Kuo: Apple Knows Apple Intelligence is 'Underwhelming' and Won't Drive iPhone Upgrades

[Minato1990]

John Oliver needs to do a segment on Apple being a bunch of scamming con artists for this

 

[novagamer]

These tech writers are being way over the top over this. We don’t even know how far delayed it is. Heck, we don’t even know if it may still wind up in a later 18 update. Get a grip people. Besides, even if it is delayed into 19, I would much rather that than them rush out something with security/privacy issues or other major bugs. And everywhere Apple showed those features they did, in fact, have a disclaimer that those features would be coming in a later update. Even in the ads people are so upset about. Just get a grip… 🤦🏼‍♂️

I will personally send you $100 if Apple ships working personalized Siri in iOS 18 ahead of the iPhone 17 announcement. You can quote me, and PM me when it happens.

This stuff is hard to get right. You’re right they shouldn’t rush it, but Apple couldn’t even get summaries working properly, which I fully expected, and didn’t have the balls to label Apple Intelligence summaries as being Apple branded. They’re not going to ship something insanely complex soon and risk even further brand damage.

Yes exactly, which is why it relieves the anxiety of an anticipated email while still allowing me to hold off for a bit more on actually reading it. Kind of like a snooze.

AI dreams electronic mails electric.

An Apple Intelligence summary told me I had a critical report from an administrator. It was an automated notification of a thread I didn’t even own, because it works so poorly they didn’t index back to the start and find the originating subscription to the issue which could have been possible if it was designed better. Exactly the opposite experience where I got stressed out, logged in to a bunch of systems to check, and wasted my time and energy. I naively thought mail summaries were opt-in so I didn’t double-check the email before responding, since it told me it had a critical severity.

 

[FoxyKaye]

I've used "Cleanup" successfully... Once. Not for lack of trying. Many, many times. The last photo I tried yesterday was one of my dog on a monochrome leather couch. All I wanted to do was remove a stack of papers on the flat surface of the couch. Cleanup itself even identified the papers as possible to clean up. Annnnd... It looked like a black hole formed on the surface of the couch. Every. Single. Time.

FWIW, all the new AI garbage that Google is foisting on Workspace accounts is equally bad - "Polish" not only is a waste of screen space, it reduces writing to the average 5th grade level. The only Gemini "feature" that I've found useful is Meet transcription, which... Voice to text has worked just fine for decades.

 

[Chungry]

I will personally send you $100 if Apple ships working personalized Siri in iOS 18 ahead of the iPhone 17 announcement. You can quote me, and PM me when it happens.

This stuff is hard to get right. You’re right they shouldn’t rush it, but Apple couldn’t even get summaries working properly, which I fully expected, and didn’t have the balls to label Apple Intelligence summaries as being Apple branded. They’re not going to ship something insanely complex soon and risk even further brand damage.


An Apple Intelligence summary told me I had a critical report from an administrator. It was an automated notification of a thread I didn’t even own, because it works so poorly they didn’t index back to the start and find the originating subscription to the issue which could have been possible if it was designed better. Exactly the opposite experience where I got stressed out, logged in to a bunch of systems to check, and wasted my time and energy.

Hit the nail on the head. Apple not branding the summaries with their logo means they don't stand behind it and have zero confidence in it. I turned off summaries on a work phone for similar reasons you described.

 

[acader]

Apple missed the boat on 2 crucial areas - Maps and Voice Interaction. They've been struggling to remedy the situation and it hasn't happened despite some acquisitions. If somebody speaks grammatically perfect English but without an American accent, an iPhone set with US locale, just doesn't get it. Maybe Siri's test sample at the root level wasn't great. Android does an amazing job of language-aware contextual recognition.

Getting AI into a severely inadequate Siri is not going to be easy!!!!

 

[Chungry]

I've used "Cleanup" successfully... Once. Not for lack of trying. Many, many times. The last photo I tried yesterday was one of my dog on a monochrome leather couch. All I wanted to do was remove a stack of papers on the flat surface of the couch. Cleanup itself even identified the papers as possible to clean up. Annnnd... It looked like a black hole formed on the surface of the couch. Every. Single. Time.

