Apple Reportedly Developing AI-Powered Support Assistant for Its Support App

Apple Support app may soon get a generative AI assistant - 9to5Mac

Apple might be the next company to add a ChatGPT-style chatbot to its Support app, likely as a way to automatically handle cases covered in its documentation and hand off only the trickier ones to a human. All things considered, this is a good move. The Support app already has a live chat feature that connects users to actual humans, but wait times can get a bit unpredictable depending on the time of day, or after peak seasons like Christmas and product launches. As reported by MacRumors, Apple is developing an AI-based "Support Assistant" feature for its Support app. According to strings found in the Support app, the assistant "uses generative models," which is broad enough that it could mean that it probably won't be using Apple's own models, at least not yet. Assuming Apple doesn't use its own models, what it could do is leverage the same kind of B2B infrastructure already offered by companies like IBM, NVIDIA, and Salesforce, all of which have built solid enterprise tools using a technique called RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). The basic idea behind RAG is simple: instead of relying solely on the tokens that a language model was trained on, you also feed it with specific, real-time information, like the entirety of Apple's support documentation in every language, so that it can formulate the answer to a prompt. Even better, RAG is structured in a way that the system intelligently picks out just the relevant documents, or even segments of documents that it needs to answer each specific prompt, and builds its answer on top of that sliver of relevant information rather than having to read through everything with every request. Interestingly, the report also mentions users being able to upload images or documents. That could allow the AI to analyze a photo of a cracked screen or parse an error message from a screenshot, capabilities that would pair naturally with a RAG-based backend. This is also the kind of task that could easily run on Apple's own infrastructure, even if it relies on a third-party model provider, so privacy shouldn't be a concern. Despite the predictable "ugh, AI" knee-jerk reactions, this is a case where generative AI makes complete sense. Provided Apple really takes the RAG route, and it should, RAG remains one of the most practical and battle-tested ways to build support chatbots. This way, they could easily handle basic cases like warranty info and battery policies, freeing up real human agents to more quickly tackle the more complicated cases. Of course, as with most of Apple's AI-related projects, there's no timeline for when (or if) this will launch. But considering how trivial this sort of feature has become in the last couple of years, and the abundance of high-profile companies offering this exact solution as a plug-and-play service, it may not be too long until this one goes live.

I used to work at the Apple Store - and the rumored AI-powered Support app sounds genius

I used to work at the Genius Bar and think this idea could be excellent if done correctly Apple could be about to add an AI assistant to the Apple Support app, and that would be excellent news for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users around the world. First spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, new code hints at an AI-powered 'Support Assistant' coming to the Apple Support app. According to Perris, "The code states that the Support Assistant 'uses generative models,' and that it will provide answers 'related to certain Apple products and services' Apple warns that generative models can sometimes provide 'incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs,' and that customers should not rely on information from Support Assistant as a substitute for professional advice." At the moment, the Apple Support app lets you talk to a real-life Genius Bar member about issues with your products, and allows you to receive troubleshooting support without the need of heading to your local Apple Store. While there are no details on when this AI-powered assistant will launch, this could be a huge improvement in the way we access Apple Support, and as an ex-Apple Genius Bar employee, I'm going to explain why. I worked at Apple's Genius Bar for nearly four years while studying journalism at university, so I've had many encounters with Apple Support behind the scenes and as a customer. The Apple Support app is excellent, and is one of the main reasons I recommend Apple products to my family members who are looking to buy new tech. I truly believe the Genius Bar is one of Apple's best products, and AI is only going to make it better. I can't count the number of times customers would travel long distances to come to the Apple Store, only for the issue they were experiencing to be an incredibly simple fix. With an AI-powered assistant, Apple users could get pointed in the right direction every single time rather than relying on the customer to select the correct service path. The Apple Support app already asks a few questions to make sure the customer gets the right support, whether that be online, at the store, or via support articles. However, adding AI chatbot capabilities would hopefully improve that experience even more, alleviating pressure on Genius Bar employees and improving the customer experience. Adding AI chatbots to customer service might sound infuriating, but as long as Apple uses generative AI as a way to improve the customer experience, then I think this rumored feature would be genius.

Apple reportedly developing an AI assistant for its Support app

The Apple Support app could soon gain an AI-powered assistant. The Apple Support app could soon gain a ChatGPT-style AI assistant, which could be powered by Apple Intelligenceor third-party AI, as a new report claims there's evidence of the feature in Apple code. As its name implies, the Apple Support application is designed to assist customers. It displays the company's official store hours, details regarding accessibility at the location, and the specialty services offered, among other things. The official Support app from Apple has received multiple updates over the years, and it looks like it's set to gain yet another feature. According to MacRumors, the iPhone maker has plans to debut a new "Support Assistant" powered by generative AI. Code for this enhancement reportedly already exists, but the alleged AI assistant doesn't appear to be accessible just yet. The Support Assistant will likely build upon the Support app's chat feature that relies on Messages. Currently, Apple users can get in touch with a customer service representative through the Apple Support app, which opens a new Business Chat in Messages. The supposed Support Assistant will likely offer AI-generated solutions to problems or answers to customer questions, before connecting users to a live agent. Other companies, like eBay, have incorporated similar features into their respective apps and websites, but Apple's implementation appears as though it could be more advanced. Code related to the feature reportedly says that the Support Assistant uses generative AI models and that it provides information on select Apple products and services, among other things. Apple has reportedly also included a disclaimer, which cautions users about "incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs," and explains that the AI-powered support assistant should not be regarded as a substitute for professional advice from a live customer service representative. As for what exactly powers the Support Assistant, the report says that it will be offered through cooperation with partner companies. This suggests Apple might work together with OpenAI to deliver the feature, or possibly with another company like Anthropic or Google. OpenAI seems like a particularly reasonable option, given that ChatGPT integration has been an iOS feature since iOS 18.2. These latest claims of an alleged Support Assistant line up with an earlier rumor from February 2024, which claimed that Apple was internally testing a tool called "Ask." While the Support Assistant is a consumer-oriented feature, Apple's Ask tool is said to have relied on generative AI to respond to the questions of AppleCare employees, using answers from an internal database. The development of an AI-based Support Assistant is a logical choice for Apple, though the timing is far from ideal. Certain Apple Intelligence features have faced significant delays and have yet to become available to end consumers, which reportedly led to embarrassment behind closed doors. While Apple did introduce AI-related improvements with iOS 26, in the form of Apple Intelligence Shortcuts and a new Foundation Models framework, there weren't nearly as many AI features announced at WWDC as there were in 2024. Recently, on June 7, the head of Apple's foundation models team, Ruoming Pang, was poached by Meta with a significant pay package. Given the lack of any recent AI development, it's possible that Apple repurposed the technology behind its Ask tool, but it's more likely that the company used the technology of a major AI firm like OpenAI or Anthropic. Time will tell if and when the supposed Support Assistant feature will see the light of day.