One of Apples Best Intelligence Features, Visual Intelligence, Is Coming to More iPhones

Visual Intelligence, essentially Apple's Google Lens, has so far been exclusive to the iPhone 16 series , thanks to the Camera Control button. But now it looks like Apple is ready to bring the feature to more iPhones.

Visual Intelligence is said to be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max

In a post on Daring Fireball, prominent Apple blogger John Gruber noted that Apple representatives said that iPhone 15 Pro users will soon be able to access Visual Intelligence via the Action button. The feature will be available in a future software update, although Apple did not provide a specific timeline. Gruber believes the update Apple is referring to is iOS 18.4.

The news comes shortly after Apple announced the new low-cost iPhone 16e , which features the same Action button as the iPhone 15 series . While it doesn't have the Camera Control button (which is currently used to launch Visual Intelligence on the iPhone 16 series), Apple has confirmed that the iPhone 16e's Action Button will support Visual Intelligence. You can also access the feature via Control Center.

So it makes sense that Apple would also extend Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro, since it also has an Action button. Apple's representative further confirmed that iPhone 15 Pro users can also launch this feature from the Control Center.

Why didn't the iPhone 15 Pro get Visual Intelligence sooner?

Now, we can also understand why Visual Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro models and not older models. After all, Apple’s Intelligence features are limited to iPhones with the A17 Pro chip or newer. Aside from the iPhone 16 series, only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max fall into that category.

What doesn't make sense is why Visual Intelligence wasn't on the iPhone 15 Pro from the start, when other Apple Intelligence features are. Since the iPhone 16e supports this feature via the Action button, a feature that the iPhone 15 Pro had before, it's clear that the hardware was capable of it.

So why did Apple initially limit this feature to the iPhone 16 series and tie it into the Camera Control button? Maybe it was a classic Apple move to push iPhone 15 Pro users to upgrade, or maybe they just wanted to wait for the iPhone 16e to come out first.

While the iOS 18.4 developer beta could launch any day now, the public beta likely won't launch until April. In the meantime, why not try these Apple Visual Intelligence alternatives for older models ?