Apple's iPhone 17 Launch: AI Takes a Backseat as Hardware Innovation Shines

Apple's new iPhone 17 devices don't have an AI-powered Siri yet. It doesn't matter. | TechCrunch

At yet another splashy event, Apple on Tuesday introduced its latest lineup of iPhones: the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and a new slimmer version dubbed the iPhone Air. The "Air" branding is meant to bring to mind other lightweight -- and sometimes less expensive -- Apple products like the MacBook Air and iPad Air. But it also recalls a time when smartphone makers were chasing an ever-thinner phone. In the AI era, however, it's not necessarily the device's size that matters; it's what the software it runs can do. On this front, Apple has lagged its competitors. At its iPhone 17 event, the company only referenced AI technology a few times: to rehash some updates announced in June at WWDC, like Visual Intelligence and its on-device models, and in some aspects of its camera upgrades, like the iPhone 17's front camera, which it calls Center Stage. The most compelling use of AI wasn't even introduced as a phone upgrade; it was the AI-powered Live Translation feature coming to Apple's AirPods 3. There was no mention of Siri at all, AI-powered or otherwise. Much has been made about how Apple's miscalculation on AI could negatively affect its industry standing and future success. Meanwhile, Google last month rolled out its latest release of an AI-powered Android phone with its Pixel 10, as iPhone owners still await an AI Siri that's been delayed until 2026. Until now, Apple has only released what could be considered baseline AI features for its devices, like AI writing tools, summarization, generative AI images (which some complain are not very good), live translation, visual search, and Genmoji, among others. Yet a digital assistant that understands a wide range of questions -- without deferring to ChatGPT -- or one that can provide further context from your iPhone apps remains overdue. Recently, it was reported that Apple is looking to third parties to help it catch up in the AI race. An AI-enhanced Siri could be running some other technology -- like Google Gemini -- under the hood. At first glance, this delay, combined with the decision to rely on a third party -- or even, possibly a sizable acquisition -- seems like it could spell bad news for Apple. However, Apple's decision to outsource some of the phone's AI technology could actually become a selling point for consumers. Today's iPhone owners often swap out Apple's technology for Google's by opting for Gmail, Google Drive and Docs, Google Maps, and Chrome over Apple's own apps like Mail, its iWork suite, Apple Maps, and Safari, for example. When people search the web, they turn to Google's Search app, not Apple's built-in Spotlight search, despite its many integrations over the years to offer basic facts and answers, leveraging sources like Wikipedia. Why, then, shouldn't they be able to use Google's AI technology, too? If Apple does proceed with a third-party deal to integrate AI into its devices, it may work out to be an even bigger win for iPhone owners. It would mean that high-performing AI technology would be integrated into the device more natively. It would feel more seamless, more a part of the iPhone experience itself than simply running an AI app. And Apple could get there without having to invest as heavily in the infrastructure required to compete in the AI race, which is good for the company's (already healthy) bottom line. Plus, given the speed with which AI technology has been evolving, this design would leave room for Apple to swap out models or expand support to include others, as AI companies edge themselves ahead of others. The result for consumers would be the best of both worlds: the aesthetics and hardware quality (thinness and all!) of the iPhone, with Google's technology (or Anthropic's or OpenAI's) powering some of the key AI components. That could also be beneficial to Apple's overall brand. It also means that the look-and-feel of updated iPhones themselves and their hardware advances will continue to drive sales and upgrades, allowing Apple to do what it does best: focus on build quality, camera improvements, privacy-preserving tech, intentional software design changes like Liquid Glass -- and yes, super thin phones. Apple could continue to market itself as a best-in-class hardware maker first, not an AI device maker; customers could still long for the latest iPhones, as always, without having to sacrifice the latest technology advances when they make the choice to buy a phone from Apple. Of course, this scenario only plays out if and when Apple opts to launch a version of Siri that runs a third-party's AI technology to enhance its own. (Or if it buys an AI company). But if Apple decides to only rely on its Apple Intelligence offerings without getting them up to speed quickly, the outcome could be much different.

