Apple isn't behind on AI any more than they were behind on cloud storage. It doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter if it isn't SOTA, I don't know how many different ways I can word that they have your data. Google has your data.
model-as-service companies can have all the features they want, their models can't do anything meaningful without the data Apple, MS, Google have.
Apple is at zero risk that someone else will have your notes, entire app library with data, mail, calendar, messages. They hold so much leverage. Even if you use some other (so far nonexistent) secret all-model, what are you going to access it with?
I don't even think it's about data. Since when has Apple's strategy been about being "first" to anything? I'm probably showing my age, but I remember the iPod being ridiculed as both late to the MP3 player game, especially if you were a PC user, and lacking "key" features the competitors had like FM receivers.
Literally none of that ended up mattering to the actual success of the product, a pattern that has been repeated with a lot of Apple products. My first MP3 player, smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc, were not Apple products but that's what I own now (well except for the MP3 player which is essentially a dead product category).
that's a good point. it could also be the same reason everyone else is struggling: it's very hard to find compelling utility for LLMs. We absolutely will, but it's difficult.
Right now everyone is setting incomprehensibly expensive amounts of compute on fire, for basically free, in the hopes utility emerges
Apple doesn't have an answer for creating GenAI content, yet makes most of their money selling products for creatives. You could argue they're "doing it for the little guy" by not adding it, but their creative software needs GenAI features to stay competitive.
> their creative software needs GenAI features to stay competitive.
They're not interested in staying competitive. It's not in their blood. They define markets and dominate them. If there's even a whiff of Jobs-era thinking left at the company, they're working on something that will make all of the "competition" irrelevant. Even if it takes them a few years. Do I expect it? No, but the last thing they'll do is chase the crowd/tulip mania.
That's certainly one of the available takes. Mine is that I'd need something other than some exuberant posts to think that's market essential at this point.
Either it becomes an essential part of workflows, in which case it becomes commoditized and we're worried about whether or not they'll someday support the mouse, or it's hype and it doesn't matter if/when they implement it
Just because you make the hardware doesn't mean you have to build the software. Not really sure why you'd expect Apple to feel like that's something they should be involved with at all.
it's because there is some sense among the physics-challenged that apple has to support it in hardware, as if we're a generation away from placing the burn-inducing, fusion-reactor-draining h100s in people's pocket it would take to run a model that impresses them as much as the tech demos of today
It seems to be all the rage. On June 2, Space.com released an article talking about Boeing's Starliner's successful launch and a link to the live stream of the docking with the ISS. After the launch was scrubbed, someone forgot to check their pre-scheduled releases.
It's all just examples of how poor the publishing industry has become
I believe this is what they call a plant. Could be someone wants AAPL to drop a tad more to gain a few more points after the inevitable WWDC bump, or they want to push NVDIA/MSFT further up
I ask Siri to skip the current track sometimes, because my $600 airpods max couldn’t be bothered to make their buttons configurable. That’s about the only time I use or want to use “AI” on my phone ever – and I wish I didn’t have to do even that.
Edit: hot damn I just learned double clicking the crown skips the track, later Siri!
Just “Forgot” then reassociated the pods and saw no such animation. I did see some animation the first time I connected, but I may have skipped through it because I was excited to try out my $600 headphones and it was in the way of me and the music. Still no answer for why the headphones setting page lists every shortcut except skip/prev.
If AI was real, Siri would tell me I can simply triple press the crown when I ask it to skip the track while wearing airpods. Or at least be able to answer when I directly ask it “how to skip a track when wearing airpods max”. As is, it just runs a google search and tells me to figure it out myself. Thanks.
For years folks have been vocalizing fears that Toyota is behind on the EV transition ... but it turns out they made this decision intentionally and it is paying off. EV is overhyped and underdeveloped, and hybrids are all around better.
Same could likely be said for Apple. They might be just where they want to be.
> EV is overhyped and underdeveloped, and hybrids are all around better.
Gosh. This is an enormous claim that's going to need more than a simple citation. On the surface it seems very obviously wrong, and sounds more like propaganda.
Just think about it. We've had hybrids pushing 50-60+ MPG's for what, over two decades now? Imagine where we'd be if the entire industry leaned into that tech...
Instead we pursued an entirely unproven technology that required (and still requires) ridiculous infrastructure investment (charging network, energy grid improvements, chargers at home, etc) and isn't as green as people might want depending where you live in the world (externalities of power production). Electric is still not ready to replace all vehicles, and may never be - nor is it going to be willingly mass adopted anytime soon. The drawbacks, which proponents like to handwave away, are severe and real.
