Apple will thankfully reduce focus on AI for iOS 19
Most Apple users can agree on one thing about the iPhone 16 launch: Apple Intelligence has been a PR nightmare for the company. Thankfully it seems that Apple is reducing focus on its suite of AI tools for the upcoming upgrade to iOS 19.
Industry insider Mark Gurman reports that Apple will be less focused on bringing new AI features to the iPhone with the release of iOS 19. Instead Apple will just try to expand current AI features to more apps and services. This is sorely needed in addition to said features needing an overhaul so that they actually hold their own against rival offerings.
Apple also needed to stop trying to cram in new things because, clearly, it wasn’t fooling anyone. The company is at a severe disadvantage in the field of AI and is struggling to catch up. Apple Intelligence notification summaries are broken, the image editing tools are years behind Gemini and personal Siri keeps getting delayed.
There are reports that Apple is considering scrapping the entire AI effort and starting from scratch, perhaps even enlisting the help of Google in the process. But there is also one more very important factor to consider.
The thing is that most users don’t care for AI. It might look good in the marketing materials and it probably sounds impressive during shareholder meetings but most end consumers aren’t really interested. To them this seems like another fad that will pass sooner or later. Social media is full of iPhone users asking Apple to fix current iOS bugs instead of spending so much time on AI.
In my opinion Apple jumped onto the AI bandwagon for fear of missing out and being left behind on the next big craze. But that’s not what Apple has ever been about as a company. Apple is always late to most technological innovations because it always likes to do things its own way.
Apple Intelligence is a messily cobbled together collection of half baked AI features that don’t work even for the users who do want to use them. Focusing on other more pressing matters before turning its attention back to AI is most definitely the right call to make.
Industry insider Mark Gurman reports that Apple will be less focused on bringing new AI features to the iPhone with the release of iOS 19. Instead Apple will just try to expand current AI features to more apps and services. This is sorely needed in addition to said features needing an overhaul so that they actually hold their own against rival offerings.
There are reports that Apple is considering scrapping the entire AI effort and starting from scratch, perhaps even enlisting the help of Google in the process. But there is also one more very important factor to consider.
Apple Intelligence was a major selling point for the iPhone 16. | Video credit — Apple
The thing is that most users don’t care for AI. It might look good in the marketing materials and it probably sounds impressive during shareholder meetings but most end consumers aren’t really interested. To them this seems like another fad that will pass sooner or later. Social media is full of iPhone users asking Apple to fix current iOS bugs instead of spending so much time on AI.
In my opinion Apple jumped onto the AI bandwagon for fear of missing out and being left behind on the next big craze. But that’s not what Apple has ever been about as a company. Apple is always late to most technological innovations because it always likes to do things its own way.
Apple Intelligence is a messily cobbled together collection of half baked AI features that don’t work even for the users who do want to use them. Focusing on other more pressing matters before turning its attention back to AI is most definitely the right call to make.
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