Apple Intelligence: Everything you need to know about Apple's AI model and services | TechCrunch

If you've upgraded to a newer iPhone model recently, you've probably noticed that Apple Intelligence is showing up in some of your most-used apps, like Messages, Mail, and Notes. Apple Intelligence (yes, also abbreviated to AI) showed up in Apple's ecosystem in October 2024, and it's here to stay as Apple competes with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others to build the best AI tools. Cupertino marketing executives have branded Apple Intelligence: "AI for the rest of us." The platform is designed to leverage the things that generative AI already does well, like text and image generation, to improve upon existing features. Like other platforms including ChatGPT and Google Gemini, Apple Intelligence was trained on large information models. These systems use deep learning to form connections, whether it be text, images, video or music. The text offering, powered by LLM, presents itself as Writing Tools. The feature is available across various Apple apps, including Mail, Messages, Pages and Notifications. It can be used to provide summaries of long text, proofread and even write messages for you, using content and tone prompts. Image generation has been integrated as well, in similar fashion -- albeit a bit less seamlessly. Users can prompt Apple Intelligence to generate custom emojis (Genmojis) in an Apple house style. Image Playground, meanwhile, is a standalone image generation app that utilizes prompts to create visual content that can be used in Messages, Keynote or shared via social media. Apple Intelligence also marks a long-awaited face-lift for Siri. The smart assistant was early to the game, but has mostly been neglected for the past several years. Siri is integrated much more deeply into Apple's operating systems; for instance, instead of the familiar icon, users will see a glowing light around the edge of their iPhone screen when it's doing its thing. More importantly, new Siri works across apps. That means, for example, that you can ask Siri to edit a photo and then insert it directly into a text message. It's a frictionless experience the assistant had previously lacked. Onscreen awareness means Siri uses the context of the content you're currently engaged with to provide an appropriate answer. Leading up to WWDC 2025, many expected that Apple would introduce us to an even more souped-up version of Siri, but we're going to have to wait a bit longer. "As we've shared, we're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal," said Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi at WWDC 2025. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year." This yet-to-be-released, more personalized version of Siri is supposed to be able to understand "personal context," like your relationships, communications routine, and more. But according to a Bloomberg report, the in-development version of this new Siri is too error-ridden to ship, hence its delay. At WWDC 2025, Apple also unveiled a new AI feature called Visual Intelligence, which helps you do an image search for things you see as you browse. Apple also unveiled a Live Translation feature that can translate conversations in real time in the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps. Visual Intelligence and Live Translation are expected to be available later in 2025, when iOS 26 launches to the public. After months of speculation, Apple Intelligence took center stage at WWDC 2024. The platform was announced in the wake of a torrent of generative AI news from companies like Google and Open AI, causing concern that the famously tight-lipped tech giant had missed the boat on the latest tech craze. Contrary to such speculation, however, Apple had a team in place, working on what proved to be a very Apple approach to artificial intelligence. There was still pizzazz amid the demos -- Apple always loves to put on a show -- but Apple Intelligence is ultimately a very pragmatic take on the category. Apple Intelligence isn't a standalone feature. Rather, it's about integrating into existing offerings. While it is a branding exercise in a very real sense, the large language model (LLM) driven technology will operate behind the scenes. As far as the consumer is concerned, the technology will mostly present itself in the form of new features for existing apps. We learned more during Apple's iPhone 16 event in September 2024. During the event, Apple touted a number of AI-powered features coming to its devices, from translation on the Apple Watch Series 10, visual search on iPhones, and a number of tweaks to Siri's capabilities. The first wave of Apple Intelligence is arriving at the end of October, as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. The features launched first in U.S. English. Apple later added Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, South African, and U.K. English localizations. Support for Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese will arrive in 2025. The first wave of Apple Intelligence arrived in October 2024 via iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18., and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates. These updates included integrated writing tools, image cleanup, article summaries, and a typing input for the redesigned Siri experience. A second wave of features became available as part of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2. That list includes, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, Image Wand, and ChatGPT integration. These offerings are free to use, so long as you have one of the following pieces of hardware: Notably, only the Pro versions of the iPhone 15 are getting access, owing to shortcomings on the standard model's chipset. Presumably, however, the whole iPhone 16 line will be able to run Apple Intelligence when it arrives. When you ask GPT or Gemini a question, your query is being sent to external servers to generate a response, which requires an internet connection. But Apple has taken a small-model, bespoke approach to training. The biggest benefit of this approach is that many of these tasks become far less resource intensive and can be performed on-device. This is because, rather than relying on the kind of kitchen sink approach that fuels platforms like GPT and Gemini, the company has compiled datasets in-house for specific tasks like, say, composing an email. That doesn't apply to everything, however. More complex queries will utilize the new Private Cloud Compute offering. The company now operates remote servers running on Apple Silicon, which it claims allows it to offer the same level of privacy as its consumer devices. Whether an action is being performed locally or via the cloud will be invisible to the user, unless their device is offline, at which point remote queries will toss up an error. A lot of noise was made about Apple's pending partnership with OpenAI ahead of the launch of Apple Intelligence. Ultimately, however, it turned out that the deal was less about powering Apple Intelligence and more about offering an alternative platform for those things it's not really built for. It's a tacit acknowledgement that building a small-model system has its limitations. Apple Intelligence is free. So, too, is access to ChatGPT. However, those with paid accounts to the latter will have access to premium features free users don't, including unlimited queries. ChatGPT integration, which debuts on iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, has two primary roles: supplementing Siri's knowledge base and adding to the existing Writing Tools options. With the service enabled, certain questions will prompt the new Siri to ask the user to approve its accessing ChatGPT. Recipes and travel planning are examples of questions that may surface the option. Users can also directly prompt Siri to "ask ChatGPT." Compose is the other primary ChatGPT feature available through Apple Intelligence. Users can access it in any app that supports the new Writing Tools feature. Compose adds the ability to write content based on a prompt. That joins existing writing tools like Style and Summary. We know for sure that Apple plans to partner with additional generative AI services. The company all but said that Google Gemini is next on that list. At WWDC 2025, Apple announced what it calls the Foundation Models framework, which will let developers tap into its AI models while offline. This makes it more possible for developers to build AI features into their third-party apps that leverage Apple's existing systems. "For example, if you're getting ready for an exam, an app like Kahoot can create a personalized quiz from your notes to make studying more engaging," Federighi said at WWDC. "And because it happens using on-device models, this happens without cloud API costs [...] We couldn't be more excited about how developers can build on Apple intelligence to bring you new experiences that are smart, available when you're offline, and that protect your privacy." Apple is expected to unveil a new-and-improved Siri experience in 2026, which is already a bit late compared to competitors. It may come as a blow to Apple, but in order to speed up development, they may have no choice but to partner with an outside company to power the new Siri. Apple has been rumored to be in advanced talks with Google, its primary smartphone hardware competitor.

