2 weeks ago
9
Apple seems to have lost its direction in the AI race. Despite early excitement surrounding Apple Intelligence, user feedback suggests that expectations have not been fulfilled. Even Apple chief Tim Cook has taken notice and made leadership changes within Apple Intelligence.
As per a Bloomberg report, Cook lost confidence in senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy John Giannandrea’s ability to lead product development and reassigned the task to another key executive. Mike Rockwell, the creator of Vision Pro, is slated to take charge of Siri’s development in a new role.
The Cupertino-based tech giant recently announced that it is rolling out Apple Intelligence across iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4. It also plans to integrate Apple Intelligence features into visionOS 2.4 for its Vision Pro VR headset, though it remains uncertain whether this will turn the company’s fortunes around.
Even YouTuber Marques Brownlee, popularly known as MKBHD, couldn’t resist making a video about Apple’s AI inadequacies, which he titled ‘Apple’s AI Crisis: Explained!’ Notably, earlier, his critical review of the Humane AI Pin significantly contributed to the product’s downfall.
“Apple Intelligence has, from the beginning, always felt more like a nice thing to please investors more than an actually useful, revolutionary set of products that regular people are going to love. But now that it’s so delayed and the disconnect is so obvious, it’s never been more apparent,” he said in the video.
He pointed out that when the iPhone 16 launched with iOS 18, it was centred around the concept of Apple Intelligence. In reality, however, it didn’t include any of the promised AI features at launch.
“I think that MKBHD is just too nice to Apple and doesn’t want to use words like ‘fail’, but as I have already posted several times, Apple failed big time with Apple Intelligence,” said Andriy Burkov, machine learning lead at TalentNeuron.
Burkov noted that even if the engineers and scientists at Apple thought the technology couldn’t do what others claimed it could, they were silenced by overly optimistic or anxious managers.
It seems that Apple is biting off more than it can chew. The tech giant is reportedly developing a revamped version of its Health app, powered by an AI agent, Bloomberg reported. The new version is being referred to as ‘Project Mulberry’, and it features a health coach.
The report further indicated that development is progressing at full steam, and the new version may launch with iOS 19.4, which could arrive soon or be delayed until next year.
Nothing’s Going Apple’s Way
A lawsuit was also filed against Apple recently, accusing the company of false advertising related to its Apple Intelligence features. The lawsuit drew attention to an ad featuring The Last of Us actor Bella Ramsey, who demonstrated Siri’s AI capabilities, including personal context and on-screen awareness to assist with scheduling appointments. These features currently don’t exist.
The ad, which was released in September, has since been removed from YouTube after the announcement of Siri’s delay.
Adding salt to the wound, professor emeritus of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, Pedro Domingos quipped, “The next version of Apple Intelligence will be called Apple Incompetence.”
Today, Apple faces fierce competition from every direction. Rivals like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI have recently launched new models that have been well-received by consumers. For example, OpenAI’s new image-generation feature in ChatGPT captivated the public’s imagination, with users flocking to convert their personal images into Ghibli-style artwork.
Meanwhile, Siri’s direct competitor, Alexa, also got an upgrade. Even Amazon recently announced Alexa+, a next-generation personal assistant powered by Anthropic Claude, which will be available for free to Prime members. Alexa+ can understand and respond to users naturally. It processes half-formed thoughts, colloquial expressions, and complex ideas. Amazon said that conversations with Alexa+ will feel more like speaking with a trusted assistant than a machine.
One reason Apple might be struggling with AI could be its privacy policy, as it does not use customers’ private personal data to train its AI models. Instead, the company relies on licensed data and publicly available data collected by its web crawler, Applebot, to train these models.
AIM’s efforts to obtain a response from Apple in this matter have been unsuccessful so far. The report will be updated upon receipt of their response.
What is Missing?
Apple seems to be yearning for the glory days when Steve Jobs’ magic touch made every product launch a headline event. These days, it’s Sam Altman and OpenAI stealing the spotlight—no hype required, just killer products and a community that can’t stop raving.
Meanwhile, iPhone users want Siri to perform basic functions accurately, but it often falls short. “I tried it for a day or so, then disabled it everywhere,” a Reddit user commented.
Some notable features of Apple Intelligence are writing tools, Genmoji, Priority Notifications, Image Playground and Visual Intelligence.
Priority Notifications uses AI to display important alerts at the top of the lock screen and help users manage notifications with AI-generated summaries. However, the feature has faced criticism recently.
The feature had wrongly suggested that Luigi Mangione, accused of a CEO’s murder, had shot himself. It even announced event outcomes too early, leading to backlash from the BBC and Reporters Without Borders. Mistakes like these led Apple to temporarily disable the news summary feature in iOS 18.3 betas.
Another user, who has been using Apple for decades, expressed disappointment for how incompetent Apple Intelligence was at everything. “The only thing any of us wanted was for Siri to be chatty like ChatGPT, and all we got were image hallucinations, text suggestions that get in the way rather than help, and summaries for things we don’t need summaries for,” they said.
What’s Next?
Anticipation is building for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025, which is set to take place from June 9 to 13. Apple is expected to preview iOS 19 and further introduce improvements in Apple Intelligence. The company is exploring AI in wearables. Reports suggest it is developing an Apple Watch with cameras to analyse surroundings, part of a broader AI wearables initiative.
Another approach Apple could explore is partnering with AI startups. While it has already integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into iOS 18.2, expanding this partnership—or forming new ones with companies like Google (for Gemini) or Anthropic—could provide faster access to superior models. Notably, OpenAI is planning to launch an open-weight model that could be run locally on devices.
“As someone who has been an iPhone user for over 15 years, I’ve never been more concerned with the state of the iPhone,” Andrew Clare, a tech influencer on YouTube, said.
He believes Apple Intelligence could take years to regain the public’s respect. At this point, Siri might just need a rebrand since no one speaks positively about it, he added. “I love the iPhone, but right now, I’m not sure I like where it’s heading.”
