Craig Federighi Explains Phased Release of Apple Intelligence Features

[wanha]

I mean, in terms of hardware, the most recent one is the iPad Mini. But mainly, I’m referring to software, Apple keeps releasing half-baked software full of bugs all the time. But besides the bugs, I read a good comment a few days ago (I think it was on MacRumors, too) that Apple is releasing abandonware. They release new apps and features then barely touch them ever again, or at best, only every few years. A few examples: the Journal app (which really needs an iPad version), and Freeform, which was released the same year they introduced new pen styles in the Notes app. But it took them until the next major OS release to add those pen options to Freeform (why?), Fitness+ (at least it good a few smaller updates) could be so much better with more features (it is a paid service, do better!), and many more. Nowadays, they only seem to update apps to include more ads (Stocks, App Store, etc.).

I agree with you that Apple has recently had a weird and spotty track record when it comes to updating their own apps. Music on the Mac comes to mind first, but there are countless others.

But that isn't the point of this conversation; none of those apps was "half-baked garbage" when it launched.

They were neglected after in many cases, yes, but they weren't garbage or terrible apps when they launched (nor are they now).

To this day, I find it very rare that Apple launches total garbage software. Sure, sometimes there are notable bugs, but that's not the same thing as saying the software was half-baked garbage.

But apparently people here have different opinions and I'm just trying to understand the specifics of that

 

[iZac]

An excerpt of one of the answers Apples marketing team requested to be removed from the interview:

"Honestly we were shocked by how consumers and investors were sucked into Chat GPTs smoke and mirrors and how convincingly basement dwellers are generating salacious images of women and retro sci-fi skylines with Stable Diffusion. So early this year we scrambled to try and shoehorn a chatbot into Siri to make it less useless and create an incredibly gimmicky image generation system that's much less filthy than the stuff we're seeing online. Simply put, it's just not done."
​

Sorry, another of my bad jokes. More seriously, it will be really interesting to see exactly where the line is drawn on cloud compute vs local compute. I think they're being disingenuous as to how much is going to be on-device. He mentions "long form" content being cloud compute. How's that defined? All emails? an iMessage over X number of characters? Also I feel some (many?) of these Siri improvements are just normal service improvements that are now being branded under this fashionable catchall term of AI.

 

[Etc_]

I agree with you that Apple has recently had a weird and spotty track record when it comes to updating their own apps. Music on the Mac comes to mind first, but there are countless others.

But that isn't the point of this conversation; none of those apps was "half-baked garbage" when it launched.

They were neglected after in many cases, yes, but they weren't garbage or terrible apps when they launched (nor are they now).

To this day, I find it very rare that Apple launches total garbage software. Sure, sometimes there are notable bugs, but that's not the same thing as saying the software was half-baked garbage.

But apparently people here have different opinions and I'm just trying to understand the specifics of that

And that’s valid; of course, there are good examples too. I’m actually a fan of the new Passwords app, especially after using the old 'app' at least a year before (long-time 1Password user here, but it became too bloated). However, in terms of features, it’s basically the exact same thing, just in its own app layer. I hope it doesn’t take Apple years to add more basic features, like categories, tags, file attachments (though you can work around that with protected notes), and other smaller improvements.

 

[Digital Dude]

In other words, taper your expectations and be prepared for some great add-ons and big disappointments. If Apple AI is anything like what Siri is now, it's an absolute disaster already. It can and I hope should only go up from here.

How dare you mention reality in the most pro-Apple forum! Jokes aside, I totally agree. I still can’t get over the fact that Apple named their AI ‘Apple Intelligence.’ I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking or just plain arrogance, but I have a feeling it’s going to come back to bite them either way. 🤌🏼

 

[kiranmk2]

So how are Apple training their AI models if it's not using user data?

 

[Etc_]

So how are Apple training their AI models if it's not using user data?

They scraped websites using their web crawler, but conveniently released an opt-out manual only after they had already trained their models. They also bought 'licensed' training data (whatever that means).

