Apple Intelligence Hasn't Been The Main Motivater For IPhone Update

Apple Intelligence has promising long-term prospects (photo: x @theapplehub)

JAKARTA The Apple Intelligence feature has not been able to encourage users to update to the iPhone 16, according to a well-known Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. According to a supply chain survey, Kuo said that Apple Intelligence is not yet the main reason for users to upgrade their devices.

Kuo explained that the time lag between Apple Intelligence's introduction in June 2024 and its launch, which only started after the iPhone 16 was released in September, was a major factor. In addition, Apple Intelligence's appeal has also decreased significantly compared to cloud-based services such as ChatGPT.

Currently, there is no indication that Apple Intelligence will contribute to Apple's service revenue. Apple CEO Tim Cook last December stated that Apple had never discussed plans to charge for using Apple Intelligence. However, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple may start charging in 2027 or later, although this is still uncertain.

Kuo added that although Apple Intelligence has promising long-term prospects, there is currently no evidence that the feature will have a significant impact on Apple's hardware replacement cycle or service business.

"Apple needs to be wary of the potential risk of a decline caused by the previous market's excessive optimism," said Kuo.

Apple Intelligence is in the main spotlight in iOS 18, but when the iPhone 16 was launched in September, this feature was not yet available. Features like Writing Tools and other capabilities only came through the first update of iOS 18 in October. Meanwhile, the new Image Playground and Genmoji features were released in December.

There are still Apple Intelligence features that have not been implemented, including major changes to Siri which are rumored to be coming in April.

The survey in December 2024 shows that many iPhone users feel that Apple Intelligence has not added significant value to their experience. However, this sentiment has the potential to change along with the development and maturity of this feature in the future.