The Most 'Awe Dropping' Part of Apple's iPhone 17 Event? AI Barely Came Up

The iPhone 17 is here. At Tuesday's "awe dropping" Apple event, we got the new iPhone 17 lineup, including a new ultra-slim model called the 17 Air, new AirPods Pro 3 and new Apple Watches. But it was what Apple didn't highlight that is most curious to me: its artificial intelligence, named Apple Intelligence. I counted only 11 mentions of "Apple Intelligence" during the 75-minute presentation, and most of them were passing references to how the new devices can support AI or existing features. A new live translation feature heavily uses AI but was only given a passing reference as "powered by Apple Intelligence." The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also has a workout coach that can give you personalized feedback using a gen AI voice. Otherwise, it was almost like Apple Intelligence didn't exist. It's a smart move for Apple. Despite introducing Apple Intelligence at its annual WWDC developers conference last year, Apple has struggled to keep pace with AI innovation. Many of Apple's AI capabilities shown off at WWDC 2024 were released to little fanfare or delayed for subsequent software updates. Apple had to pull commercials showing off more advanced AI tools it hadn't released publicly. And we're still waiting on some promised upgrades, like an AI-enabled smarter Siri. Meanwhile, competitors like Google, Samsung and Microsoft have been quick to integrate AI into smartphones, laptops and standalone devices. Apple is no stranger to being late to the game. Android enthusiasts love to point out that many new iOS features are tools Android phones have had for years. But the company's talent for leading the pack, regardless, seems to be absent in this AI race. Apple's focus on AI has even backfired at times, with its "crushing creatives" iPad commercial that sparked outrage from the very creators the company was trying to sell to. I have no problem with a tech company taking its time to refine a product, especially when it's as controversial and ubiquitous as AI. I do have a problem with a tech company thinking that one measly software upgrade is reason enough for me to cough up my hard-earned money to trade up my device. Luckily for me, Apple seems to have learned from its mistakes. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. It's not just me. Only 11% of smartphone users in the US upgrade solely for AI, according to a 2025 CNET survey. AI has flooded tech events and devices over the past two years, even as people continue to be rightfully wary about the technology. Concerns abound, including its training procedures, job replacement capabilities and increasingly present role in creative industries. Personally, I was so annoyed with my iPhone 16's camera control button for Apple's visual intelligence that I ultimately turned it off for good. In the age of AI, the decision not to focus on the controversial and flawed tech was smart and refreshing. But with iOS 26 rolling out on Monday, Sept. 15, the reprieve could be very short-lived.

