Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts aren’t as impressive as they seem, according to internal studies.
AI chatbots from OpenAI, Google, and Meta are far ahead, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter.
Gurman states that internal studies at Apple indicate significant performance gaps compared to competitors.
Research within Apple found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT outperforms Siri, being 25% more accurate and capable of answering 30% more questions. Apple insiders reportedly believe that the company’s generative AI technology is at least two years behind these AI leaders. For anyone who has tried ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode, for example, you already know it blows Siri out of the water.
Apple introduced its AI features in June, initially limiting compatibility to select iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but only iPhone 15 Pro or newer or devices with M1 chips or newer.
However, these capabilities are gradually expanding. Now, the four latest iPhone models, most iPads, and all Mac computers will support Apple Intelligence.
The company plans to extend AI functionality further, with the iPhone SE expected to gain support in March 2026, followed by the entry-level iPad later in the year.
Apple Watch doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, but can get summaries from a paired iPhone. The super expensive Vision Pro headset is also set to incorporate AI features, and Apple’s upcoming home devices are expected to support them too.
It’s a slow, gradual rollout and it will be interesting to see if consumers are willing to upgrade devices to get access to the company’s AI, which from what people have seen, doesn’t blow anyone’s socks off.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
What a shock that an unreleased feature is behind services that have been released for at least a year eh? What a game changing revelation.
I wonder if that’s why Apple made sure to allow opt-in support for the other models.
I personally was only more shocked by Gurman’s earth shattering report that the upcoming M4 MacBook Pros will be faster than their M3 counterparts! Who would have ever thought, in a million years? I’m still recovering from shock.
I bet the M5 MBP will be faster than the M4 in 2026..just a guess..
I wonder if Apple should have optimized their devices to run AI software earlier like around the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max launch then they wouldn’t be in this situation.
The device hardware isn’t the setback they are discussing here. They are referring to the actual software capabilities of the AI tech itself. IE the code. Which is arguably a much harder nut to crack.
Code and data. Google and open AI have shown that the algorithms have reach the point that big data is a key determining factor in performance. Apple will always be behind in data, until and unless they start harvesting as much as the others.
They should have killed off the car project a lot earlier. I wonder if they were surprised by the power of ChatGPT as they must have known something like that has been in the works.
I don’t think Apple wanted too or was prepared to talk about their AI plans this year. But all their competitors were. If they hadn’t mentioned anything this year their stock would have tanked. Now they are severely behind playing catchup.
That's ok. I see this as an advantage. I'm in no rush. I'd rather be dealing with tried and tested, practical AI.