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Apple Intelligence Apparently Too Smart for M1 Macs After Listing Error

Update: It took a day, but Apple has now corrected its Apple Intelligence device compatibility list to show support for the earliest Apple silicon Macs. The original article follows.


Apple's website is causing some confusion among Mac owners, and for good reason – its device compatibility listing for Apple Intelligence appears to have dropped support for M1 Macs.

apple intelligence erroneous support list
The U.S. version of its Apple Intelligence webpage has been updated at the bottom to list "M2 or later" Mac models as eligible for the AI features, replacing the long-standing "M1 and later" requirement.

However, regional versions – including the UK and Canada sites – continue to reference M1 Macs as compatible with Apple Intelligence. Meanwhile, Apple's support page, titled "How to get Apple Intelligence" and dated November 10, still lists "Mac with M1 or later" under the device requirements.

Looking at the difference between the live webpage and the last archived snapshot from November 6, Apple appears to have intentionally changed Apple Vision Pro from "M2" to "M2 or later" to reflect the recent launch of the Vision Pro with M5 chip. But whoever did the edit also appears to have erroneously changed the Macs in the list to "M2 or later" as well. (Another clue is that Apple never released an M2 iMac.)

On the Canada and UK pages, Apple has not yet updated the Vision Pro to "M2 or later", which is a further sign that this is exactly what has happened. We expect Apple will correct the U.S. webpage later today once it learns of the mistake.

Apple Intelligence began rolling out in October 2024, bringing generative and contextual AI tools across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It touts a range of capabilities, including composing text and emails, generating images, summarizing documents and texts, and more.

We are still waiting for Apple to release a more advanced version of Siri with contextual awareness that has been promised since last year. Apple is expected to roll out the new version of ‌Siri‌ around March or April 2026.

(Thanks, Jason!)

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Top Rated Comments

9 months ago
Of course, the 32-core Neural Engine of the M1 Ultra just isn’t powerful enough to summarize the weather. Totally understandable.
Score: 70 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
Until Apple Intelligence becomes demonstrably useful, these tech requirements are not really relevant.

Give it another year or so when the 'proper' Apple Intelligence is both hopefully released AND potentially doing genuinely useful things then im sure the M1 will be too long in the tooth to cope with it but old enough to appreciate devices might need an upgrade.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
9 months ago
Highly doubt that even the most advanced stuff Apple Intelligence can currently do requires more processor power than that of an iPod shuffle.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
Not like it matters to me, Apple Intelligence has no use case for my use.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
Apple just trying to say “Still on M1 Mac? Please update your device”.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bollman Avatar
9 months ago
By the time Apple Intelligence actually gets released fully, M5 will not be enough
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)