Apple barely talked about AI at its big iPhone 17 event

Yes, the phones represent "advancements in Apple silicon, hardware, and software," per Apple, meaning they're better for gaming, photos, speed, battery life, and more. But most of the specific, consumer-facing AI tools Apple touted -- like visual intelligence features and live translation in iMessage and FaceTime -- were big talking points back in June during WWDC 2025. And they're also not necessarily novel, in that Apple competitors, such as Google and Samsung, introduced comparable features a year ago or more.

Apple iPhone event may lack sparkle, but rumored iPhone Air likely to spur upgrades

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - When Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab debuts new iPhones on Tuesday, analysts say its biggest challenge will be to ride out another ho-hum launch as rivals have skated past it in embedding artificial intelligence into their products and services. The biggest draw this year could be a rumored "iPhone Air", a phone slimmer than what Apple has sold before and taking its name from the company's slender laptop MacBook Air. Apple would need to iron out how to pack batteries and cameras into a thinner device, analysts said, and seek to price it between the base iPhone 17 models and more expensive Pro models to attract a large number of customers. Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said a slimmer iPhone could spur upgrades. "It's been a while since we have seen any meaningful update to the form factor of the device beyond tepid incremental changes, and the novelty of the Air will likely induce many 14, 15 and even 16 iPhone users to migrate up," Chatterjee said. The slimmer phone could also be a stepping stone toward an iPhone that folds out flat like a book and would act as a platform for an upgraded Siri, neither of which are likely to arrive until next year, analysts said. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab is on its seventh generation of folding phones and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab is Google on its third, yet Chatterjee estimates they are less than 2% of all phone sales and will not grow beyond 5% "anytime soon." A foldable phone is important for Apple to appeal to its customers in China, where consumers like foldables and the company has been losing market share, analysts said. Historically, Cupertino, California-based Apple has received nearly a quarter of its total sales from the mid-price iPhone segment, said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, which holds Apple shares. He expects Apple to find a way to raise prices across its iPhone lineup without any allusion to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, perhaps by raising prices for larger storage capacity. "They learned to play nice with Washington - a straight up price increase might not come off well," Munster said. "But I think they have rising costs, and they have been loyal to growing margins, and to do that, you have to find some method." AI STRUGGLES Initially, Apple slated improvements to Siri for last spring, but delayed them due to engineering setbacks. Instead, it leaned on a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to power many AI features on its devices. In contrast, Google's latest flagship phones were largely designed to showcase the capabilities of its Gemini AI models. Apple is also in early talks to use Google's Gemini AI to revamp Siri, according to a recent media report. Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies, said Apple may highlight improved AI processing capabilities of its next generation of Apple Silicon chips that could, in the future, power an "agentic" Siri that takes care of tasks in the background for the owners of the 2.35 billion Apple devices in use around the world, without draining the device's battery. "It could be foreshadowing of a broader kind of agentic integration with their operating system, because the operating system is going to be the thing that hits the (chip's AI processing capabilities) the most," Bajarin said. Bob O'Donnell, president at TECHnalysis Research, said that while AI adoption remains in early stages, Apple's time to catch up without suffering a long-term setback is now likely measured in months rather than years. "They have a huge share in the U.S., and most people are perfectly content," he said. "But by this time next year, if Siri still sucks, and if they don't get the foldable out, I don't know" whether that contentment will continue, O'Donnell said. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and David Gregorio Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Apple Intelligence was hardly mentioned at the iPhone 17 event, and I'm worried

