Other Is AI enough to upgrade to iPhone 16 / Plus / Pro / Max?

[tagsaid]

I have been playing around with Apple Intelligence on my MacBook, and as fun as it is, I have yet to find a place where it becomes part of my daily life. Not saying it won't happen, it just has not happened yet.

That said, I know that the iPhone 16's (entire lineup) will have more than just AI integration built in, but, would AI by itself be enough for you to upgrade to iPhone 16/Plus/Pro/Pro Max?

When I first saw the demo I immediately said yes, but after my experience on macOS, I am thinking it may be worth waiting to see what happens.

 

[S.B.G]

AI by itself wasn't enough to compel me to wait for the new iPhone. I just came back to iPhone after several years on Google Pixels. I'll say the thing that made me buy the iPhone 15 a couple of weeks ago was the availability of the color yellow. I really liked how that looked. From the rumors on the iPhone 16 color lineup it appears that Apple is eliminating the yellow option.

So, color was my deciding factor. AI holds very little appeal in all areas of my daily life.

 

[eyoungren]

I don't want AI, much like I don't want SIRI or memojis or at lot of the stuff Apple likes to tell me are great features (that I will never use).

Make the camera flush with the housing, instead of a giant boil on the back of the phone and that'll be a very big motivator for me.

I don't see that happening anytime soon though.

 

[S.B.G]

I don't want AI, much like I don't want SIRI or memojis or at lot of the stuff Apple likes to tell me are great features (that I will never use).

Make the camera flush with the housing, instead of a giant boil on the back of the phone and that'll be a very big motivator for me.

I don't see that happening anytime soon though.

I agree with you on Siri, Memojis and especially on the camera bumps. I have no problem with the fancy cameras that these are, but I'm also not out taking photos for National Geographic. I'd be happy to have an iPhone option with all the same specs, but an optional less-fancy camera that is flush with the housing.

Then all the photogs out there can always option up for the better cameras.

 

[eyoungren]

I agree with you on Siri, Memojis and especially on the camera bumps. I have no problem with the fancy cameras that these are, but I'm also not out taking photos for National Geographic. I'd be happy to have an iPhone option with all the same specs, but an optional less-fancy camera that is flush with the housing.

Then all the photogs out there can always option up for the better cameras.

As I have mentioned here (this subforum) many times, a great majority of my photos are taken at Walmart and consist of the available items for sale on any particular subject. They are sent to my wife so that she can review these photos and then tell me which item it is that she wishes me to purchase and bring home to her.

The rest tend to be pics and screenshots intended to be posted on two MacRumors subforums that I frequent.

Having some gigabzaillion pixel camera is just wasted on all of this. And given me and my family's distaste for having our picture taken this is pretty much the entire use I have for a camera on my phone.

 

[Ries]

It would be nice to have a Siri that isn't dumber than a rock, but im not using it enough that it would make a change for me. Maybe because it's dumber than a rock. I just hope they add something predictive typing autocomplete for my native language.

Siri reads text message in apple car play.
Siri: Would you like to respond?
Me: No.
Siri: Send "No" to John Doe?

 

[now i see it]

Only time I get a newer iPhone is when the one I’m using becomes excruciating to use due to iOS updates slowing it down.

 

[jz0309]

I have been playing around with Apple Intelligence on my MacBook, and as fun as it is, I have yet to find a place where it becomes part of my daily life. Not saying it won't happen, it just has not happened yet.

That said, I know that the iPhone 16's (entire lineup) will have more than just AI integration built in, but, would AI by itself be enough for you to upgrade to iPhone 16/Plus/Pro/Pro Max?

When I first saw the demo I immediately said yes, but after my experience on macOS, I am thinking it may be worth waiting to see what happens.

from what I've seen and read thus far about Apple Intelligence - absolutely not for me.

IF/WHEN Apple Intelligence offers compelling features that improve my use of phones/devices, then I will consider it.
YMMV

 

[thecautioners]

Well, I plan to upgrade for the dopamine boost and shiny new toy. AI might be a fun bonus though. I won’t update to iOS 18 on my current phone so when I get the 16PM it’ll all be a surprise for me

 

[Shirasaki]

I plan to upgrade anyway, but that has nothing to do, absolutely nothing to do with AI. I wouldn’t even care about AI until Maybe 2025. And frankly, current “AI” says nothing about “intelligence” in a more serious sense. Scrambling gigantic library of data to form something is not truly “intelligence”. But that’s for another day.

Either way, AI has no influence on my decision whatsoever.

 

[whitby]

I see no benefit to AI on my phone. Maybe on the desktop and maybe my iPAd. I see Ai getting in the way (like spelling correction) on my iPhone and since I am not 12 years old, I do not edit my photos on my iPhone, I use something where I can actually see the photograph.

 

[xxFoxtail]

I don't want AI, much like I don't want SIRI or memojis or at lot of the stuff Apple likes to tell me are great features (that I will never use).

