'Underwhelming': When It Comes To AI, Apple Lags Behind Competition
Apple is reportedly more than two years behind industry leaders in terms of generative AI technology.
(Source: Apple)
Ahead of the much-awaited rollout of the first Apple Intelligence features by October end, there are indications that Apple may be slower than its competition when it comes to progress in artificial intelligence.
According to an article by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, some at Apple think that the company is currently more than two years behind industry leaders in terms of generative AI technology. Citing internal studies at Apple, Gurman added that compared to Apple's Siri, OpenAI's ChatGPT was 25% more accurate and could respond to 30% more queries.
The release of Apple Intelligence has been late even as new devices such as iPhone 16 and iPad mini (“built for Apple Intelligence”, as the company puts it) have been rolled out, and users have to wait to experience generative AI features with future software releases. Secondly, Apple Intelligence is a staggered rollout, with only a few features included in the reportedly upcoming iOS 18.1 launch. Most importantly, the first Apple Intelligence features, such as notification summaries, are “underwhelming” and “lack the wow factor” of offerings from Google, OpenAI and Meta, Gurman remarked.
However, Apple has had a good history of catching up, and it also leverages its vast base of devices for new tech rollouts. From AI being compatible with only a couple of iPhones and iPads since its announcement in June, more and more devices are being made AI-ready. Most—if not all—devices will reportedly be compatible with AI features by 2026.
As the company’s AI capabilities improve, Apple plans to expand these features to more products, including the iPhone SE, iPads, MacBooks, and potentially even the Vision Pro headset. And even though Apple has lagged companies such as Amazon and Google in the smart home market, its future home devices are also expected to have AI capabilities, according to Gurman.
Even then, the majority of Apple products do not currently feature AI as their main draw. Users seem to be more interested in enhancements to the camera, including the expanded photo and video features and the advanced Camera Control button. So, whether or not Apple can keep pace with the competition with regard to AI remains an open question.
