iOS 18’s Mail Categories Will Come to the Mac (and iPad) in April

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When Apple unveiled its new Mail Categorization feature at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it highlighted them as something specific to iOS 18 and the iPhone. However, it looks like Apple will be expanding them to the Mac and iPad after all.
The iPhone-only nature of Mail Categories wasn’t just a matter of the timing in Apple’s demo. When iOS 18.0, iPadOS 18.0, and macOS 15.0 were released in September, Apple shared a comprehensive list of everything coming in each of its major software updates, not just for the “.0” versions but laying out a roadmap for the rest of the point releases.
This included the new Mail Categories, which didn’t actually arrive until iOS 18.2 (to be fair, Apple told us from the start that they’d be coming later in the year). However, we weren’t surprised when the new categories were nowhere to be found in macOS 15.2 or iPadOS 18.2, as Apple never promised those Mail apps would get them.
Mail Categories separates your iPhone Mail inbox into four distinct “inboxes,” separating important messages (Primary) from Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. It’s not a new concept, as online mail apps like Gmail have been doing it for years. It’s not for everyone — there are good reasons to avoid it — but it’s a welcome addition for Apple Mail fans who are overwhelmed by busy inboxes and may want to get a better grip on things.

The lack of Mail Categories on the Mac and iPad was odd, but it’s not unprecedented for Apple to release new features on the iPhone that don’t come to the iPad or Mac until the next major software release.
So, there was every reason to believe that the Mac and iPad would eventually allow users to categorize their e-mails. Still, we weren’t quite sure if they’d come in a future point release update or if we’d have to wait until iPadOS 19 and macOS 16.
However, the good news is that these features are indeed on the roadmap for this spring. In December, John Gruber said at Daring Fireball that he had been “reliably informed that the new Mail categorization features [were] coming soon to iPad and Mac.” Gruber presumed this would happen in the “.3” updates, but with the RC for those landing this week, it’s safe to say that won’t happen.
Nevertheless, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has added his voice to confirm that these are indeed still coming; it’s just that they won’t appear until the “.4” releases, which are expected to arrive in April. From this week’s Power On newsletter:
But there’s another, more under-the-radar feature coming in April as well: The Mac will get the upgraded Mail app that uses AI to prioritize messages and sort content into different inboxes. Right now, iPad and iPhone users are able to tap into the feature — which is terrific — but Mac customers have been left behind. That changes with macOS 15.4, I’m told. For those not familiar with the feature: It sorts mail into a primary category, as well as ones for transactions, promotions, updates and all mail.
Mark Gurman
While Gurman misspoke about iPad users being able to “tap into the feature,” he later clarified in a post on X by saying that it would be coming to the iPad as well, presumably around the same time in iPadOS 18.4.
Further, while Gurman says the new feature “uses AI to prioritize messages and sort content into different inboxes,” he seems to be conflating two different features, only one of which is part of Apple Intelligence. Priority Mail was added in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 and is only available on devices that support Apple Intelligence as it does indeed use Apple’s AI features to determine what should be considered a priority.

However, although Mail Categorization may use some AI, it’s not an Apple Intelligence feature. It’s available on every iPhone that’s capable of running iOS 18.2. When iPadOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 launch, it will presumably come to older A-series iPads and Intel Macs, which don’t support Apple Intelligence features.
Apple’s devices had “AI” long before ChatGPT turned that into a buzzword. For example, in iOS 10, Apple added machine learning capabilities to the Photos app to identify faces, people, and other objects — all on-device.
Mail Categorization is on by default in iOS 18.2. This will presumably be the case when it arrives on the Mac and iPad. Fortunately, turning them off is very easy if you don’t want to use them. Tap on the button in the top-right corner and return to List view. This can also be set on a per-inbox basis, letting you use categories in a work account but leave them off in a personal account or have them disabled in individual accounts but left on for the busier “All Inboxes” view.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]