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Apple Hopes iOS 18 AI Features Will Boost iPhone Shipments by 10% in 2024

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Apple wants to ship a minimum of 90 million iPhone 16 models in 2024, reports Bloomberg. Apple is telling its suppliers and partners that it is aiming for 10 percent shipment growth over 2023, when it shipped approximately 81 million iPhone 15 models.

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The upcoming iPhone 16 models will all use next-generation A18 chip technology, which will support Apple Intelligence. As of right now, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are powerful enough for Apple's AI features, so anyone with an older iPhone that wants to take advantage of the new capabilities will need to upgrade this year. iPhone 15 pricing starts at $799, and that will also likely be the starting price for the entry-level iPhone 16 model that will support Apple Intelligence.

Apple is expecting Apple Intelligence to increase demand for the new iPhone 16 models, which indicates that Apple could see a strong 2024, especially in countries like China. Apple is lagging behind Chinese smartphone manufacturers in AI development, as brands like Xiaomi and Huawei have already shipped AI features.

There is no word yet on how Apple Intelligence will function in China because Apple has not yet established a deal with a Chinese AI company. OpenAI's ChatGPT, which will be available in the United States and other countries, is not able to operate in China. To get similar functionality, Apple needs to ink a deal with a company that operates in China. Apple has been holding talks with Baidu, Alibaba group, and Beijing startup Baichuan AI, but there hasn't been news of an agreement.

Apple Intelligence will only be available in U.S. English at launch, and it will not be launching in the European Union when the iPhone 16 models come out, which could hurt sales in Europe. Apple said in June that it needs more time to figure out how to make Apple Intelligence compatible with the requirements of the Digital Markets Act.

With Apple Intelligence, Apple is introducing a long list of new capabilities, including Writing Tools for proofreading, polishing, and summarizing text, Image Playground for generating images, and Genmoji for creating custom emoji. Apple Intelligence will also be used to overhaul Siri, but the new Siri functionality isn't slated to launch until 2025.

Article Link: Apple Hopes iOS 18 AI Features Will Boost iPhone Shipments by 10% in 2024
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/10/apple-ai-iphone-16-shipment-boost/
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How many years can Apple sell the same phone to the same customers and expect growth year over year? Surely there is a ceiling somewhere?

Apple's outsourced OpenAI features won't even be available on these phones until several months after they ship - and probably won't be out of beta until the next phone ships. So anybody who buys these phones because of AI are really, really, easily swayed by the reality distortion field.
 
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Honestly I don’t think the presence or absence of Apple Intelligence on the iPhones means diddly squat in the EU.
I’ll buy the iPhone 16 Pro for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do Apple dedicating chip area to AI features.
I would rather have seen that die area spent elsewhere, or simply saved.
 
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It is going to take many more MR members to help carry the 90 million unit load. While there are some good upcoming OS features, Apple is probably looking towards a younger audience (as a whole) for the AI use.
 
paulovsouza said:
Am I crazy, I swear the AI features weren’t going to be available for beta until January 2025..
Click to expand...
I don't care to look up the specifics of what dates Apple promised for what features at WWDC 2024, but I refuse to believe that all the stuff is ready and polished at iPhones 16 and iOS 18 launch.

A lot of the stuff they showed was super heavy on intent which is still pretty hard to get right for most LAMs.

My prediction is that most of the stuff we've had the last 1-2 years is what will be ready at launch. All the advanced stuff could be postponed up to a year or more.

I still don't know why we didn't get a very basic version Apple Intelligence last year with iOS 17.

Like, are we going to pretend AI hype in general hasn't been on the decline lately?

iPhones 16 really need to bring a lot of newness and value that integrates with AI to make Apple's hopes a reality.
 
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Since the first iPhone was introduced I didn’t had every model, but I didn’t had anything else then an iPhone. Because of the decision of Apple to not include the EU in the AI Features I will absolutely consider to buy a Pixel Phone instead. Therefore good luck reaching the +10%
 
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"so anyone with an older iPhone that wants to take advantage of the new capabilities will need to upgrade this year." - this is nonsense. First of all, by all indications (including a third developer beta that still doesn't have any AI features) are that Apple Intelligence won't appear until sometime in 2025. So there's zero need to buy an iPhone 16 in 2024 in order to take advantage of this non-existent feature. Even if AI turns out to be such a 'killer app' - only likely if Siri gets a complete overhaul - that people will choose a new phone to get it, it's more likely that a resulting 'super cycle' only happens after people have had a chance to see this magic. So, at the earliest, I think, will be the iPhone 17 sales in 2025.
 
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