Shockingly, There’s A Company Worse At AI Than Samsung And Google

Contents

Summary

Long-awaited Siri upgrades are finally expected this fall.
Siri is set to improve with onscreen awareness and personal suggestions.
Apple has failed to show how Apple Intelligence adds to the iPhone 16.

It’s difficult to imagine a worse service rollout than Apple’s launch of Apple Intelligence. After promoting the iPhone 16 series heavily on the promise of Apple Intelligence, the company then delayed its release. A small batch of features arrived in October 2024, with another update in December, but the bulk of what was promised for Siri is still missing.

Apple Intelligence on an iPhone 15 Pro Max and Gemini on a Pixel 8a.

We’ve heard (via MacRumors) that the long-awaited Siri update will launch this fall, despite previous reports that it would be delayed until 2026. The update will bring several key enhancements to Siri. It will be able to track your correspondence and photos, learning about your day to give you suggestions. Siri will also gain onscreen awareness, so you can ask it to complete tasks based on what it sees. Apple also plans for Siri to handle its version of cross-app actions, allowing you to give Siri a single query that interacts with multiple apps to complete a task. It’ll be welcomed by users who bought an iPhone 16 on the promise of AI.

An uncharacteristic delay for Cupertino

The iPhone 16 Pro standing on its side, rear facing the viewer

Apple’s delays with Apple Intelligence would have been less frustrating if it had not aggressively marketed it as a reason to buy the iPhone 16 series. The phone didn’t represent a significant departure from its predecessor, and Apple hyped up everything Apple Intelligence would add to the user experience. It was Apple’s way of differentiating the product, but there was a problem. Unfortunately, that was in September 2024, when the iPhone 16 launched, and we’ve yet to see any meaningful progress with Apple Intelligence.

The pieces of Apple Intelligence we’ve received so far aren’t excellent and don’t add much value to the phones. Samsung and Google have similarly struggled with their AI implementations, but no one has fumbled harder than Apple. Google and Samsung at least appear to have a coherent strategy for Gemini and Galaxy AI. I may disagree with the value proposition, but it’s there. Apple has yet to present a convincing argument for why Apple Intelligence should sell smartphones, and repeated delays and lackluster launches aren’t helping its case. If you’re waiting for Apple Intelligence, the shortened delay is good news, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything impressive when it does arrive.