Welcome to the new era of iPhone!
Built for Apple Intelligence, the iPhone 16 lineup delivers a powerful, personal, and private experience right at your fingertips. And with the new Camera Control, you’ll never miss a moment. pic.twitter.com/zBsx9xOBl1
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 9, 2024
Apple today announced that its new Apple Intelligence suite will begin in beta starting in October, with the release of iOS 18.1. Initially, the features will be exclusive to US English language users, with plans to roll out to more languages over time. In December, Apple will expand support to include English dialects in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. By 2025, Apple aims to include support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
This long rehashing of Apple Intelligence is going to be awkward if the iPhone launches with iOS 18 (not 18.1) and has none of these features out of the box
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 9, 2024
The Apple Intelligence features will be available for free to users of iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, and iPhone 16 Pro. Additionally, Mac or iPad users with M1 or later chipsets will be able to access these features. Apple has not officially confirmed all the details about which parts of Apple Intelligence will launch when.
Meet the iPhone 16 lineup, built for Apple Intelligence.
With the power of Apple silicon, the iPhone 16 lineup delivers personal intelligence that introduces an extraordinary step forward in privacy and unlocks new creative capabilities, with incredible battery life! pic.twitter.com/cNXNSJcQoS
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) September 9, 2024
However, starting in October, users can expect features such as notification summaries, email summaries, the Reduce Interruptions focus, and Clean Up image editing in Photos. Image generation features, like Genmoji and Image Playgrounds, are rumored to be available starting in December.
Apple expands AI capabilities globally
This marks a big step in Apple’s ongoing development of enhanced user experiences through artificial intelligence, which it promises to broaden to a global audience in the coming years. Wall Street analysts expressed doubts over whether the new AI tools can drive a strong handset upgrade cycle. We don’t view the AI-related offerings as compelling enough in the near term to drive significant demand, given macro risk in China and regulatory hurdles in Europe and China, limiting the geographic reach of Apple Intelligence,” wrote Barclays analyst Tim Long.
Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi called the new product announcements “more evolutionary than revolutionary,” concluding that the enhanced AI functions are on a par with current competition. UBS analyst David Vogt viewed the event as “anticlimactic,” adding that Apple offered no “killer” AI application. The delayed AI launch also creates uncertainty for sales volumes over the next two quarters, Long added.
JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee said the AI details were “blurry.”
MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett added that offering Apple Intelligence free to users signals that it may take time for the tool to become a “stand-alone” revenue driver for the company led by CEO Tim Cook. We see the September event as a modest negative for AAPL given a lack of positive surprises and slightly less aggressive promotions from carriers,” said Keybanc analyst Brandon Nispel.
