Apple introduced an AI-powered Intelligent Assistant to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, letting users create and edit content with natural-language commands.
The feature arrived Thursday as part of an update to all three iWork apps, but there’s a catch: Intelligent Assistant is exclusive to Apple Creator Studio subscribers, who pay $12.99 per month.
The updates also add support for the iPhone Duo, announced in September and going on sale in stores on October 23. Interestingly, Apple didn’t mention the foldable compatibility in its official release notes.
What Intelligent Assistant Can Do
Each iWork app gets AI tools tailored to its purpose.
- Pages: Draft text, rewrite passages, adjust tone, reorganize documents, and generate images or shapes from written descriptions.
- Keynote: Create and refine presentations, add animations, generate visual elements, and write presenter notes.
- Numbers: Build spreadsheet formulas using everyday language, create tables, and turn data into visualizations.
Intelligent Assistant can also search the web for relevant information and insert it into documents. Users can ask for help navigating unfamiliar features or get suggestions when starting a new project.
The feature is currently in beta, so Apple may continue refining its capabilities before a wider release.
Free Apps, Paid AI Features
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote remain free to download and use. Existing editing and productivity features aren’t being placed behind a subscription.
Instead, Apple is reserving Intelligent Assistant for Creator Studio members, along with premium templates, themes, and additional resources in the Creator Studio Content Hub.
The $12.99 monthly subscription covers Apple’s broader collection of creative apps, but users who only want the new iWork AI tools still need to pay the full subscription price.
Thursday’s update also brings bug fixes and performance improvements for everyone. Keynote gains a new Interchange Format for importing and exporting presentations.
iPhone Duo Support Arrives at Launch
All three iWork apps now support the iPhone Duo, even though Apple didn’t highlight the compatibility changes in its release notes.
The foldable’s 7.6-inch inner display provides more room for editing documents, working with spreadsheets, and preparing presentations than its 5.4-inch outer screen.
The updates follow Apple’s recent confirmation that more than 50 third-party apps are optimized for the Duo or will receive improvements in the coming weeks.
For iWork users, the immediate benefit is foldable compatibility at no extra cost. However, the new AI assistance requires a paid subscription.
