Visual Intelligence on Apple devices identifies objects, text and scenes on-screen or via the camera and surfaces relevant actions you can take immediately. It runs on supported Apple silicon devices without sending your raw visual data to external servers.
Point your iPhone camera at a restaurant, a plant or a poster and your phone can tell you what it is, pull up reviews, translate the text or drop an event straight into your calendar. That is Visual Intelligence, Apple's on-device system for understanding objects, text and scenes through the camera or directly from whatever is on your screen, and in 2026 it reaches well beyond the iPhone.
Visual Intelligence identifies real-world objects and on-screen content, then surfaces relevant actions like search, translate, add to Calendar or import a loyalty card to Apple Wallet. It runs on Apple silicon devices, processes most requests on-device, and now works on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.
The feature works two ways. Aim the camera at something and it recognises the object or scene, then offers an action: identify a dog breed, pull nutritional info on a dish, look up a landmark, or split a restaurant bill from the printed check. Capture a screenshot of an image or PDF and it searches and acts on whatever is shown, so the same intelligence applies to content you never pointed a lens at.
Practical wins stack up fast. Snap a flyer and it offers to create a calendar event. Photograph a membership card and it imports to Apple Wallet. Highlight foreign text and it translates in place. Place recognition through the camera supports a wide list of languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and more.
The hardware bar is Apple silicon. On iPhone, Apple Intelligence and Visual Intelligence run on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and all iPhone 16 and newer models on iOS 18.1 or later. On Mac, every MacBook running an Apple M-series chip qualifies. iPad needs an M1 chip or later, or an iPad mini with A17 Pro.
A few of the most demanding features, tied to a larger on-device model, are limited to the newest hardware: iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro or later, iPads with M4 and at least 12GB of memory, and Macs with M3 or later and 12GB. For most Visual Intelligence tasks, any current M-series MacBook handles the workload comfortably, and you can compare the range across the MacBook lineup at Evetech.
Apple keeps the heavy lifting on the device. Most recognition runs against on-device models, so your raw camera feed and screenshots are not shipped wholesale to external servers. When a request is too large for the local model, Apple routes it through Private Cloud Compute, its privacy-focused server tier, rather than a generic cloud. That on-device-first design is one reason the feature is gated to capable Apple silicon in the first place, and the current Apple-friendly machines are easy to scan through the laptop best sellers.
No. iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and all iPhone 16 or newer models support it on iOS 18.1 or later. Only a handful of advanced features need iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro or newer.
Yes. Any MacBook with an Apple M-series chip supports Visual Intelligence, and in 2026 it expanded to Mac, iPad and Apple Vision Pro alongside iPhone.
Most processing happens on-device. Larger requests use Private Cloud Compute, Apple's privacy-focused server tier, instead of sending your raw visual data to a general cloud service.
Yes. It recognises text in scenes and screenshots and can translate it in place across a broad list of supported languages.
No. Visual Intelligence requires Apple silicon. An Intel-based Mac cannot run the on-device models the feature depends on.
If you want Visual Intelligence and the rest of Apple Intelligence on your next machine, an M-series MacBook is the entry point. Compare specs and current pricing across the MacBook range at https://www.evetech.co.za/macbooks/l/3284.
No. iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and all iPhone 16 or newer models support it on iOS 18.1 or later. Only a handful of advanced features need iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro or newer.
Yes. Any MacBook with an Apple M-series chip supports Visual Intelligence, and in 2026 it expanded to Mac, iPad and Apple Vision Pro alongside iPhone.
Most processing happens on-device. Larger requests use Private Cloud Compute, Apple's privacy-focused server tier, instead of sending your raw visual data to a general cloud service.
Yes. It recognises text in scenes and screenshots and can translate it in place across a broad list of supported languages.
No. Visual Intelligence requires Apple silicon. An Intel-based Mac cannot run the on-device models the feature depends on.
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