Yes, Apple is delaying some AI features. But does it really matter?

Earlier this month, Apple officially announced that it would be postponing the launch of some planned Apple Intelligence features to a later, unspecified date in the future. These features mainly revolved around an AI-supercharged Siri.

The news of the delay sent the tech press into a frenzy, with many writers criticizing the company for failing to deliver on its promises. Additionally, people speculated that the delay of these features could impact iPhone sales this year. While the criticism is justified, I think the prediction that the delay will impact iPhone sales places too much faith in the appeal of AI.

Apple delays new Siri AI features

As noted by 9to5Mac, the delayed features include Siri’s ability to understand queries based on personal context (“What time does dad’s train get in?”), consider what you are doing on your screen when you ask it to carry out a certain task (“Make a reservation at this restaurant”), and perform in-app actions (“Crop this photo using a square aspect ratio”).

When the news officially dropped—Apple made the announcement in a statement to well-known tech blogger John Gruber—there was a big reaction from the tech media, including my colleague Harry McCracken, who wrote a smart response in his newsletter, Plugged In. Reporters and Apple fans alike weren’t merely disappointed that Apple delayed the features; they were upset that Apple purportedly showcased the features “working” last year—but in reality, that demonstration was nothing more than an animated mockup.

“There’s a name for products like that: vaporware,” McCracken said. “The tech industry is rife with examples. Apple, in its modern history, has been atypically disciplined about avoiding them—which makes this incident only more striking.”

When evaluating Apple’s actions from this perspective, I agree. You don’t expect a company of Apple’s caliber and market cap of over $3.2 trillion to show off what are essentially just concepts. Other companies, yes, but not Apple.

What I don’t necessarily agree with is the belief by some Wall Street analysts that Apple’s delay of some of its AI features will negatively affect iPhone sales in the near term—or even into next year, when some of these features are now expected. That argument doesn’t make a lot of sense to me—for two big reasons.

The average consumer doesn’t seem to care about AI smartphone features too much

While I know that tech enthusiasts like me seem to care a lot about Apple’s AI offerings, I don’t believe that the same holds true for average consumers (e.g. those who don’t follow tech news or consider tech gadgets to be a very important aspect of their lives).

Why do I think that “average” consumers care so little about Apple Intelligence? Because ever since Apple announced Apple Intelligence last June and rolled it out in October, I’ve never met a single person who said Apple’s new AI platform is why they are planning on buying a new iPhone.

I’ve had people tell me they bought a new iPhone 16 Pro because of the camera upgrades or because they wanted a bigger screen or a faster device. But not once has anyone ever cited Apple Intelligence as the reason for their purchase. I’ve also had people tell me that they can’t wait to buy the iPhone 17 Air, rumored to be released this fall, but only because of its ultra-slim design, not because of Apple Intelligence.

It’s not just my anecdotal observations that support my belief. As CNET reported in December 2024, a survey from trade journal SellCell found that 73% of iPhone owners and 87% of Samsung owners said that AI features “add little to no value” to their smartphone experiences. 

This was on top of an earlier CNET survey that found that among the 10 things that motivate consumers to upgrade their smartphone, “AI integrations” took 7th place, with only 18% of respondents saying it matters (beating out “phone color”). The most motivating factor spurring upgrades was “longer battery life” (61%), followed by “more storage” (46%), “camera features” (38%), “phone display/screen size” (32%), “keeping the ecosystem (i.e., iOS to iOS, Android to Android)” (24%), and “a new product release” (23%).

Meanwhile, in January, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo—one of the most reputable and respected Apple analysts—published a blog post stating that there was no evidence that Apple Intelligence was actually driving hardware upgrade cycles.

If Kuo, SellCell, CNET, and my observations are correct—and I think they are—then Apple’s delay of Apple Intelligence features won’t have much of an impact on iPhone sales in the near term.

The iPhone is already one of the most versatile AI smartphones on the market

But let’s say I’m wrong. Let’s say the average consumer really does care that their smartphone is packed with AI. I still don’t think Apple’s delay of some Apple Intelligence features matters that much—at least when it comes to the delay’s impact on iPhone sales.

Why? Because the iPhone is already a powerful AI smartphone—and it has been for years. Not only are the majority of previously announced Apple Intelligence features already integrated into supported iPhones, but the App Store is filled with hundreds of AI apps, all of which allow you to expand the iPhone’s AI capabilities.

These apps include chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity, plus myriad AI image-generation apps, like DaVinci and WOMBO, and AI note-taking apps like Otter.

Like other tech enthusiasts, I’m looking forward to the complete rollout of Apple Intelligence. But the iPhone doesn’t depend on it for its AI capabilities. The iPhone is already a platform on which hundreds of AI apps and services can run—and Apple’s delay in releasing its own AI offerings doesn’t change that.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91302024/apple-is-delaying-some-ai-features-but-does-it-really-matter-intelligence-iphone-16?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss