Apple Intelligence, as a project, still feels poorly defined and a little nebulous – even as we approach the anniversary of its reveal in June. It’s a bundle of features, some good, and some fairly pointless, and it’s clearer than ever that Apple, a company that’s long come to technologies later than rivals but with an extra panache that’s almost unmatched in the industry, is playing catch-up.
Ask a more casual iPhone user what Apple Intelligence is or does, and there’s a good chance they’ll struggle to give you an answer, despite those two words being bandied around on advertisements since before you could even run it. And, with a hefty delay, that could be a sign of things to come.
In fact, I asked a bunch of people around me. Their only response was the comically incorrect notification summaries - either because they turned them off or left them on for comedic purposes.
For the first time that I can remember, Apple seems… lost. Unsure on how best to press forward but with the tech world simultaneously streaking ahead while also feeling Wall Street breathing down its neck. Could the company have done something differently?
AI is a tech buzzword the same way ‘Crypto’ was a few years ago, but it’s gone beyond that in that every tech product feels like it needs to mention those two letters in some way. It’s clear that pressure got to Apple, one of the largest tech companies in the world, which feels relatively unprecedented.
As Apple’s Craig Federighi pointed out at WWDC 2024 in the video above, Apple has been making AI-powered computers for years, but it had been calling it ‘Machine Learning’. Those neural engines have been around for years, while Siri, Apple’s (mostly useless) voice assistant debuted back in 2011. By all rights, Apple could have started the AI ‘arms race’ if it had wanted to years ago.
And yet, the likes of OpenAI and Google have not only breezed past Apple but lapped them. I don’t use ChatGPT all that often, but it runs rings around Siri to the point where Apple plugged it into its latest OS updates. If that’s not an admission of a fumble, I don’t know what is.
Apple certainly felt confident in Apple Intelligence when WWDC took place. The company spent a huge amount of time extolling the virtues of it, and I don’t doubt some are having plenty of fun creating Genmoji – but one glance at the competition tells you that won’t cut it anymore, and the company may not have the luxury of time to catch-up.
Apple is reportedly lagging behind its internal targets according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
“When Apple unveiled an AI-infused version of Siri last June, the system looked great in computer-generated video,” Gurman said in his Power On Newsletter.
“The new Siri could tap into your personal data to better answer questions, analyze what was on your screen, and more precisely control features and apps. In reality, though, the company barely had a functional prototype. And Apple engineers will need to move mountains to get it finished by May as planned.” In fact, Apple has officially delayed the arrival of the Apple Intelligence-powered Siri, stating it's coming "with a future software update."
That means coming into WWDC 2025, Apple may not have rolled out everything it promised at WWDC 2024, while other features feel underbaked (why can’t I ask ChatGPT something via Siri on a Mac and have it stay on screen, rather than the question and answer vanishing as soon as I click elsewhere?).
Gurman has suggested that Apple’s AI vision of a conversational Siri might not reach users until 2027 with iOS 20.
In some ways, we’ve seen this before with Apple and gaming (hear me out). Macs can run games, but consumers have always known that they’ll get more games and a better experience out of a Windows machine or a dedicated console.
Sure, Apple can show how its latest MacBooks now run Cyberpunk 2077 almost half a decade after it first launched, but it’s so far behind that Apple has seemingly lost interest in competing. The same now feels true of Apple’s AI push – the company has given it a go, but you’ll get more AI functionality from rivals.
The difference is that AI is seen as the future of computing, whereas gaming has always been a niche Apple hasn’t necessarily wanted to invest as heavily in.
The next couple of years will be fascinating to watch unfold. Apple’s transition to its own silicon put the spotlight back on the Mac (pun intended), but now it feels as though it needs to, as Gurman says, “move mountains” to keep it there.
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