Since ChatGPT hit the market, companies have been making the trip to add AI to their products in ways that make the virtual assistants traditionally found in smart speakers look like dances by comparison. Google and Microsoft have already jumped on the bandwagon, but Apple is still slow to show real products in this regard.
But that may not matter by the end of this year. Behind the scenes, plans are in motion to help iPhone 16 unleash the full power of artificial intelligence. Apple has a “mandate” to ensure iOS 18 is packed with “features running on the company’s large language model.” Tim Cook told shareholders this week that the company will “break new ground in productive AI that is expected to be astounding” later this year.
See – iPhone 16 Pro HD Images
iPhone 16 AI Features Rumors
The same code dive also revealed inputs related to iMessage, which suggested integration with the Messages app. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman previously suggested that Apple’s AI would work with Messages to “field questions and auto-complete sentences,” so that’s not a huge surprise. It may also be baked into AppleCare for iPhone support.
Another interesting AI advantage for the average iPhone user could be an indirect one. According to Gurman, Apple is reportedly close to releasing a generative AI tool to make it easier for developers to create apps for the iPhone. The same report mentions a few more accessible features, though: Apple Music playlists could be automatically generated with AI, for example, and Keynote software talks about similar automation for slides.
A Smarter Siri
The most obvious improvement to Apple’s artificial intelligence is the upgrade to Siri. The virtual assistant has always felt a touch behind Google Assistant and Alexa in the smart stakes, but powered by a larger language model, Siri 2.0 is expected to be a much bigger leap forward.
As we saw earlier this year in January, the iOS 17.4 beta released a reference to a private framework called “SiriSummarization”. which calls the ChatGPT API. While the link to ChatGPT appears to be for sense-checking purposes (sources say Apple is testing its own model against the competition), the functionality appears to be similar: the code suggests that you “please summarize”, “please answer this You can use phrases like “Questions” and “Please give a brief description of the given text.”
As far as we know, Apple may launch a new AI app store, according to Ben Rittez, head of technology research at Melius Research, who spoke to CNBC. It says ” June will lay the foundation for this new App Store, how it will work with AI, how you can buy AI apps through the App Store,” detailing its features.
Many questions remain unanswered whether this supposed AI app store will be for iPhone, Mac or all Apple products. It’s also unclear whether Reitzes is talking about a separate App Store entirely, or a new section of the current App Store focusing on AI apps. The latter seems to be in line with Apple’s usual approach. Either way, the emphasis on AI in the App Store will be a testament to the importance of the technology from Apple’s perspective.
A New Chip with more AI Processing Power
Apple’s next iPhone processor, possibly called the A18, is expected to provide better AI performance for the iPhone 16 lineup, according to Taiwanese news outlet Economic Daily News and analyst Jeff Pu, according to a McRumors report.
AI has been a big area of focus over the years, with Apple increasingly expanding the neural engine capabilities within its A-series chips. But with Apple expected to develop new AI-powered iPhone features that rely on local processing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more significant upgrades.