I'm the same exact way. I know it's possible to turn off the AI features (at least on my MacBook, anyway), but it's another reason to hold on to my 14 Pro as long as possible. I'm personally waiting for a new mini or a flip phone style to upgrade to anyway, that could be years away or never.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

It’s not a sole reason to upgrade no. I’m not bothered whether I have it at this point or not.

 

[Cobold]

I will upgrade to the 16 Pro Max even thou AI is not even available here in Germany.
So, no, AI is no reason to upgrade at all. 🤣

 

[krspkbl]

I haven't used it and I'll get it since I'm in the UK with a 15 Pro Max but I don't really feel a need for any AI in my life. At first I was excited but then using things like ChatGPT, Co-pilot, Stable Diffusion I realised I don't really need it.

I'll give it a shot but if I had a phone that doesn't support it I doubt I'd be tempted to upgrade.

 

[HDFan]

1. We need to see the announcement before deciding if the new phones will be significantly better with AI.
2. Although I don't see any immediate daily use for AI I know in the future there will be something that I will want to use. Just don't know what it is as of yet.

 

[saber32au]

I'm the same exact way.

Add me to the list.

At present, I haven't seen any AI compelling feature that I'd consider as part of my next phone purchase.
Perhaps in 5 or so years time when the current AI "buzz" wares off and the market starts to mature...
Ditto for the other items Apple markets as "features" such as siri, memojis etc.

A phone that I can use for the next 4-6 years that remains fast enough to complete the tasks I need to complete, has good battery life, and otherwise lets me get on with life's more important tasks is what I'm after.

 

[Ctrlos]

Yes. Where OpenAI are running themselves into the ground and Google don't even have a web page telling you what Gemini actually does, Apple Intelligence does most of its cool stuff on your device which transforms it from a service into a feature. What good is an AI that always requires an internet connection in a word that isn't guaranteed.

I recently fed a 30-minute transcript of research notes into GPT, Gemini and Apple Intel. GPT gave the most concise rewrite but missed a lot of things out. Gemini spat out an error after 6 attempts. Apple rewrote it, with a warning that it was quite long all on my iPad.

 

[klasma]

Yes. Where OpenAI are running themselves into the ground and Google don't even have a web page telling you what Gemini actually does, Apple Intelligence does most of its cool stuff on your device which transforms it from a service into a feature. What good is an AI that always requires an internet connection in a word that isn't guaranteed.

I recently fed a 30-minute transcript of research notes into GPT, Gemini and Apple Intel. GPT gave the most concise rewrite but missed a lot of things out. Gemini spat out an error after 6 attempts. Apple rewrote it, with a warning that it was quite long all on my iPad.

Did you test which Apple Intelligence functions actually work without internet connection? Other testers said it’s not really clear what is being done exclusively on device at this point.

 

[GrayFlannel]

We need to wait for Apple Intelligence and Apple’s use of artificial intelligence to produce some quantitative and qualitative results. Right now Apple is merely selling words and vague hopes.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I use it on my m1 iPad Pro, highlighting important mails accross multiple accounts, summarizing and notes are great for me. I won’t upgrade my iPhone 13 PM. I like it more on iPad Pro, and my MBP is main driver, and would need to wait till next year when bugs are sorted out.

 

[Ctrlos]

Did you test which Apple Intelligence functions actually work without internet connection? Other testers said it’s not really clear what is being done exclusively on device at this point.

All I used was rewrite but this works on-device. I tested it in airplane mode and its fine. It was a lot faster selecting paragraphs rather than the whole text though.

 

[Populus]

I guess I’m on the minority.

I’ve previously said that Apple Intelligence isn’t the driving factor for me to update to iOS 18. However, I don’t have an iPhone capable of AI. If I were to chose a new iPhone, the A18 would (and probably will) be my minimum spec. And one of the reasons for that, would be having the ability to summarize, check the grammar, extract info, or having a smarter Siri.

I will only be able to use Apple Intelligence on my M2 iPad Pro. And if it works well, doesn’t make it run super hot, and doesn’t drain the battery excessively, I could consider in the future an A18 powered iPhone (yes, I know the A17 Pro can run it, but I’m not a fan of that chip).

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Those of us in Europe upgrading this year won’t have to worry about whether we want AI or not as it won’t be available on our devices anyway. You can’t miss what you can’t get, problem solved lol.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I have been playing around with Apple Intelligence on my MacBook, and as fun as it is, I have yet to find a place where it becomes part of my daily life. Not saying it won't happen, it just has not happened yet.

That said, I know that the iPhone 16's (entire lineup) will have more than just AI integration built in, but, would AI by itself be enough for you to upgrade to iPhone 16/Plus/Pro/Pro Max?

When I first saw the demo I immediately said yes, but after my experience on macOS, I am thinking it may be worth waiting to see what happens.

I did not vote because no choice suited. I hate polls trying to force a choice to publicize nonsense results. My choice re: AI is to wait until after 16s are on the street being real-world tested (not UTubers sensationalizing); and, testing myself in an Apple Store.

Note that other [non-AI] issues, like camera for instance, may be adequately covered enough at the Keynote to get me to buy a 16 PM.