Apple’s heavily promoted iPhone AI tools will arrive later than originally anticipated, Bloomberg reported, with the features now scheduled for an update to iOS18 expected a few weeks after the first version.

The news website claimed the initial version of iOS18 and associated iPad system are expected to be launched in September without Apple Intelligence features, the AI tools unveiled to much fanfare at its worldwide developer conference in June. The AI features were originally meant to be included in the first version.  

Its delay was attributed, in part, to concerns over the stability of the new features.  

Developers could get access to the new tools for beta testing this week, a Bloomberg source suggested, with initial commercial release in the US expected in October.

On announcing Apple Intelligence, the company claimed the “personal intelligence system” would put “powerful generative models at the core of iPhone”.

Among the uses promoted at the time were tools to aid text creation, editing and providing summaries across various applications.

It is also set to include various image and emoji generation platforms.  

Apple also asserted it would herald a “new era” for its voice assistant Siri, with the upgraded version having “richer language-understanding capabilities” and the ability to be “more natural, more contextually relevant and more personal”.

News of a delay in the initial release of Apple Intelligence is the latest rumoured issue with the company’s AI ambitions.

Last month, reports claimed various forthcoming iPhone features including Apple Intelligence would be withheld in the European Union due to concerns related to the impact of digital regulations in the region.