First dribs and drabs of Apple Intelligence are underwhelming
When fully released, Apple Intelligence will combine the power of Apple-built generative models with personal context while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy.
The first bits of Apple Intelligence features are finally beginning to roll out to the public today, but many might find themselves saying, “Is that it?”
Powered by the company’s large language models, Apple Intelligence has been pushed as one of the biggest reasons to buy the new iPhone 16, iPad Mini, or iMac. At WWDC this past June, Tim Cook said it would take the experience of using Apple products to “new heights.” The problem? That experience, in its current form, is quite flat.
The Apple Intelligence rollout is uncharacteristic for Apple, which typically bundles all its flagship features and rolls them out in one big update, often alongside new devices. Here, iOS 18.1 arrives one month after iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 series. Even after installing iOS 18.1, you’ll have to join a wait list to access Apple Intelligence—assuming you have a compatible device—though this should take only a few hours to be approved. And even then, you won’t be able to access the best of Apple Intelligence’s features. They won’t come until iOS 18.2.
It’s not so much that what few features available in the first Apple Intelligence update are things we’ve seen from competitors years ago. After all, it doesn’t matter whether Apple is playing catch up or not, because Apple users can now take advantage of some of these capabilities in a more private, secure way thanks to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute (more info on this technology here).
But Apple should have waited to launch Apple Intelligence until all of its key features were available simultaneously, not in a piecemeal fashion. Siri’s reputation has long been in the gutter—Apple Intelligence promises to change that, but Siri is almost the same in iOS 18.1. Most of the time, when I ask a question, I get the same result: “Here’s what I found on the web.” Turns out you’ll have to wait for iOS 18.2, which brings the ChatGPT integration that lets you ask more open-ended questions and get more detailed responses. The current Apple Intelligence experience suggests you’re getting something new, but that’s not the case.
MacDailyNews Take: As we’ve been explaining even before it was announced in June, Apple Intelligence is vaporware and the company is frantically trying to catch up and write the code to support their WWDC announcements. It will take many more months to fulfill all of Apple’s WWDC AI teases.
As we explained in early April:
Apple was caught flat-footed, due to a lack of vision on the part of leadership. They were, uh, focused elsewhere. Apple’s traditional data center network is not fit for generative AI. It will take years and billions of dollars to catch up just to where GenAI leaders (OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, etc.) are today.
So, the only solution is to partner with a [Google, OpenAI, Baidu, etc.] for the real GenAI stuff while pretending (marketing) really hard that some on-device AI Apple has whipped up in a few months is “insanely great Apple innovation” that’s at the heart of Apple’s 2024’s AI announcements when it’s really just an adjunct… Watch Apple make a big show of its on-device AI at WWDC and run many ads touting it from June onwards.
Apple hopes to buy time for the data center buildouts and investments that will be required for them to someday own their own AI technology and not have to license it from the likes of [Google, OpenAI, Baidu, etc.].
This is what happens after a decade plus with a caretaker CEO at the helm after he hits the last page of his iteration playbook, yet attempts to stay in the game for too long.
See also:
• Work on Apple Vision Pro began under Steve Jobs – August 23, 2023
• Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
When you’re caught flat-footed like Tim Cook’s Apple, you pop into scramble mode to try to catch up. Early on, you hit it with a big marketing flourish (WWDC24) in order to buy some more time. Then you dribble out features as they get finished & actually exist. Classic vaporware. https://t.co/I1J4y3aDNy pic.twitter.com/fLKvxGj4G3
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) July 31, 2024
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