Apple will use your emails to improve AI features without ever seeing them

Apple is rolling out a new system that processes user data directly on devices in an effort to enhance its AI capabilities while maintaining privacy standards. Starting with beta versions of iOS and iPadOS 18.5 and macOS 15.5, the company will begin comparing synthetic data with real-world examples—such as emails from the Mail app—without storing this content or using it for model training. The approach is designed to address existing weaknesses in Apple’s AI systems without compromising user privacy. It builds on the company's emphasis on local processing and aligns with its broader privacy strategy. Improvements enabled by the system include more accurate notification summaries, better text input features, and expanded image-generation capabilities such as Genmoji. The system is only active for users who have opted into device analytics. The move comes as Apple works to close the gap with competitors like OpenAI and Google, both of which have made more visible progress in generative AI.