Limiting 'Apple Intelligence' Features Not A Tactic To Boost iPhone Sales, Say Top Executives: 'We Would've Been Smart Enough Just To Do Our Most Recent iPads And Macs, Too'

Author: Rounak Jain | June 20, 2024 07:46am

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has unveiled its new AI features, collectively known as Apple Intelligence, which will only be available on the latest iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. Now, Cupertino's top executives have clarified that the features are not a ploy to drive new iPhone sales.

What Happened: Apple’s new AI features, which are part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, will only be accessible on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. The AI features utilize on-device, generative large-language models to enhance the user experience across Apple devices.

During The Talk Show Live From WWDC 2024, Apple’s AI/machine learning head John Giannandrea, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and software engineering chief Craig Federighi were questioned by Daring Fireball's John Gruber about the necessity of the latest iPhone models for the new AI features.

Giannandrea explained that the computational expense of running these large language models, or inference, necessitates the high bandwidth, Apple Neural Engine size, and processing power of the latest iPhone models.

"You could, in theory, run these models on a very old device, but it would be so slow that it would not be useful."

When asked if this was a strategy to sell new iPhones, Joswiak denied the allegation.

"No, not at all. Otherwise, we would have been smart enough just to do our most recent iPads and Macs, too, wouldn’t we?"

Federighi added that the company’s primary goal is to make new features available on older devices, but the power of the new AI models requires the latest hardware.

The iPhone 15 Pro models are equipped with the A17 Pro chip, which has a 16-core Neural Engine that is up to 2x faster than the A16 chip found in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, performing nearly 35 trillion operations per second.

Federighi also hinted that the new AI features require at least 8GB of RAM, a specification met by all devices compatible with Apple Intelligence.

Despite the limitation, owners of older iPhones can still look forward to several new features in Apple’s upcoming software update.

iOS 18 offers various new features besides Apple Intelligence, and every iPhone that can run iOS 17 is compatible with iOS 18. The iPhone 16 series, expected to launch alongside iOS 18 in the fall, will also support Apple Intelligence.

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Why It Matters: Apple’s new AI features, branded as Apple Intelligence, have been a topic of discussion since their announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The features, which include a supercharged Siri, image editing enhancements, and text-related improvements, were initially reported to require the A17 Pro chip at least, limiting their availability to the iPhone 15 Pro models and above.

Apple’s decision to limit these features to its latest iPhone models has sparked debates about the company’s motives and the impact on its user base. The company’s clarification that the new AI features are not a ploy to boost iPhone sales may help allay some concerns among users and industry observers.

However, the move could also potentially drive sales of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models as users seek to access the new AI features. This could have implications for Apple’s sales and market performance in the coming months.