Over the past couple decades we could have gradually improved MPG's on hybrids to astonishing (and impactful) levels. The crowd that fawned over Musk and his fantasies (the same crowd that now vehemently hates him, cuz politics...) would not accept hybrids or anything short of full electric vehicles.
Well, you all were fooled... and here we are with the average real-world 2023 vehicle fuel economy still less than 30 MPG's...
My unwillingness to burn dinosaur juice is reason enough for me to believe that hybrids are not "better" than BEVs, but BEVs are also (a lot) more efficient per watt, they require less maintenance, the running costs are lower, the performance is better, and in the long run, they're more future proof.
In fact it's hard to think of any reason why a hybrid would better except for "there are gas stations everywhere", but this reason is temporary at best, and ignores the fact that I can "fill" my EV at home, so I always leave the house with a full "tank". It's very rare that I have to visit a public charger.
And hey, even when I do, my hands don't stink of gasoline anymore.
You are unwilling to accept a significant reduction in "dinosaur juice" therefore we still burn about as much of it per day today, as we did 20 years ago[1]. You are not alone in this misguided opinion - which has stunted environmental efforts.
Going from a 300 mile range to a 600+ mile range on the same fuel input is really significant.
Instead, a tiny portion of the population drives an electric vehicle...
> I wasn't "fooled", and this is vaguely insulting.
It was designed to be insulting.
People like yourself with this viewpoint that hybrids are not acceptable are the reason we do not have more hybrids. The tech was already there two decades ago to make all cars hybrids... best of both worlds - significant reduction in emissions, extreme range between "fill ups", and fast turn-around time at the pump. No new infrastructure needed to be built to support a "hybrid revolution".
Instead, we have self-righteous electric vehicle owners touting how their environmental impact has been outsourced and reduced - failing to see the global environmental impact of electric vehicles has been essentially zero for two decades.
Toyota is behind the EV curve because they focused their R&D on hydrogen vehicles. They didn't make an EV vs hybrid bet, they made an EV vs hydrogen bet and it's not paying off.
The hybrid case is that AI is a side player not the main attraction.
For example it's expected there will be better text summarisation in the existing Notes app rather than replacing it entirely with some LLM chat bot centric UI.
I just wouldn't be surprised to see Apple react as Apple tends to do - slow and steady. They are not bandwagoners like everyone else who go 100% in the direction of the new shiny hotness as soon as it appears. That is what we are seeing everywhere else - and I think a lot of the integrations and candy we're seeing layered on top with LLM's is just noise and novelty.
tl;dr just because everyone is running in the same direction doesn't mean it is the correct direction.
Really nothing interesting in this article, just what everyone already knew - Apple didn’t invent LLMs, but the next version of Siri will be powered by one.
Apple has a chip, and the devices, but they don't have an LLM. Google has a chip and the LLM but they don't have a way to monetize it. MS has the best LLM so far and access to enterprise clients. NVidia has the metal but nothing else. It's unclear at this stage if there will be a single winner in this game. Maybe they will all find a way to somehow benefit from the AI craze.
How did Apple fall behind exactly? This article is very negative and yet very sparse on details particularly given Apple hasn't even had the event in only a few days. Seems like you would reserve judgement. If you look at Google Home amd Alexa, they may do some things better but they also do many things very poorly. I hardly think Apple has fallen behind in a substantive way and this article adds zero color to say otherwise.
Tbf all the other voice assistants are equally useless and it's not because any of them are incapable of taking advantage of a smartphone's functionality (like, say, editing text).
I think they must be working on something good just because Siri is still so bad. It hasn’t had a proper update in years and even whatever update that was didn’t change anything.
There’s no way they’d leave it to get this bad unless they’re working on a complete replacement.
I hope they don’t even call it Siri. Siri should be left to die like it deserves.
Web answerbots require massive amounts of data. An LLM that handles useful tasks on device mainly needs a language model and data about apps, APIs, and services on device. I want the latter, not the former.
Even when AI is expected to be littered through the next OS update previewed in 3 days I imagine it's going to be interesting but largely inconsequential in the long term.
Yeah I’m so confused by people saying there are no use cases for AI. I use AI so much every single day for research, making code, helping generate ideas, helping to plan, extracting data from messy sources, honestly I could think of hundreds of uses for AI that I would pay for.
The one thing is though - does this need to be something Apple sells? I like my iPhone for the hardware. I don’t care if they don’t make all the software.
model-as-service companies can have all the features they want, their models can't do anything meaningful without the data Apple, MS, Google have.
Apple is at zero risk that someone else will have your notes, entire app library with data, mail, calendar, messages. They hold so much leverage. Even if you use some other (so far nonexistent) secret all-model, what are you going to access it with?