It should be well-known that I am a moron. The moment something new and/or shiny comes my direction, I want to give it a try. I could be mid-way through a delicious five-star plate of steak tartare, and then someone could show me a picture of a Mcdonald's hamburger and then I’ll want that — only to see someone else’s Lobster Thermador come past which would subsequently supplant both in my admittedly very narrow pyramid of needs.
So you can imagine what I’m like with tech. I see something new, and I want, nay need it. It’s the same with software — if there’s a new version of something that I use, whether it's going to introduce new features that I actually need or not, I need to have it installed the moment it becomes available.
So.
When the 18.1 developer beta of Apple Intelligence was released for my iPhone, you can bet your bottom dollar I was first in the queue to get that sucker installed on my 15 Pro Max.
And I don’t even like AI.
Why did I download it?
Beyond the need for everything new? Not much, to be honest. I couldn’t care less about the Apple Intelligence stuff for the most part. I don’t use Apple’s Mail app, I don’t use Pages enough to make use of the new spellchecking and writing aids, and most of the new Siri features, much like a caught fish on a warm boat, leave me completely dry.
I do like the cool colored ring around the outside of my phone screen when I hold down the Siri button, and type to Siri is a genuine iPhone revelation that feels like it should have been there from day one, but otherwise? There’s nothing.
And that’s one of the reasons why you shouldn’t download the Apple Intelligence beta as well.
Installing the beta is a bad plan, friend
I am as much a moron as I am a massive hypocrite I’m afraid, for while I have downloaded and installed the latest version of iOS with Apple Intelligence on board, I would make a profound plea to your better judgment that you really shouldn’t. In part because, as I said earlier, there isn’t all that much to get excited about unless you really, really hate reading emails, but also because your iPhone will likely not run as well on the early developer beta versions of the software.
Betas, whether early, developer, or even public, are designed for testing rather than everyday use. They’re supposed to iron out all the bugs and issues before full release, catching all the little problems that might only arise for a handful of users. That means that you will encounter bugs. Your experience will not be like that of a full-release piece of software, but of one that is still being perfected and cajoled into working properly. Battery efficiency won’t have been dialed in, features might not work, and you might even break features that already work for you in the normal release.
Yes, using new stuff and talking about how cool it is brilliant — but I’ve so far missed five different notifications since downloading the beta, and all of them were about a friend who wanted to buy me something for lunch.
So while the Siri colors on my iPhone look nicer than ever, I am a prawn baguette and a bag of cheese and onion chips down. So I’d say that so far, I’ve lost.
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