Apple intelligence is making waves, but behind the official facade, the iPhone holds a true treasure. A homegrown AI model is already integrated and ready to operate without the Internet. Yes, Apple literally has its own secret ChatGPT.
While Apple showcases Apple Intelligence and its limited features, developers have discovered a much more powerful engine. This is the Apple Foundation. With apps like Locally AI, your iPhone can answer questions, generate text, or organize your day-to-day life, all while functioning completely offline.
Apple Foundation: A ChatGPT Already in iOS 26
With iOS 26, Apple has not only launched Apple Intelligence. A comprehensive language model is already present: the Apple Foundation. The surprise is that it’s directly integrated within your iPhone.
French developer Adrien Grondin demonstrated this with his app, Locally AI. The interface resembles ChatGPT, where you ask a question and get a response. The key difference is that everything happens locally on the iPhone’s chip, so no Internet connection is required.
On an iPhone 17 Pro, responses arrive within seconds. If Apple Intelligence is enabled, the model is already active. For instance, you can request a recipe, plan a trip, or draft an email, even while in airplane mode.
Which Apps Benefit from the Secret Model?
Additionally, thanks to the Foundation Models framework introduced at WWDC 2025, numerous apps are already integrating this Apple Foundation. You can find LookUp, which enriches your vocabulary by creating visual maps of word origins. Day One (personal journal) suggests titles or writing ideas based on your notes.
MoneyCoach analyzes your spending and automatically proposes categories. Tasks recognizes habits and transforms a dictated phrase into a list of actions. Crouton turns a recipe text into clear cooking steps. Dark Noise generates soundscapes from simple descriptions. CardPointers answers your questions about your credit cards, all while remaining offline.
However, keep in mind that Apple Foundation is still a small model. It does not match the capabilities of GPT-5, Claude, or Llama 3.2. Consequently, it cannot generate images, may refuse to answer certain queries, and cannot trigger actions on your iPhone like Siri would. Its role is purely textual.
