Apple Intelligence will only be enabled by default for hardware that supports it. For the iPhone, that's just the iPhone 15 Pro series, iPhone 16 series, and iPhone 16 Pro series. It goes further back on the iPad and Mac—Apple Intelligence works on any model with an M1 processor or newer.

"For users new or upgrading to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically during iPhone onboarding. Users will have access to Apple Intelligence features after setting up their devices," the notes for the iOS/iPadOS release candidate to developers reads, spotted by MacRumors.

If you travel to a non-English speaking region, Apple Intelligence will still work, so long as English is the language your Mac is set to use. In the European Union, M-series Macs running macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later can run Apple Intelligence while using a currently supported language.