Apple has just announced the release of developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 Sequoia, marking the introduction of the newest Apple Intelligence features. Among these updates is the groundbreaking Clean Up tool, an AI-powered feature that allows users to seamlessly eliminate unwanted elements from photos.
This advanced tool employs artificial intelligence to discern and remove objects, subsequently generating the background to fill the void. Apple has engineered this system to also recognize and handle shadows or reflections associated with the object, ensuring the picture remains unblemished.
Utilizing smart detection, users can pinpoint objects for removal with a simple tap, or manually circle or brush over them. This introduces a level of simplicity and efficiency to photo editing previously unseen in Apple products.
Notably, Google had already introduced a somewhat similar functionality, known as Magic Eraser, to all Google Photos users at no extra charge earlier this year.
Alongside this photo editing capability, the initial rollout of Apple Intelligence features in July’s iOS 18.1 dev beta presented users with a suite of enhancements. These included advanced writing tools, summarization for SMS and email notifications, natural language search and memory creation in Photos, call and voice recording transcriptions in notes, and intelligent summaries and smart replies in Mail. Currently, Apple Intelligence is exclusively available to English-speaking users located in the United States.