In case you haven’t heard, artificial intelligence is the hot trend in technology, and AI-driven products and their features are hitting the market. But Apple customers shouldn’t expect to see an AI-enabled iPhone until 2025, according to one analyst.
This is what Ming Chi-Kuo of TF International Securities wrote on his blog on Wednesday. The oft-quoted analyst, who is often correct in his projections, wrote: “It is expected that Apple will not release new iPhone models with significant design changes and the GenAI ecosystem/applications more complete/differentiated before 2025 at the earliest. »
For several generations, the iPhone chip has had a neural engine, responsible for machine learning and AI functions. So it looks like the iPhone is ready to go on the AI hardware front. Kuo typically bases his forecasts on the hardware supply chain, so something about these sources tells him Apple isn’t ready yet, but Kuo doesn’t provide details.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the next version of the iPhone’s operating system, iOS 18, would be “one of the biggest, if not the biggest, iOS updates in history of the company”. And Gurman reported last October that Apple plans to launch into generative AI this year in iOS 18 and macOS 15, spending $1 billion on research and development to bring AI to market.
However, AI is used in different ways. There is AI used for features like Face ID, facial recognition in Photos, several health features, and more. Then there is generative AI, the AI that has been in the news lately, the AI that creates content. In his October report, Gurman highlighted that executing generative AI is a problem. Running it entirely on the device means it’s fast and secure, but it makes it difficult for Apple to “update its technology and adapt to a rapidly changing industry.” A cloud-based setup allows for more functionality but is slower and less secure. Perhaps that’s why Kuo thinks Apple won’t be ready until 2025; maybe Apple is working on hardware that offers a happy medium.
Long-time Apple users know that Apple has a habit of not being the first to deliver a new technology, but delivering it later in a better and improved way than the competition. Apple is already not the first to offer generative AI capabilities, and early implementations have been criticized for their inability to detect errors included in generated content. To avoid this problem, Apple’s introduction of generative AI may be limited to iOS 18, with broader implementation in 2025. At this point, without further details, this is a pure speculation.
Whatever the reason for the AI delay, Kuo believes it will “likely hurt Apple’s iPhone shipment momentum and ecosystem growth which will affect iPhone sales.” Kuo said he is already seeing a decline in iPhone shipments, about 15% year-over-year, and that decline will continue next year, even after the iPhone 16 is released. in autumn. Kuo reports that Samsung has seen an increase in demand because buyers are interested in the AI features of its latest phones – and also, in China, there is demand for foldable phones among “high-end users.”
For more information on the next iPhone, check out our iPhone 16 superguide.
