After five months of hype and more than a month of delay, Apple Intelligence is finally going to undergo user testing next week.
On Wednesday, October 23rd local time, Apple announced that the official public version of Apple Intelligence will be launched in iOS 18.1 next week.
However, Apple still continues the tradition of "squeezing toothpaste". On the same day, Apple also released a preview version of iOS 18.2 to developers, which includes more powerful image generation tools and ChatGPT integration.
Renowned technology journalist Mark Gurman stated after testing the iOS 18.1 version of Apple Intelligence that its features have not yet met people's expectations.
Due to the failure of Apple Intelligence to synchronize with the release of iPhone 16, the initial sales of iPhone 16 were weak. So, the release of Apple Intelligence next week may directly determine Apple's future phone sales and market value.
Apple AI arrived late, with users experiencing it first
Renowned technology journalist Mark Gurman stated that the release date of iOS 18.1 is October 28th.
It is reported that iOS 18.1 introduces some features of Apple Intelligence, including the Writing Tool suite that supports text proofreading and rewriting, Clean Up in Photos, Notification Summaries, and Siri enhancements.
Overall, users who have already experienced it in advance do not have high ratings for the "first generation" Apple Intelligence.
Technology journalist Joanna Stern said, "Apple's ability to directly embed tools into operating systems is undoubtedly very powerful and convenient, but many tools are not yet mature enough
Mark Gurman stated on the X platform that consumers may feel disappointed. When it is actually released next week, many consumers will ask, 'Is that all?' Compared to the latest products from Google, OpenAI, and Meta, there is still a significant gap in Apple's AI capabilities.
Youtube blogger Brandon Butch said that Apple Intelligence is great, but Siri is still stupid.
Even within Apple, the evaluation of this is not high. Gurman revealed that some employees of Apple believe that its generative artificial intelligence technology is more than two years behind industry leaders, at least so far.
In contrast, the "second-generation" Apple Intelligence expected to be released in iOS 18.2 may impress users.
According to Apple, a preview version of iOS 18.2 has been released to developers, which not only includes text rewriting tools, intelligent emoji Genmoji, AI image generator Image Playground, and image processing tool Image Wand, but also integrates OpenAI's ChatGPT function.
Brandon Butch has already previewed iOS 18.2 and released a video of the experience.
From the video, it can be seen that with the support of ChatGPT, text writing tools can not only generate the required copy with one click, but also use other methods to modify and adjust AI generated text. In addition, the tool supports summarizing the user's note content into several small tags and then converting them into images.
The image generation tool Image Playground allows users to freely select elements and merge them to generate several images.
In addition, users can also add prompt text to generate the desired image together with the selected elements, or directly generate images through text.
The intelligent emoji package Genmoji can generate personalized emojis based on text descriptions and the user's personal image, and can also be used in subsequent SMS chats.
The image processing tool Image Wand only requires a user's sketch to polish it into a masterpiece with rich color structure. Users can also adjust the generated results through prompt text.
The new version of Siri, which has been integrated with ChatGPT, can directly provide answers to users' questions based on the information provided by ChatGPT. Compared to the old version of Siri, the new version has greatly improved its intelligence.
Can Apple Intelligence Save iPhone 16 Sales
The 'skipping ticket' of Apple Intelligence directly affected the sales of iPhone 16.
Although Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple, stated that Apple hopes to ensure that every part is done well before releasing.
But the market will not wait for Apple to 'squeeze toothpaste'.
Earlier this month, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee stated that initial sales of the iPhone 16 appeared to be weaker compared to previous products, primarily due to a lack of AI capabilities.
According to a blog post by Guo Mingchi, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, Apple sold only about 37 million units in the first weekend of iPhone 16 pre-sales, a decrease of over 12% compared to the same period last year. Especially compared to the launch of iPhone 15, the demand for higher priced iPhone 16 Pro devices has significantly decreased year-on-year. In addition, Apple has reduced its iPhone 16 orders by 10 million units.
Guo Mingchi added, "Some market participants are optimistic that Apple Intelligence may soon significantly increase iPhone shipments. However, Apple's recent order cuts indicate that this optimistic expectation may not be realized in the short term
In the Chinese market, iPhone sales declined by 0.3% in the third quarter of 2024, while Huawei's sales increased by 42% in that quarter. The latest data from research firm IDC shows that Apple ranks second with a market share of 15.6%, but a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percentage points.
According to a report released by Paijie Investment Company on the 25th, Apple Intelligence will not trigger a super cycle of mobile phone demand during the 2024 holiday period.
Investors hope that AI capabilities can trigger a wave of iPhone upgrades. However, according to a survey by the scientific media CNET, 1/4 of consumers believe that AI functions on their phones are not helpful at all. The biggest motivation for adult smartphone users in the United States to upgrade their devices is longer battery life (61%), followed by larger storage space (46%) and better camera functionality (38%). Only 18% of people stated that their main motivation is AI integration.
Cook's sudden visit to China may be related to the landing of Apple Intelligence
At a critical moment when Apple Intelligence was about to be released, Apple CEO Cook suddenly posted on Weibo that he had arrived in Beijing.
Cook's schedule for this visit to China is very tight. During a visit to Sina Weibo, when asked when Apple Intelligence would enter China, Cook responded, "We are working hard to bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese consumers as soon as possible
According to reports, Apple may also explore establishing AI partnerships with companies such as Baidu in China. Regarding this, Baidu told a reporter from the Daily Economic News, "There is currently no response
In addition, Cook also hopes to boost the sales of Apple products in China through this trip.
Nvidia is pressing closely, can Apple hold on to its position as the "top player in the US stock market"?
In the past week, the stock prices of technology stocks in the US have fluctuated significantly, but the market value gap between Nvidia and Apple has gradually narrowed. Everyone is watching as to when Apple, the latecomer to AI, will be pushed out of the position of "top brother" in the US stock market by AI "flag bearer" Nvidia.
On Friday, Nvidia's stock price rose by over 2% at one point, briefly surpassing Apple's total market value and topping the world's top spot, but fell slightly in the late trading session. As of the close, Apple's total market value was $3.52 trillion, while Nvidia's total market value was $3.47 trillion, with a difference of only about $50 billion between the two.
Brandon Nispel, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, downgraded Apple's rating to underweight, believing that market expectations of a major turning point in Apple's business were too aggressive. This is the first time KeyBanc has downgraded its rating since tracking Apple three years ago.
According to Bloomberg data, the stock currently has 39 buy ratings, 18 hold ratings, and 3 sell ratings. Nispel's newly set target price is $200 (currently $232.75), which is one of the lowest target prices on Wall Street.
However, it is not that no one supports Apple. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a report to Daily Economic News reporters, "We believe that Wall Street is slowly realizing that with the arrival of Apple Intelligence, Apple will become the gatekeeper of the consumer AI revolution. We believe that in the next few years, 20% of the world's population will eventually access AI through Apple devices." Dan Ives firmly stated that he will maintain his "outperform the market" rating and target price of $300.
Can Apple Intelligence bridge the huge divide on Wall Street, falling to $200 or rising to $300?
In the field of mobile phones, Apple has opened the era of intelligence as a latecomer. In the field of AI, Apple is still a latecomer.
For over 1.46 billion active iPhone users worldwide, Apple Intelligence may determine whether they want to continue being a 'fruit fan'.
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