Apple Expands Apple Intelligence Access Beyond US, Removing Region Lock in Latest iOS 18.1 Betas

Apple's latest iOS 18.1 beta removes the region lock on Apple Intelligence, allowing global users to access the feature with US English still required, signaling a significant expansion of the service beyond the United States.

Apple Removes Region Lock in iOS 18.1

Since its debut at WWDC, Apple has dedicated a great deal of resources to refining Apple Intelligence, but the service was only available to users in the United States. New beta versions show that Apple Intelligence isn't going to be US-only, but that US English is still required, WCCFTECH reports.

It was mentioned in the first beta versions that users from countries other than the US needed to adjust their region and Siri's language to US English in order to use the Apple Intelligence function. It seems, nevertheless, that Apple intends to expand the service with the introduction of iOS 18.1, which will arrive a few weeks after the public release of iOS 18 from the firm.

Apple Opens Apple Intelligence to Global Users

Changing your locale is no longer necessary to get Apple Intelligence outside of the US, according to information found by 9to5mac. This means that anyone living outside of the US can join the Apple Intelligence waitlist, but they need to make sure that US English is the language they choose.

Users in the European Union will still need to utilize an App Store ID from the United States to access Apple Intelligence, while the service will remain unavailable in China.

Apple Seeks Broader Developer Testing

We still don't know if this is the company's ultimate goal, but it's a nice touch. The next time they release a beta version, the corporation could simply roll back to the previous version's settings. Some have speculated that the company's goal is to get more developers to test the Apple Intelligence service so that it can have a more solid release in October.

Accessing Apple Intelligence is now a breeze for iPhones running the most recent iOS 18.1 beta 3, but if you're stuck on an iPhone running the second beta, be sure to refer to our comprehensive tutorial on how to use the service outside of the US.

Free Access May End with Future Charges

As of this writing, everyone can use Apple Intelligence with their iPhones for free, but the company is considering charging for access in the future.

At the moment, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are compatible with Apple Intelligence capabilities. However, that list would be expanded with the upcoming iPhone 16 series.

September 9th will mark the "It's Glowtime" event, where Apple will unveil the iPhone 16 series.