Apple‘s AI Release Is Too Slow to

Encourage the iPhone “Super Cycle”

 

 

The continuous delays in Apple‘s AI features suggest that there won’t be a “super cycle” of orders for the iPhone 16. Additionally: What to anticipate from Monday’s phone launch event; Sonos postpones its Roku-like device due to an app issue; and Apple may face billion-dollar fines the day following the release of the iPhone 16.

The previous week’s Power On: Apple‘s plan for succession is to retain its current leadership team for as long as feasible.

Apple Inc. has indicated that its AI push would take time to pay off by deciding to delay several of its highly anticipated artificial intelligence features.

However, some analysts continue to hold out hope that the Apple Intelligence features will ignite the much-anticipated “super cycle” for the new iPhone 16, a wave of upgrades that will come as a result of unmet demand. Their justification is that many customers have been waiting years to purchase new iPhones, and they are currently interested about AI.

Alright, let me give you a dose of reality. This year is just not likely to see a super cycle. Macroeconomic factors are among the causes. China remains a country where smartphone adoption is still relatively new, and many other consumers worldwide are holding onto their cash.

However, the technology itself can be the root of the larger problem. The new iPhones will resemble the versions from the previous year almost exactly, to start. Although there will be some small camera improvements and other additions, a new design is what really encourages customers to purchase, and that isn’t happening this year.

And there’s AI‘s promise. It is true that the iPhone 16 launch event on Monday will feature a significant amount of the new Apple Intelligence features. However, it will also become more obvious that users will have to wait for the better features.

These are the issues:

• Apple Intelligence isn’t quite ready yet. Many of the June-unveiled features, such as ChatGPT, will not be present in the first release.Additionally, Apple Intelligence will not be accessible in the EU, which comprises Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, and Spain and is a crucial area for the corporation. Furthermore, it won’t be prepared for China, another significant international market.Most people don’t know much about artificial intelligence (AI), despite the fact that it’s an intriguing new topic for computer enthusiasts. When the firm explains the advantages of the technology, many of them won’t even grasp why they would need Apple Intelligence, and it will take many months.

Even under the best-case scenario, the launch of Apple Intelligence would happen gradually. When the iPhone 16 goes on sale later this month, it won’t even come equipped with the features. In October, the functionalities will become available as part of the iOS 18.1 software updates.

• As I’ve already mentioned, the iOS 18.1 beta offers a decent preview of what’s to come in the upcoming month. Notification and online content summary functions, writing tools, and an object/person removal feature are all included. Additionally, you will receive phone call transcriptions automatically, and the program will prioritize critical emails in the Apple Mail app.

We already knew that all of the significant new Siri features wouldn’t be released until the next year, and that OpenAI‘s ChatGPT chatbot wouldn’t be included into the program until later this year. However, more powers have now been retracted.

• Rather than releasing its new image-generation features in iOS 18.1, which is slated for release in December, Apple decided to postpone them until iOS 18.2. This includes the Genmoji feature, which creates emoji using artificial intelligence (AI) based on text input, and the Image Playground app.

It is unclear that the AI platform would be appealing enough to spur significant changes this year due to its dispersed strategy. Apple will have to highlight a few of the phone’s internal improvements instead. This includes the inclusion of the Action button to less expensive versions and a new photo-snapping button.

• Apple ought to be in a better position come fall 2025, when it comes time for the next generation of iPhones. There will be more global availability and development of Apple Intelligence. The iPhone will also have a new appearance, which is a true upgrade driver.

• All of this boils down to this: Don’t believe the rumors of an iPhone 16 super cycle. However, you can begin to believe in one for the upcoming iPhone 17 in 2020.

The Bench

Everything to expect at Monday’s big product launch. The unveiling  the first of two Apple events this fall  will focus on the iPhone ecosystem. You can read the details on everything to expect here in my extensive preview. A major topic will be Apple Intelligence and the capabilities showcased in June, as well as new health features for the Apple Watch, a refresh of the lower-end AirPods line and camera upgrades for the iPhone. At this point, I expect another event in October that will focus on the M4 Mac mini, iMac and MacBook Pro  in addition to new iPad models.

Sonos delays its first TV set-top box and scales back headphone shipments in face of mobile app turmoil. Sonos Inc. is struggling to bounce back from a flawed app release, and it’s hard to think of many companies that have suffered this much from a software problem.

When a company has a hardware glitch, it’s understandable that it might take a while to fix. But software is usually something that can be resolved more quickly. And yet, Sonos is still in the middle of a crisis. Though the company has made headway in repairing the damage, the fallout will be felt for months.

Sonos has already had to lay off employees, likely in part to cope with the mounting costs and loss of sales. And the company has had to delay two products so that it can focus on the software problem. One of the two devices, I’m told, is a Roku-like offering codenamed Pinewood (the company’s first TV set-top box). It will be postponed until next March from January.

The other bad news for Sonos is that its new Ace headphones are underperforming. The company originally sought to build about 900,000 to 1 million units per year (2,500 headphones per day). That number is now down to roughly 250 units a day, which would be about 90,000 to 100,000 units annually.

 Sonos is in a fragile position, and its stock is down 32% this year (compared with a 13% gain for the S&P 500 Index). Only time will tell if it can turn things around, but the crisis has marred a year that was meant to be a breakthrough time for the company  with a long-awaited push into new products. Now it has to focus on cleaning up a mess.

Apple faces threat of major EU payment just one day after iPhone 16 debut. About eight years ago, the European Commission alleged that Apple and Ireland worked together to help the iPhone maker dodge corporate taxes on more than $100 billion generated in Europe between 2004 and 2014. Regulators deemed the unpaid taxes to be about $14 billion. Since then, the case has worked its way through courts and an appeals process, and the money  a record-sized payment  has been stuck in an escrow account.

Now, the European Union’s top court has set a date to announce whether Apple has to pay the money: Tuesday, Sept. 10. Coincidentally enough, that was the same day when Apple had hoped to reveal the iPhone 16, creating a scheduling problem. The company doesn’t know how it will fare in the case, but it would have been too big a risk to hold its launch event at the same time that it’s potentially hit with this high-profile legal blow.

So, here we are: There will be a rare Monday iPhone event  followed a day later by this monumental decision. Apple also had another reason for avoiding an iPhone launch on Sept. 10: That’s the date of the first US presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.