FWIW, all the new AI garbage that Google is foisting on Workspace accounts is equally bad - "Polish" not only is a waste of screen space, it reduces writing to the average 5th grade level. The only Gemini "feature" that I've found useful is Meet transcription, which... Voice to text has worked just fine for decades.

FWIW Galaxy is amazing at cleanup/removal and insertion. It's like magic.

 

[9081094]

I moved off iOS for my main phone. For what it's worth, and despite the rocky start Gemini is amazing now. It fulfills on the promises made. Plus there's some great and humane interface paradigms in other systems that iOS should wholesale copy.

So you know that there is real useful impressive things out there. Apple’s Siri is already 15 years old and Apple has known for years that Google was working on Gemini. Complaints about Siri are from the start over how poorly it performed and grew by the year. It’s unprecedented that a billion dollar company with enough money on the bank has gotten in this situation. That’s a real failure in leadership and there have been so much more these last decade. It’s time for a refresh at the top.

 

[Chungry]

So you know that there is real useful impressive things out there. Apple’s Siri is already 15 years old and Apple has known for years that Google was working on Gemini. Complaints about Siri are from the start over how poorly it performed and grew by the year. It’s unprecedented that a billion dollar company with enough money on the bank has gotten in this situation. That’s a real failure in leadership and there have been so much more these last decade. It’s time for a refresh at the top.

Completely agree. However. The insulation (shareholder value) is thick around Tim. It's the financial equivalent of the testudo formation. He probably doesn't know anything is wrong either. I wonder how well his quote will age about using every Apple product each day... I just shrugged that off but I think it's the musings of a gaslighting fantasist

 

[Sylvan]

I’m not surprised. Honestly the only thing that gets me to upgrade my phone is when the current one no longer works effectively. No amount of shiny new features will entice me to upgrade a perfectly good phone (currently on a 13 Pro).

 

[MrGimper]

I mean if I could ask it to turn off my Phillips hue lights, and it work better than Siri that would be nice.
Otherwise I don’t really care about it tbh.

I use alexa to control mine 😉

 

[tocatlian]

The delay in Siri’s advancements is not only affecting existing products like the HomePod, which could greatly benefit from Apple Intelligence, but also stalling the introduction of new products like the rumored HomePad. Instead of focusing on innovations people actually want—like improving CarPlay or offering a true competitor to Meta’s smart glasses—Apple has spent years developing products with little demand, such as the Apple Car and Vision Pro. It’s a clear case of failed strategy and failed execution, leaving them struggling to keep up in key areas while missing opportunities to lead where it truly matters. Surprisingly, these missteps have yet to impact Apple’s share price. Most companies without a cash war chest as large as Apple’s wouldn’t have survived these failures. Let’s just hope they don’t falter on privacy, one of the few remaining pillars that still sets them apart.

 

[anthogag]

I am in no rush to have full blown AI on my devices. I can wait for iOS upgrades to install new AI features.

I upgrade to a newer iPhone to get a better device. I hope with the new camera bar they make the flashlight larger.

 

[JohnC1959]

That’s why you shouldn’t combine all posts. That’s what AI might do. The truth is, some people are interested in AI but want it to work well. That’s why they are upset at Apple. But many others aren’t interested in AI at all. Two different groups with two different points of view.

oh, I fully agree but I'm not sure many posting quite see that.

 

[carrrrrlos]

Presses down on iPhone Action button OR taps Siri icon on top menu bar of Mac:
When will Apple Intelligence be ready? - me
Answer 1. It doesn’t look like you have an app named Apple Intelligence - Siri
Answer 2. Sorry I don’t understand - Siri
*Answer 3. Ok - Siri

Not a joke, try it.

*Edited

 

[bushman4]

Apple seems to have lost its mojo. Hardware needs improvement such as a foldable
Software as well as Apple Intelligence could be better
Does Apple really expect people to upgrade?