 

[DamFu]

Gemini is miles better and ahead of apple, I feel this is Apple’s way to say why it’s a slow roll out

Isn't that largely due to a lot of Gemini processing being server based versus AI being more on device processing? Unless I misunderstood the article, which is entirely possible.

 

[wanha]

And that’s valid; of course, there are good examples too. I’m actually a fan of the new Passwords app, especially after using the old 'app' at least a year before (long-time 1Password user here, but it became too bloated). However, in terms of features, it’s basically the exact same thing, just in its own app layer. I hope it doesn’t take Apple years to add more basic features, like categories, tags, file attachments (though you can work around that with protected notes), and other smaller improvements.

I think we largely agree on this.

Hopefully something at Apple changes and these apps start seeing more regular and significant updates to them.

 

[wanha]

Cock or Federighi?
But surely one of the two is to blame for the lack of software over the years of ALL Apple products (not one is spared).

Out of those two, Imma go with the Rooster.

 

[hagar]

Apple is right in identifying their USP is access to user data and deep ecosystem integration: Make AI do things for you based on your data and user patterns.

It’s too bad they completely missed the boat and are now playing catchup to shoehorn this into good old Siri and the rest of their OS’es. My expectations in terms of actual usefulness are very low for now.

The rest (summarising, genmoji,…) are complete nonsense. Exists already and is so trivial it barely moves the needle.

 

[JippaLippa]

I'd like to know the state of the talks with the EU.
At least knowing what's the current situation and what we can expect to see in the upcoming months.
The EU still is a huge market for apple.

 

[nycgeo]

Is it a spiel though to not rush half-baked garbage out just to excite tech forums?

I think of it as satisfying the promise they made in their advertising to iPhone 16 buyers. They are literally out there running ads everywhere featuring the new Siri animation and cleanup tools along with visual intelligence to sell the phones, and the technology is simply not on the phones at all.

That’s crazy seeing as it’s the literal focus of the advertising. It’s at best dumb and at worst fraud. For a $3T company it’s also pathetic.

That’s 3000+ Billion dollars. There’s absolutely no excuse.

 

[Corefile]

He's been well-briefed by Apple PR and Apple Marketing to hit all the Apple-isms as talking points. The real truth lies in the fact that Apple "Intelligence" will be rubbish. It was pointed out it's two years behind the competition just the other day. That's literally in PROLOG backtracking territory.

 

[Jarman74]

Loved this interview. For once, someone at Apple wasn’t thrown the usual softball questions, and you get real insight into what’s (not) coming in the next year(s).

 

[JippaLippa]

Better to skip the iPhone 16 family altogether and wait until Apple sorts things out. By the next version, they’ll have a better sense of the hardware required and enough time to fix the bugs. It's all still in Beta now.

Well, I'm planning to switch to a 16 pro from a 13 non pro.
So it'd be quite the upgrade for me.
I'm also not super interested in Apple Intelligence; nice to have, but not a selling factor.

 

[scorpio vega]

Wow, I wish they thought the same about all the rest of the software

I have no complaints over the rest of the software.

 

[Mr. Nice]

Yes... AI...
But what about the "little" iOS things?
When I look at the UI of the Photos app, I don't think Apple is testing their own stuff anymore.
iPhone displays getting bigger and bigger and no sidebar to navigate in the iOS 18 Photos app.

And the auto correction in iOS...in German...just garbage.
I'm curious to see how it will be in iOS 18.

I hope they get AI much better than iOS 18!

 

[Zeus2018]

Nobody want a Sonos app experience taking out their iOS.

 

[xmarcuswildx]

Still wing clipping Siri. Why do they even bother having it?

 

[IIGS User]

Either way, people will kvetch.

Either Apple is rolling out garbage because they rushed it to the public, or they’re taking too much time and falling behind.

I like the cautious approach. I’ve been running the 18.1 beta for a while now. It was a messy experience for me. I will probably shy away from the next rounds of beta and stick with the final or at least RC versions before I move again.