There'll be 5 new versions of Gemini before Apple finally release their new Siri at this rate. Apple's massive iPhone 17 event is talk of the town at the moment, with major updates to so many products from Airpods, Apple Watches and more being confirmed earlier this week. The brand new iPhone 17 was showcased, with multiple models, and even an all new iPhone Air being announced too. However, the main thing I noticed was the lack of mention of most other tech company's yearly buzzword - AI. Despite all of the upgrades featured in the all new iPhone 17, whether its the iPhone 17 Pro or the all new iPhone Air - somehow the mention of artificial intelligence was scarce. Apple instead decided to focus on the advancements in Apple silicon, hardware and software. Recommended Videos This is majorly different from the AI filled presentation of the iPhone 16 this time last year, where Apple Intelligence was seemingly even more of a focal point than the phone itself. WWDC was no different, with visual intelligence features and live translation in iMessage and FaceTime being showcased. It feels like Apple was missing what is seemingly the main feature of its latest phone from the event - a brand new and smarter Siri powered by artificial intelligence. We saw this being shown off at WWDC and it seemed extremely promising but is still yet to have a confirmed release date. With no live demonstration of any Apple Intelligence features and not even a mention of new Siri - it feels like Apple has truly taking its pedal off of the gas when it comes to AI. Apple did still mention AI, focusing more on how it's helping power features in the background rather than how its the main driving factor behind the all new iPhone 17, unlike the competition. It got a brief shoutout as Tim Cook, Apple CEO, spoke about the new iPhone 17 front camera - called Center Stage - which uses AI to automatically expand the field of view. Compare this to the launch of the new Google Pixel 10 from last month, where AI was front and center and it seems like Apple is being demolished when it comes to the AI category - so much so, that I'm considering abandoning the Apple ecosystem after a decade of loyalty. Right now it feels like the only AI features that Apple has been willing to implement are very simple, baseline features such as Genmoji and AI writing tools. These simply aren't good enough to compete in the current market. Unless you install an external app, like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot - you don't have access to an AI companion on an iPhone the way you do with every single other mainstream mobile device. The Google Pixel comes with Gemini built in, Samsung's phone feature Galaxy AI - Apple is lagging so far behind. Even when this new AI powered Siri does finally come to market, it'll seemingly be powered by ChatGPT rather than Apple's own artificial intelligence software. The iPhone 17 event was Apple's chance to claw its way back when it comes to AI and it has completely missed the mark. I'm worried about the future of Apple Intelligence and whether or not we'll actually see any of the key features - like an AI powered Siri - ever actually release. For as long as they don't, Apple is falling further and further behind the competition.

