Apple shows off its new genAI phone in a bid to reverse falling sales
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“A shrimp in a cowboy hat”.... Apple demoed generative-AI emojis (“genmojis”) and other AI-infused updates at its launch event yesterday. The headliner was the iPhone 16, Apple’s first phone designed for generative AI. It’s powered by Apple Intelligence, introduced in June. Several AI functions (including image-generation) are pre-downloaded on the phone, so you can use them offline. Some highlights:
“Visual Intelligence”: Think Google Lens but built into the hardware. Apple added a camera-activating button on the iPhone 16 that lets you get more info on things you see (point it at a restaurant for hours and reviews, or at a dog to identify the breed).
GenAI rewrites: Apple said its AI tools could help you rewrite, proofread, and summarize text in most apps, from Goodreads to iMessage (change the tone of a breakup text).
Better Siri: Apple said its assistant is better at understanding your commands (its one job) and will let you type requests. Siri can pull info from different apps to better answer your q’s (like finding your mom’s flight info in your texts).
CGP-bestie: Apple teamed up with OpenAI to allow tools like Siri to tap into ChatGPT. For queries that CGPT’s better suited to answer, Siri will ask users for their consent to pass the baton.
The Apple of my AI… As hardware demand slows, Apple and other techies are turning to AI to juice device sales. Apple’s sales have fallen for five of the past six quarters as demand sagged for iPhones (which make up nearly half its revenue). In May, Apple reported that phone sales were down 10% — the biggest drop since 2020 — and continued to fall last quarter.
It’s the law of diminishing (consumer) returns… and Apple’s trying to beat it. Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, the tech has evolved so much that today it's hard to get folks to shell out more $$ for a marginally better version. There are only so many times you can upgrade a camera (though Apple said the two-lens iPhone 16 has the equivalent of four lenses). Apple’s hoping AI will drive upgrades, but it’s TBD if consumers will buy it.