 

[iGeek2019]

Apple Intelligence is still restricted to US EN it?

Yes, for now. Additional countries are being released later on this year and early next.

 

[uacd]

Most of the tech sites and bloggers completely ignore the fact that iOS 18 is much more that AI features and Siri on steroids, it is a brand new photos app which is a nightmare to use, new image previewer in photos and extra ugly rounded control center icons and switches. It feels much worse than it was when Apple unveiled iOS 7.

And iOS 18 is the first Apple’s mobile OS where option to update software was moved to “Also available” section. Makes me think their software department are not really proud of this operating system either

 

[Barcamatic]

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple's head of software Craig Federighi has highlighted the company's measured, multi-phase approach to introducing Apple Intelligence features, with the initial iOS 18.1 release next week marking just the beginning of a staggered rollout over several months.

"This is a big lift," Federighi told WSJ's Joanna Stern, explaining Apple's cautious strategy of integrating AI into its devices. "You could put something out there and have it be sort of a mess. Apple's point of view is more like, 'Let's try to get each piece right and release it when it's ready.'"

The initial release will focus on basic features including Writing Tools for text summarization, notification summaries, and a Clean Up tool in Photos for removing unwanted objects. While most processing occurs on-device, Apple's Private Cloud Compute system handles more intensive tasks through encrypted servers. In other words, user data isn't stored or accessed for AI training.

Apple's approach differs significantly from other large language models, which typically process all user input on cloud servers. According to Federighi, the company's personally oriented, privacy-first approach is also why Siri won't offer the sort of answers that one might get from something like ChatGPT.

"There's a trade-off across capabilities," he explained. "Those other chatbots are great if you want to ask a question about quantum mechanics, and then have them write a poem about it, but they won't open your garage or send a text message. Will these worlds converge? Of course."

Several anticipated features showcased by Apple at WWDC in June won't appear until later updates: iOS 18.2 is expected before the end of the year, and will introduce Image Playground for generating cartoon-style images and Genmoji for creating custom emoji. The update will also add ChatGPT integration for handling complex Siri queries.

The most significant Siri enhancements are scheduled for iOS 18.4 around March 2025. These include onscreen awareness for contextual commands, personal context for better understanding of user data, and expanded app control capabilities. Initially, Apple Intelligence will only support U.S. English, with additional languages planned for next year.

In contrast to its rivals, Apple is taking a particularly measured approach to image manipulation. The new Clean Up tool in Photos allows users to remove unwanted objects or people from images, but avoids more complex AI-generated alterations like changing the background. "People view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality," explained Federighi. "It's important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy."

Speaking more broadly about the rollout of Apple Intelligence features, Federighi said: "This is a many-year, honestly, even decades-long arc of this technology playing out, and so we're going to do it responsibly." The new Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, as well as Apple silicon-powered iPads and Macs, when iOS 18.1 launches on October 28.

Article Link: Craig Federighi Explains Phased Release of Apple Intelligence Features

Please, KILL SIRI. I hate that useless, dumb assistant. Turn light on/off, set a timer? That’s ok. Anything else? Nope. I had to turn it off since I got so frustrated with it.

 

[uacd]

Isn't the real problem that Apple doesn't use user data to improve their AI systems? Why not anonymize the data to train these models more effectively? If Apple had done this, we wouldn’t be waiting over a decade for Siri to stop being such a pain.

Because it is expensive to process so much (potential) data. Google, OpenAltman, M$ do that strictly because they sell the data all over the Internet. Apple currently has no plans or even idea how to sell user data, but they will probably resort to this in the future when iPhone sales hit record low

 

[nostradumbass]

Craig is one of the few leaders in tech these days who talks like a responsible inspirational adult.

If Jobs didn't pass away early we would not have seen so many people in tech behave like lunatics and scammers in recent years. He would have put them in their place or they would be trying to stay on his good side. Cook has been very timid and tolerant of the extremism that has occurred. You know which extremist I'm talking about.