Apple Intelligence Wasn't a Key Factor in the Development of the iPhone

Apple Intelligence's analytical department failed to convince users of the need to purchase the iPhone 16, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. According to him, the results of the analysis of the supply chain indicate that Apple Intelligence does not drive device upgrades.

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One of the reasons for this was the delay between the presentation of Apple Intelligence in June 2024 and the launch of the corresponding functions even after the release of the iPhone 16. At the same time, “attractiveness” Apple Intelligence is far behind the popularity of cloud services such as ChatGPT.

There is also no evidence that Apple Intelligence can contribute to the growth of revenues from Apple services. In December, the company's CEO Tim Cook said that Apple was not considering introducing paid access to Apple Intelligence. At the same time, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggested that Apple Intelligence's paid features could appear no earlier than 2027, although the likelihood of this is still in question.

Overall, Ming-Chi Kuo notes that Apple Intelligence is not currently providing significant benefits in terms of either device upgrade incentives or revenue growth. However, there is some optimism about the long-term prospects.

«I do not deny the potential of Apple Intelligence in the future. However, given the above factors, at this time there is no reason to believe that this tool will contribute to the acceleration of device replacement or the development of the service business. It is worth carefully assessing the risks that may arise from excessive optimism in the market», — Kuo noted.

While Apple Intelligence has been a major theme in iOS 18, the new iPhone 16 models released in September lacked features that could significantly emphasize its significance. Some tools, such as writing functions, only appeared in October with the first iOS 18 update, while services such as Image Playground and Genmoji were launched in December. In addition, a number of planned Apple Intelligence features have not yet been implemented, including major Siri updates expected in April.

According to a survey conducted in December, the majority of iPhone users believe that Apple Intelligence has added little value to their user experience. However, this may change as the technology continues to develop.