Tim Cook's final iOS launch will prove Apple is still behind in the AI game
It doesn't seem that Apple will introduce anything groundbreaking in terms of AI.
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
Apple Intelligence is still quite behind. | Image by PhoneArena
Apple was terribly late to the AI scene, as Apple Intelligence took its sweet time to arrive, years after most of Apple's competitors had already rolled out their initial AI feature sets. Yet, the blogosphere and most tech-y fans of the brand remained optimistic that even though Apple was last to the party, it could introduce a truly intriguing and groundbreaking set of AI features that would make up for the delay.
However, this didn't turn out to be the case. Apple Intelligence rolled out with iOS 18 with a set of features that were just mostly Apple-ified variations of AI features already announced by rival companies.
Image Playground? Not new. Writing Tools? Done to death before that. Clean Up tool in Photos? Google did it years earlier. Visual Intelligence? Google Lens has been out for nearly a decade already. And don't get me started on the smarter Siri, which was supposed to arrive in 2025 but didn't.
Point is, pretty much no Apple Intelligence features are truly unique right now, and if Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is to be believed (and he has a near-pristine rumor track record), then iOS 27 will only worsen that problem.
iOS 27 will show Apple's still playing catch-up
What will be Tim Cook's last iOS launch as an Apple CEO will come with a new Siri chatbot app that will boast a new threaded interface and the ability to utilize third-party AI agents available on the App Store. The new app should be similar to the ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini apps that are available on the App Store, with the only difference being that the experience will be more Apple-like.
Visual Intelligence is also reportedly getting transplanted inside the camera app, where it will reside as a dedicated, smart mode similar to how Google Lens is available as a button in most Android camera apps these days. The new mode will reportedly be able to pull nutrition information from food labels and also create a contact entry from what the camera sees.
To top it off, Apple Intelligence will now play a bigger role in photo-editing and will be able to reframe and extend images. Again, nothing we haven't seen already; I even have this feature built into the gallery app on my Oppo.
None of these features are groundbreaking. Apple is so late to the game and has so much ground to cover that it seems it will never be in the lead as far as software innovation go.
Google will make a pre-emptive strike
Before we see iOS 27, however, Google will have the chance to preemptively win the 2026 AI race by a landslide, as its Google I/O summit will take place earlier, on May 19. Make no mistake, Google's presentation will most certainly be all about AI.
Think Gemini, think LLMs, think Google's prematurely announced proactive AI agent for Android devices, think more and more new technology that will thread the fine line between impressive and concerning.
Point is, while Google's presentation might show us a glimpse of the very near future in software and AI technology, Apple's WWDC will merely show Apple's catching-up with already existing technology.
This inability of Apple to release a decent set of AI features is a curse… but also a blessing. AI features aren't universally loved; quite the contrary, in fact.
Many users who don't really want AI features being shoved into every new app, interface, or operating system have certainly found a respite with the Apple ecosystem, where Apple Intelligence can be turned off globally with the flick of a switch.
I've got to admit that this is a great thing to have. Seeing how Copilot was shoved into my partner's Windows laptop, I found it quite refreshing that Apple Intelligence was easily turned off on my MacBook within five seconds after Apple pushed it with macOS 15. The same applies to the iOS versus Android debate: disabling AI system-wide is easier on the iPhone.
A blessing for the anti-AI crowd
This inability of Apple to release a decent set of AI features is a curse… but also a blessing. AI features aren't universally loved; quite the contrary, in fact.
Many users who don't really want AI features being shoved into every new app, interface, or operating system have certainly found a respite with the Apple ecosystem, where Apple Intelligence can be turned off globally with the flick of a switch.
I've got to admit that this is a great thing to have. Seeing how Copilot was shoved into my partner's Windows laptop, I found it quite refreshing that Apple Intelligence was easily turned off on my MacBook within five seconds after Apple pushed it with macOS 15. The same applies to the iOS versus Android debate: disabling AI system-wide is easier on the iPhone.
Will John Ternus turn things around?
There's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of hope intertwined for John Ternus' upcoming tenure as CEO. Apple has been mostly a rock-steady ship for the past two decades, culminating with it becoming the most valuable company in the world, so a change of captainship may as well lead it into uncharted waters.
Although Ternus is a "hardware" guy, it would be foolish to assume that hardware will now become the main purpose for Apple. Software, especially iOS, leaves a lot to be desired since iOS 26's controversial Liquid Glass redesign.
As iOS 27 is definitely already being nearly finalized, Ternus would likely have a greater say in the development of iOS 28 and beyond, so it might take a few years to see if software will get up to par with the hardware part of the ecosystem.
It's definitely shaping up to be exciting times for Apple and its hundreds of millions of users all around the globe.
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