Apple Basically Ignored AI at Today's iPhone Event

Apple's "Awe Dropping" iPhone event today went big on hardware, debuting new AirPods Pro and Apple Watch models, as well as the entire iPhone 17 line. But despite a few token mentions while discussing chips, the event hardly touched on AI. That's a big change of pace after last year's iPhone 16 reveal, which focused heavily on the launch of Apple Intelligence. Does this mean that Apple's still lagging behind on AI, or is Apple actually ahead of the curve by downplaying the tech industry's latest trend? With one specific exception, Apple didn't announce any new Apple Intelligence features during today's event. Given the company continues to lag behind on bringing general AI to Siri -- something it promised an entire phone generation ago, but still hasn't made good on -- that might not actually be all that surprising. Instead, AI was largely kept to the periphery of today's event. There was some discussion of using Siri to look up information about Apple products (functionality that is already available), and Workout Buddy, an AI-powered health helper that's already been announced and is set to launch with watchOS 26. Otherwise, AI was largely used only to puff up the new A19 and A19 Pro chips, which do have improved neural engines, supposedly for use with a finalized Apple Intelligence. As for when we'll actually see anything of the sort, it's still unclear. The biggest nod to AI during today's conference came early on, when Apple noted that you'll be able to use its live translation features to have a multilingual discussion using the AirPods Pro 3. But even this feature seems to be built on top of Apple's existing translation AI, even if the AirPods Pro 3 version does come with a unique translation activation gesture, and seems to be a bit more seamless. Mum's the word on the everyday Apple Intelligence integration everyone's still waiting for, however, including that more contextually aware voice assistant. Yes, the company's new hardware seems powerful enough for AI, but on the software side of things, you'd be excused for assuming Apple has left the race. Despite making a big deal of AI during the iPhone 16 launch, most of Apple's AI features to date have been fairly low key, letting you use its models to generate new emoji or, embarrassingly, forward questions to ChatGPT. There's little in the way of integrating AI into everyday use, as Google has done with Gemini on Android. And the features that are present haven't always been glowingly received -- the company actually had to kill its AI notification summaries for news apps after they continually misrepresented headlines. Today's event presented an opportunity to give Apple users some confidence in the company's AI efforts, especially with competitors already introducing seemingly impressive features like real-time phone call translation, complete with voice cloning. Leaving AI largely unmentioned makes it feel like Apple would rather we all forget about what it said the iPhone 16 would do, even as it tries to sell us on its successor. Is the company still working on actually utilizing those impressive new neural engines, or is it just quietly hoping to put that whole Apple Intelligence thing behind it? Supposedly, Apple Intelligence is still in active development, but timelines for actually shipping any software are still unclear, which probably goes a long way toward explaining its absence during today's event. According to a report this summer from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company was late to the ball with investing in AI, not believing it was ready for market until ChatGPT's launch in 2022. Since then, it's tried to catch up, but things don't seem to be going well. Basically, while Siri makes the most sense as the chief way you'd access Apple's AI, the truth is that it already handles a number of more basic tasks, like reminders and alarms. According to Gurman, Siri's AI actually works decently well on its own, but the company is having trouble integrating it with the more bread-and-butter classic Siri. And (rightly so, in this reporter's opinion), it's hesitant to release an AI-powered version if that means breaking existing features. That didn't stop the company's marketing arm from going forward with advertisements last year, though, which has left it in a bit of an awkward position. Gurman says Siri's AI upgrade has now been delayed "indefinitely." Does that mean Apple really has given up on Apple Intelligence (or at least for all but the most minor features)? Well, it's still building AI hardware into its phones, so the company's certainly doing some future-proofing. But the truth is, it's probably a lot less sure about what's to come than it used to be. If you can't beat it, kill it: Shortly after Gurman's report this June, Apple's own researchers published a study criticizing its AI competition. The paper accused advanced "large reasoning models" from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which attempt to take on complex problems by breaking them down into more manageable steps, of suffering from "complete accuracy collapse" when presented with sufficiently difficult problems. On the surface, that sounds understandable: We can't expect perfection from AI just yet. But the idea proposed a limit on what AI could do. The paper argued that less powerful, more traditional large language models performed better on low complexity tasks, which raises the question: if the most advanced AI models right now can't handle the difficult stuff, and are worse on the simple stuff, what use are they at all? In other words, it's possible that the tech industry as a whole doesn't know where to take AI right now, since its current best efforts don't seem to be capable of reliably accomplishing what they've been built to do. Apple's study followed a similar one that also questioned those less-advanced models, saying they simply rely on "sophisticated pattern matching." So while they might be better than the reasoning models on simple tasks, the limits of their uses remain unclear. With this in mind, it would make sense if Apple decided to back off on Apple Intelligence for now. While other companies are certainly ahead of Apple in the AI race as it currently exists, if the iPhone maker is right, the likes of Google and Samsung might soon find themselves running into diminishing returns. It's hardly the first time someone has warned of the potential collapse of the AI bubble. Which leads into what's probably the biggest reason Apple avoided AI during its presentation: It didn't need it. Apple's iPhone 17 event stands in stark contrast to Google's Made by Google event from late August. Where Apple's keynote went deep into hardware specs, Google's glossed over those details. And where Apple largely ignored AI, Google's put it center stage. There's no doubt about it: The Pixel 10 line's AI is certainly more advanced than the iPhone 17's. It can use AI to touch up a photo that's been zoomed in over 100 times, and there's that voice cloning translation I brought up earlier. But there are caveats to consider. Frankly, when I actually got my hands on the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, the AI, while more fleshed-out than Apple Intelligence, still felt like a novelty. The 100x zoom warps your photos and gives you scenes that look like they're from an alternate universe, and the voice translation during phone calls requires the person you're calling to be on the same model of phone as you, which highly limits its usefulness. I ended up caring more about the same old, same old when it comes to phones: battery life, the thickness of the device, how hot it gets under a heavy load, and how good the cameras are. I'd wager I'm not alone. And as such, it was actually refreshing to see Apple focus more on the bread-and-butter specs of their devices, rather than flashy AI features I'm likely to only use once or twice. The competition is better at Apple than AI right now, yes, but if the company's research is anything to go on, it seems like Cupertino might be betting on the fact that AI may have run its course, both in how much even the best the tech can do, and in how much people care about it. So, is Apple Intelligence cancelled? It probably depends on how consumers respond to the iPhone 17 versus its more AI-centric competition. If Apple can continue to sell its phones just as well without pouring millions into developing AI features it's already behind on, then yes, I could see it quietly letting most of its AI programs die, while hoping we all forget about what it said the iPhone 16 would be able to do. It wouldn't be the first time the company has announced a product only to abandon it shortly thereafter. But the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Right now, Apple does rely on ChatGPT integration to help make up for its AI-deprived Siri. In continuing to build its phones with powerful neural engines, it's enabling them to keep working with third-party tools as they continue to develop. Your iPhone will probably still have AI functionality in the future, but I wouldn't bet on it getting significant new Apple-driven AI support anytime soon. Apple Intelligence will likely soldier on, but don't be surprised if it's a lot more modest and integrated with tech from other companies going forward.

