU embargo.

Not used it much, though. I think it's nice to have, but still waiting for some real use cases...

One thing though: Does the "Learn more..."-link on the top of the Settings window work for anyone else?

View attachment 2401875

Norway or not, anyone can use Apple Intelligence on Mac if you change your device, Siri's language and region even if you're in the EU. Apple didn't put as much effort for the Mac as it did for the iOS and iPadOS

 

[iConnected]

it's actually pretty easy to get it up and running on iPhones and iPads in most other locations ...

Install Beta Software

If your device is supported, the first thing you need to do is install the developer beta for your device.

What could possibly go wrong?! Perhaps not the best suggestion to make without also including a warning - like Apple does:

"Please note that since the beta software has not yet been commercially released by Apple, it may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not function as well as commercially released software. .. Install the beta software only on non-production devices that are not business critical. We strongly recommend installing on a secondary system or device"

Beta faq

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Norway or not, anyone can use Apple Intelligence on Mac if you change your device, Siri's language and region even if you're in the EU.

Are you sure about that?

There was a lot of people struggling with that in the iOS 18.1 beta/MacOS 15.1 beta thread...

And from the article above:

it's actually pretty easy to get it up and running on iPhones and iPads in most other locations with the exception of the European Union and China.

Is it just phones that are excluded, and not Macs?

 

[mazz0]

I did this on my M2 Pro MacMini and I still don't have an Apple Intelligence & Siri section in settings (just Siri).

 

[baldgye3000]

I just followed these steps on my 15 Pro and it didn't work for me. It just gives the same message about not being avaliable in my region.

 

[MLVC]

Are you sure about that?

There was a lot of people struggling with that in the iOS 18.1 beta/MacOS 15.1 beta thread...

And from the article above:


Is it just phones that are excluded, and not Macs?

macOS is not named a gatekeeper by the EU, so I guess that's why it can be activated on the Mac in the EU.

 

[JCCL]

Is Apple allowing people to leave it turned off completely or even delete it from their devices?

Yes, you can leave it turned off. Once you turn it on, it downloads the extra data needed to enable it. So, you can say it is not included by default, at least in its current state in 18.1 Beta

 

[kagharaht]

I would like this turned off forever if possible.

 

[Vol Braakzakje]

This does not work.

It only works on the Mac.

If you're in the EU and bought your iPhone in the EU, you're out of luck. The writer from this article needs to update his knowledge. There is currently no option to get it working on EU bought devices.

 

[jonnyb]

I switched my UK iPhone to US English and now every time I type the word 'contacting' Apple Intelligence replaces it with 'reaching out', so I have had to throw it in the sea.

 

[klowy79]

Doesn't work on my M2 iPad. Even after trying with VPN.

 

[klowy79]

This does not work.

It only works on the Mac.

If you're in the EU and bought your iPhone in the EU, you're out of luck. The writer from this article needs to update his knowledge. There is currently no option to get it working on EU bought devices.

That explains it. Oh well.

 

[fabric17]

europe = china for aapl ? bad to know... we pay devices more then in the usa to use less important features????

 

[nicolas_s]

Hopefully there will be a workaround to get Apple Intelligence features here in the EU even if it means creating a US account.

 

[stocklen]

Honestly whats the point of jumping through any hoops for this now?

its Beta 1.

Its a Developer Beta anyway so not really for general consumption.

By all accounts not a lot has changed so far and its very clearly beta 1.


I dont really care that its only for the latest hardware going forward - Apple have their reasons and they obviously want to sell more phones and thats fine you cant begrudge that.
Personally i have an iPhone 15 Pro Max and supposedly Ill get to see this when its released although as a yearly upgrader ill have an iPhone 16 by the time its realistically released.

however theres the usual 'USA first' stuff and im outside the USA so even after its 'released' we still wont get it here.....

 

[G5isAlive]

europe = china for aapl ? bad to know... we pay devices more then in the usa to use less important features????

EU < china. EU has repeatedly pulled apple into court to force apple to change its business practices, more than china. And now you’re surprised Apple is more conservative in its roll out of services to the EU? Everything has consequences. Complain to your headline grabbing leaders.

 

[Kwikyy]

Are you sure about that?

There was a lot of people struggling with that in the iOS 18.1 beta/MacOS 15.1 beta thread...

And from the article above:


Is it just phones that are excluded, and not Macs?

Apple uses several property lists (files with the .plist extension). They specifically use:

- The device region
- The device type (iPhone, iPad, determined by the serial number)
- The Siri language
- The device locale
- The billing region in the App Store (which is why screen mirroring to a Mac was sufficient)
- Whether the system is generative (A17 Pro and M1)
- Whether the device has a Chinese SIM card (such devices also lack the Xcode language model for code prediction)
- The user's country
- The device language

Each country has a country code that determines eligibility for Apple Intelligence. These country codes, which are estimated using data from nearby cellular towers and 802.11d Wi-Fi networks, as well as other nearby electronic devices, are stored in the device cache. That’s why I said it wasn’t as easy 😉 And to your question yes, simply changing the region and language without being in the US, is normally not sufficient for an iOS/iPadOS device even though some have managed to get AI by connecting their device to a Mac with a VPN, and changing their billing region. For some others, it didn’t work. 😊