Other Anyone else surprised at hardly any mention of iOS 26 or Apple Intelligence at the event today?

[Rogifan]

Other than Tim Cook briefly mentioning Liquid Glass at the beginning of the event iOS 26 was hardly mentioned. Same with Apple Intelligence. I’m a little surprised Apple didn’t provide a refresher on what is coming with iOS 26 or didn’t really have anything specific to these phones that wasn’t announced at WWDC. It’s almost like last year they were panicked about AI and this year are doing a 180 mentioning it as little as possible. Go to Apple’s home page right now and the tagline “Built for Apple Intelligence” is nowhere to be found. In fact the only place Apple Intelligence is mentioned is in the footnotes at the bottom of the page. Same with iOS 26. And Liquid Glass isn’t mentioned at all. It really does feel like Apple wants to downplay Apple Intelligence, at least, as much as possible.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Considering the presentation was hardware based, I wasn't surprised little was said of iOS 26.

 

[baconcat_8964]

In fact the only place Apple Intelligence is mentioned is in the footnotes at the bottom of the page. Same with iOS 26. And Liquid Glass isn’t mentioned at all.

Liquid Glass mentioned at the beginning of the event. Apple Intelligence mentioned while introducing A19's new GPU.

I think it's like the Action Button and Camera Control. Nothing new added to those while there're many other new features to be talked about, so they cut those things less important during the event.

 

[Rogifan]

Considering the presentation was hardware based, I wasn't surprised little was said of iOS 26.

Sure but in previous keynotes I seem to remember them spending a little time reminding people what’s coming, since the new software drops when the phones are released.

Liquid Glass mentioned at the beginning of the event. Apple Intelligence mentioned while introducing A19's new GPU.

I think it's like the Action Button and Camera Control. Nothing new added to those while there're many other new features to be talked about, so they cut those things less important during the event.

It feels like Apple doesn’t want these phones to be thought of as AI phones. Prior to today’s event the iPhone 16 phones still had the “Built for Apple Intelligence” tagline.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sure but in previous keynotes I seem to remember them spending a little time reminding people what’s coming, since the new software drops when the phones are released.


It feels like Apple doesn’t want these phones to be thought of as AI phones. Prior to today’s event the iPhone 16 phones still had the “Built for Apple Intelligence” tagline.

That is a good point. I think the takeaway is Apple is laying low (so to speak) seeing how they have an ongoing lawsuit over their previous marketing.

 

[skywalkerr69]

After the bomb that was the “introduction” of Apple Intelligence I don’t see them talking about it for some time.

 

[JPack]

Think about why Apple had to rename it iOS 26 in the first place. And not iPhone or iPad.

It was because many iOS 18 features didn’t arrive until the following year. It’s only been 3 months since WWDC.

 

[huanbrother]

Apple Intelligence is becoming like Xiaomi’s flagship video features: it’s there, but you’d better not compare it one-to-one with the very best that competitors are offering.

 

[Veilofsun]

I cannot help you with this, see the web page.

 

[Rogifan]

They discussed this on the Macbreak Weekly podcast. Hardly any mention of iOS 26, Liquid Glass or Apple Intelligence and Siri wasn’t mentioned once. Alex Lindsay thinks it’s because Liquid Glass is controversial and they want to keep it on the down low. But I’ll bet more people tune into the iPhone keynote than WWDC and they’ll be in for a surprise when they get their new iPhone or update the software on their existing phone. I’m a little surprised we didn’t at least get a ‘Liquid Glass looks amazing on these new displays’.

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[menist]

They need to sell the hardware, there is nothing in iOS 26 that is exclusive to the 17s. If you update your compatible iPhone to iOS 26, the experience will be just like the 17's.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Perhaps Apple realised after last year it was best not to mention too much about it? They have yet to deliver the Apple Intelligence that was in last September's KeyNote. My 16 Pro Max still has a stripped down version of AI and they managed to spend a whole year extending the launch.

 

[Böhme417]

I don’t really care about Apple Intelligence, but I do find the lack of iOS 26 odd. They do normally mention the features of the soon-to-be released software and dates (unless I just missed that). Also, isn’t there normally an exclusive feature or two for the new devices mentioned during that time?

 

[TonyC28]

Probably them recognizing that tying software to the hardware was not a good idea like they did with Apple Intelligence and the 16 lineup. If I’m remembering correctly, they usually do mention the upcoming iOS, so maybe they are taking the software/hardware split to the extreme.
I’m just glad my 16 Pro was “built for” Apple Intelligence and apparently the 17s aren’t 😎

 

[TJ82]

Apple Intelligence is toxic. Anyone that follows this stuff will eye roll every time they hear it. They just need so plug it minimally so the casual consumer sees the thing they're buying *has AI*.

Maybe even goes deeper than that. IIRC there was some effort to sue Apple for overselling AI on the iPhone 16 which wasn't delivered.