Apple is putting an AI assistant inside its own productivity apps, going after the same job Microsoft 365 Copilot already does in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The feature, called Intelligent Assistant, is in beta for Apple Creator Studio subscribers in the United States, and for now it only works in US English, according to ExtremeTech.
The assistant can read whatever document, presentation or spreadsheet is open and act on it when asked. In Pages, it can start a draft, reorganize and edit writing, adjust tone, and generate images or shapes. In Keynote, it builds and refines slides, adds animations, writes presenter notes, and generates visuals. In Numbers, it analyzes data, writes formulas, builds tables and suggests charts. Across all three apps, it can also search for outside information and drop it straight into the file.
Apple says Intelligent Assistant runs on a mix of its own AI models and models from OpenAI, the same pairing it has leaned on elsewhere in Apple Intelligence. Using it requires a device that supports Apple Intelligence and runs iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 or later, so anyone on older software or older hardware is out until they update.
On pricing, Apple is splitting its user base. People already paying for Creator Studio get Intelligent Assistant at no extra cost starting in November. Everyone else has to pay for it directly, at $12.99 a month or $129 a year. Apple isn't forcing the upgrade on anyone who doesn't want it: basic Freeform, Pages, Keynote and Numbers stay free, just without the AI layer.
That structure puts Apple in roughly the same spot Microsoft has occupied for a few years now, charging extra for an AI assistant bolted onto apps that are otherwise free or already paid for. Microsoft 365 Copilot has pushed Word, Excel and PowerPoint users toward a similar add-on model since 2023, and Apple's version arrives as Google, too, keeps layering Gemini deeper into Docs, Sheets and Slides. The pitch is the same across all three: open a file, describe what you want changed, and let the assistant do the editing instead of doing it by hand.
What's missing for now is a timeline past the US beta. Apple hasn't said when Intelligent Assistant lands outside the United States or in languages other than English, and it hasn't said whether the November rollout to existing Creator Studio subscribers will include every feature the beta has shown off. For Mac, iPad and iPhone owners running iOS 27 or macOS 27 who already pay for Creator Studio, the update is coming regardless. For everyone else weighing whether to add another $12.99-a-month subscription on top of Apple's existing services, that decision is still a few weeks out.
CDFiled by The Computing Desk
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