 

[charlesdayton]

Is there a single Apple Intelligence feature that isn’t just a gimmick?

Genuine question.

I think this applies to AI in general, not just Apple.

There are niche applications for AI, like graphics design. But pushing AI on every OS and App is just delaying development of core features most people use.

 

[Chungry]

Apple seems to have lost its mojo. Hardware needs improvement such as a foldable
Software as well as Apple Intelligence could be better
Does Apple really expect people to upgrade?

Apple needs to see if foldables continue to decline before jumping in. They need to NOT release something right now. because it's clear they can't walk and chew gum. What Apple needs to do is focus on software quality and shipping.

 

[Chungry]

I suggest we take away all coffee from Cupertino. Coffee is for closers.

 

[srbNYC]

So, is the "on device" goal the reason Apple Intelligence is so far behind all the others?

 

[Logic368]

Forget about the business for a minute and go back to the product. Take an honest and very critical look at the product.

This is what Apple did when Steve returned. Most fluent in business and company management would NOT have looked favorably on what Apple was doing when Steve was given the reigns again.

Apple looked at the product and followed through on what the vision and their standards for said product was and executed. As a result, Apple flourished.

Thank you! Apple of the early 2000’s was about empowerment. Photography, music, videos, desktop publishing, website design, etc. these were things that you could hire a professional to do, or you could learn how to do it yourself, with the aid of their software. Macs were a singular tool that allowed you to express yourself. Today, it’s all about asking your computer to create something that other people are going to click and watch for a few seconds. You’re not creating something long-lasting, something that really contains a part of you. It feels horridly like the “big brother” in their famous 1984 ad.

 

[Chungry]

So, is the "on device" goal the reason Apple Intelligence is so far behind all the others?

On the consumer-facing side, yes. On the services side it's the other part of the equation: the PCC

 

[transpo1]

Most of us knew this last year already. No amount of paying Bella Ramsey for ads will fix this.

Apple is 2-3 years behind ChatGPT and Gemini, never mind leading edge stuff like DeepSeek. There is no way they're closing that gap so quickly. Data is the fuel for AI. Apple has none to feed it either.

It may be time for Apple to cough up some dough and buy an AI company that has the tech they need…wouldn’t be surprised if that happens in the next 12 months.

 

[amaze1499]

I suspect none are truly reaching some sort of higher ground with customers on AI yet. Sure plenty use Gemini or ChatGPT to answer all sorts of things but Apple users can use those exact tools too. Even if Apple was doing great at AI now there would be a lag before users were frequently using it. Some would avoid it on principle at first and others just wouldn't know what situations it could help. But over time and after hearing how friends use it it would slowly creep into their daily lives.

I found an interview with Signal President Meredith Whittaker who warns of "real danger" in agentic Al hype.

Mr. Gruber assumes something is rotten at Apple but he doesn’t talk about privacy issues when using AI agents access every kind of your data. “Hey Siri, book the tickets for the theatre tonight and tell my friends we will meet in front of somewhere and pay the tickets with Apple Pay.”

In the UK, they just removed encryption from iCloud today. AI itself is becoming the biggest privacy issue we’ve ever had.

 

[Ghengis LeMond]

Idk if the grass is greener on the Android side when it comes to their voice assistant, but I'm tired of Siri's missing features and am, for the first time ever, considering Android.

Besides the problems where Siri doesn't understand what I'm asking or misfiring a web search that doesn't make sense (e.g., asking it to set an appointment and it somehow re-working that into a web search, like wtf). It is also frustrating when I have emails or text messages between friends or work collogues determining the timing of some activity or meeting, and I'm left to input that information in manually into the iPhone calendar app because **** us, we aren't getting context sensitive Siri we are stuck with dumb as ****ing dog **** Siri. I want to just tell Siri "Make an appointment based on what is on the screen right now" and have confidence that it will be correct.

 

[Corefile]

Apple Intelligence feels artificial to me.