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IPhone 16 is all about Apple Intelligence. Previews show it can be kind of dumb.

The new iPhone is all about artificial intelligence. But in tests of its prerelease software, it does an uncomfortable amount of making things up.

7 min
Apple Intelligence's cleanup function is showcased at the Apple Event on Monday. (Junne Alcantara/The Washington Post)
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Apple on Monday unveiled the iPhone 16 to be released Sept. 20 with one marquee feature: Its A18 chip is “designed for Apple Intelligence,” the company’s still-unfinished artificial intelligence software. It’s supposed to do things like summarize messages, write emails and clean up photos.

So will Apple’s AI be worth it? Testing a prerelease version of the software, I’ve found it sometimes helpful — and sometimes laugh-out-loud weird.

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