AI and iPhones likely stars of Apple event

San Francisco (United States) (AFP) - Apple is set to unveil its iPhone 17 lineup on Tuesday, with enhanced artificial intelligence features expected to take center stage. The Silicon Valley powerhouse has remained tight-lipped about what is in store at an event dubbed "Awe Dropping" in invitations, but it comes at the time of year Apple typically introduces a new generation of iPhones that drive its revenue. Despite iPhones maintaining their premium market position, Apple faces mounting pressure to prove it is keeping pace in the generative AI race. "Apple's perception as being 'late to the AI party' presents a significant challenge," market tracker Canalys said in an analyst note. While iPhone challengers powered by Google-backed Android have "aggressively advanced AI integration, Apple's slower rollout of first-party AI features has created adoption gaps," with people delaying new iPhone purchases, Canalys added. Apple introduced its "Apple Intelligence" AI features late last year, but the features underwhelmed users -- particularly the long-awaited improvements to its Siri voice assistant, which remained disappointingly basic. Looking ahead, Apple reportedly plans to integrate AI into online search next year alongside a Siri overhaul, though the company has not confirmed these reports. Apple is also reported to be partnering with Google to leverage its search and AI expertise. "I will be surprised if there is a major announcement regarding Apple's AI strategy," Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said in a note. "I am afraid that Apple's incremental innovation approach with the iPhone 17 will start reaching its limits - especially for those who are hungry for more innovation," he added. Tuesday's main attraction should be the new iPhone models, headlined by an ultra-thin "Air" variant. Most analysts view this as a strategic pivot -- Apple is positioning thinness, rather than screen size, as the new premium differentiator. A super-thin iPhone could also lay the foundation for a foldable version of the smartphone, expected in the coming years. But the engineering demands of thin phones can make them more costly to produce and shrink battery space. Prices of the new iPhones in the United States are expected to climb as President Donald Trump's tariffs add to Apple's production costs. Since China remains Apple's primary production hub, these trade policies directly impact costs. "Apple is navigating a delicate balance between its two largest markets - the US and China - amid rising trade tensions," Canalys said. "A weaker US dollar now allows Apple to increase prices in the US while maintaining competitive pricing abroad." The financial impact is already substantial: CEO Tim Cook disclosed that Trump's tariffs cost Apple $800 million last quarter, with an estimated $1.1 billion hit expected in the current quarter.

Apple iPhone event may lack sparkle, but rumored iPhone Air likely to spur upgrades - The Economic Times

