The first macOS Sequoia beta with Apple Intelligence just landed, but only a select few can try it out

We’re inching slowly but surely closer to the official release of macOS Sequoia, and more upcoming features have been sprinkled into the various betas that have just been released by Apple – with a major addition coming to the new macOS 15.1 beta for developers.

The release of the second beta for macOS 15.1 sees the initial set of Apple Intelligence features arrive for developers to play with. Sadly, the rest of us will have to wait, as there’s no equivalent public beta carrying these AI features (yet). To run the macOS 15.1 beta 2, you’ll also need a Mac that has Apple silicon (an M1 chip or better).

So, what are the first Apple Intelligence features to debut in macOS? The beta includes Writing Tools that will help you rewrite, summarize, and proofread text, as shown during the demonstration at WWDC 24. Siri has also finally received a facelift, and there’s support for typing to Siri, too, in case you don’t want to (or can’t) speak to the assistant.

What about the rest of us?!

Furthermore, the Mail app has received AI powers like the ability to summarize emails, prioritize sorting, and use a Smart Reply feature that suggests a response to any given message.

While that’s a healthy dollop of features to be getting on with for Apple Intelligence, there’s still quite a lot that hasn’t been included in beta testing yet, including Genmoji and ChatGPT integration.

Suppose you’re still a little confused about all the different betas Apple has on the boil for Sequoia. In that case, there are two main macOS 15 beta versions – one for developers, one for the public – but just one macOS 15.1 beta (for devs), which is the one we’re discussing here, that has Apple Intelligence now included. Sadly, we haven’t had a chance to investigate the latter build yet, but we’re looking forward to doing so.

Maybe Apple Intelligence capabilities will come to the public beta of macOS 15 eventually, but it’s not clear if that’ll be the case – we might have to wait until the final release of Sequoia. In the meantime, we’re just going to have to keep being patient and enjoy iPhone Mirroring and the cool new wallpapers.