ChatGPT-5 Is Official — and It’s Coming to Apple Intelligence
Credit: A2Z AI / Adobe Stock
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Last week, OpenAI officially announced GPT-5, its latest AI model for ChatGPT. The new model promises to be faster and smarter than the current GPT-4o, and the best part is that it looks like Apple users won’t have to wait to take advantage of it.
When Apple unveiled its new AI initiative, Apple Intelligence, at its 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it also included a groundbreaking partnership with OpenAI to directly integrate ChatGPT into built-in iPhone, iPad, and Mac features like Siri, Writing Tools, and visual intelligence. Apple has also taken it further, with iOS 26 and its brethren adding support for calling up ChatGPT from Image Playground to take advantage of even more image styles.
To be clear, Apple Intelligence is still powered by Apple’s own large language AI models (LLMs) at its core. ChatGPT was included as an “extension” to the standard Apple Intelligence experience, and it’s entirely optional. This is painfully obvious when you’re talking to Siri on an Apple Intelligence-capable device, but OpenAI integration lets Siri hand things off to ChatGPT when it doesn’t have the answers. You can also easily force the issue by prefacing your request with “Ask ChatGPT” (which is good, as Siri doesn’t always know how dumb it is).
Perhaps the most significant advantage of the ChatGPT extension to Apple Intelligence is that it’s completely anonymous. Apple’s deal with OpenAI requires that requests made through Apple’s built-in tools be stripped of any personally identifying information whenever the user hasn’t explicitly signed into a ChatGPT account in the Apple Intelligence settings. Of course, there are advantages to using a ChatGPT account, especially if you’re a paying subscriber, but Apple’s approach makes ChatGPT accessible for more privacy-conscious folks.
Apple’s relationship with OpenAI doesn’t appear to be changing in any significant way in iOS 26 et al. However, the partnership remains strong, and with GPT-5 now rolling out, it doesn’t seem like there will be any delays in bringing it to the Apple Intelligence extension.
Currently, the Apple Intelligence ChatGPT features in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are still powered by GPT-4. That hasn’t changed, even with GPT-5 now available through the standalone ChatGPT app. However, Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reached out to Apple directly to inquire about when GPT-5 would show up, and an Apple spokesperson confirmed that they’re coming in September’s major software updates.
Following today’s reveal of OpenAI’s latest model, Apple tells me that ChatGPT integration within Apple Intelligence will use GPT-5 with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26.
Zac Hall, 9to5Mac
Notably, the latest iOS 26 betas still use GPT-4 (at least that’s what ChatGPT tells us when we ask), but it’s also too early to expect a change, since OpenAI only announced the new model last week.
What GPT-5 Brings to the Table
There’s no indication that anything will change in the experience of using ChatGPT. Requests will simply be powered by the newer GPT-5 model on the back end. However, users should notice faster, smoother, and more intelligent responses from the latest model.
For one thing, OpenAI is more tightly integrating and simplifying its models. GPT-5 will automatically switch to the more sophisticated GPT-5 Thinking for more complex requests, which should be a noticeable benefit when using it through Apple Intelligence. Still, there likely won’t be any way to force the more advanced mode without visiting the ChatGPT app directly.
The same GPT-5 model that $20/month Plus users get will also be available to free users, just with lower usage limits (there’s still an exclusive GPT-5 Pro model that’s limited to the rather insane $200 monthly plan). Users who exceed the usage limits, either on the free or Plus plan (which will have a higher limit), will be switched to a “mini” version of the model for the remainder of the usage period, which is typically 24 hours.
It’s unclear if some of the more sophisticated features of GPT-5 will be available via Apple Intelligence. For instance, OpenAI has announced four new personalities: Cynic, Robot, Listener, and Nerd. These can be set in the ChatGPT app, but we’ll have to wait and see if they take effect when requests are routed through Apple Intelligence.
