Prime Highlights: 

Automatic email categorization in Apple Mail is coming to macOS and iPadOS in April 2025. 

The feature sorts emails into categories like Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. 

Sorting operates locally on devices, requiring no Apple Intelligence hardware. 

Key Background: 

Apple is expanding its automatic email categorization feature to macOS and iPadOS, with the update expected to arrive in April 2025. This functionality, first introduced in iOS 18 for iPhones, will be included in macOS 15.4 and possibly iPadOS 18.4. The feature is designed to enhance the Mail app by sorting incoming emails into predefined categories such as “Primary,” “Transactions,” “Updates,” and “Promotions.” It operates similarly to Google’s Gmail sorting system, which was launched in 2013. 

The automatic categorization feature aims to help users manage their inboxes more efficiently by organizing emails based on content and sender. For example, emails from airlines might be sorted into the “Updates” category, while transactional emails like receipts could appear under “Transactions.” Once an email is moved to a specific category manually, it will generally stay in that category for future correspondence from the same sender. However, users will not have the ability to create custom categories or adjust the sorting algorithm beyond these default groupings. 

Notably, the automatic sorting does not require Apple’s advanced AI processing, which typically relies on M-series devices such as recent Macs and iPads. Instead, the feature functions locally on the device, making it accessible across a wider range of Apple devices. Initially, the feature will be available only for English-language emails, with no immediate plans for multilingual support. 

This update follows Apple’s gradual rollout of various features tied to its AI-driven “Apple Intelligence,” which aims to make the user experience more intuitive. While some users may prefer a single-scroll inbox view, others may appreciate the ability to keep their emails organized into distinct categories. The feature will be optional, allowing users to choose whether or not they wish to utilize it. 

In addition to the mail categorization update, macOS 15.4 and iPadOS 18.4 are expected to include improvements to Siri, enhancing its ability to understand context and respond more accurately to user commands. The new functionality will allow Siri to recognize contextual prompts, such as “When is my mom’s flight landing?” or “Add this address to Rick’s contact information.”