Apple's upcoming iPhone launch faces muted expectations as rivals advance with AI. Analysts say a rumored slimmer "iPhone Air" could spark upgrades, bridge mid-price demand, and pave the way for foldables.When Apple debuts new iPhones on Tuesday, analysts say its biggest challenge will be to ride out another ho-hum launch as rivals have skated past it in embedding artificial intelligence into their products and services. The biggest draw this year could be a rumored "iPhone Air", a phone slimmer than what Apple has sold before and taking its name from the company's slender laptop MacBook Air. Apple would need to iron out how to pack batteries and cameras into a thinner device, analysts said, and seek to price it between the base iPhone 17 models and more expensive Pro models to attract a large number of customers. Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said a slimmer iPhone could spur upgrades. "It's been a while since we have seen any meaningful update to the form factor of the device beyond tepid incremental changes, and the novelty of the Air will likely induce many 14, 15 and even 16 iPhone users to migrate up," Chatterjee said. The slimmer phone could also be a stepping stone toward an iPhone that folds out flat like a book and would act as a platform for an upgraded Siri, neither of which are likely to arrive until next year, analysts said. Samsung Electronics is on its seventh generation of folding phones and Alphabet's is Google on its third, yet Chatterjee estimates they are less than 2% of all phone sales and will not grow beyond 5% "anytime soon." A foldable phone is important for Apple to appeal to its customers in China, where consumers like foldables and the company has been losing market share, analysts said. Historically, Cupertino, California-based Apple has received nearly a quarter of its total sales from the mid-price iPhone segment, said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, which holds Apple shares. He expects Apple to find a way to raise prices across its iPhone lineup without any allusion to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, perhaps by raising prices for larger storage capacity. "They learned to play nice with Washington - a straight up price increase might not come off well," Munster said. "But I think they have rising costs, and they have been loyal to growing margins, and to do that, you have to find some method." AI struggles Initially, Apple slated improvements to Siri for last spring, but delayed them due to engineering setbacks. Instead, it leaned on a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to power many AI features on its devices. In contrast, Google's latest flagship phones were largely designed to showcase the capabilities of its Gemini AI models. Apple is also in early talks to use Google's Gemini AI to revamp Siri, according to a recent media report. Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies, said Apple may highlight improved AI processing capabilities of its next generation of Apple Silicon chips that could, in the future, power an "agentic" Siri that takes care of tasks in the background for the owners of the 2.35 billion Apple devices in use around the world, without draining the device's battery. "It could be foreshadowing of a broader kind of agentic integration with their operating system, because the operating system is going to be the thing that hits the (chip's AI processing capabilities) the most," Bajarin said. Bob O'Donnell, president at TECHnalysis Research, said that while AI adoption remains in early stages, Apple's time to catch up without suffering a long-term setback is now likely measured in months rather than years. "They have a huge share in the US, and most people are perfectly content," he said. "But by this time next year, if Siri still sucks, and if they don't get the foldable out, I don't know" whether that contentment will continue, O'Donnell said.

Apple Barely Mentions AI in iPhone 17 Launch, Stresses Hardware Gains | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Apple's iPhone 17 launch leaned on hardware and chip performance, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing only a secondary role. Apple executives offered only passing mentions of Apple Intelligence, a shift from last year's iPhone 16 debut where AI dominated before delays tempered expectations. Features for the new iPhones were framed as AI enablers. The new iPhone 17 Pro introduces a forged aluminum unibody, replacing the titanium used in earlier Pro devices. Apple said the switch makes the phone lighter and improves heat dissipation with a redesigned vapor chamber cooling system that enables the Pro models to maintain performance during extended gaming and AI workloads. The big change is the A19 Pro chip, which brings neural accelerators to each GPU core and expands cache memory for faster operations. Apple executives said the processor delivers "MacBook Pro-level compute in an iPhone," tripling GPU performance over the A18 Pro. The company added that the chip can run large language models locally and provides up to 40% better sustained performance than the iPhone 16. Other AI features were not presented as breakthroughs. Apple pointed to tools such as live translation in Messages and FaceTime and visual recognition in Photos, many of which were first previewed in June. In earlier coverage, PYMNTS has noted that Google and Samsung have moved faster to make generative AI central to their smartphone strategies. Instead, Apple spotlighted how AI underpins background functions across its devices. AirPods Pro 3 now offer live translation via simple gestures and new fitness features trained on 50 million hours of health data from more than 250,000 participants. On the Apple Watch Series 11, health lead Sumbul Desai said the new hypertension monitoring tool could notify more than 1 million people with undiagnosed high blood pressure in the first year, pending FDA clearance. The restrained framing underscores Apple's cautious approach to consumer-facing AI. PYMNTS has reported that investors are pressing for clearer AI plans, with concerns that Apple risks losing ground to rivals that market AI more aggressively. At the same time, Apple is weighing larger investments and structural changes to catch up. Cook used an all-hands meeting earlier this year to stress the company's confidence in its long-term roadmap. The message seems clear: Apple intends to build AI differently, leaning on privacy, integration and efficiency while keeping it in the background, and betting that durability and steady performance will matter more to consumers than assistant features.