Apple Intelligence’s Reported Delay Might Impact iPhone 16 Series Sales

Apple Intelligence features are the main attraction for the next major update to iOS. The iOS 18 update will arrive with multiple new artificial intelligence (AI) features, however, a new report claims that all of these features may not be available at launch. This is said to negatively impact the sales of the iPhone 16 series, as Apple is reportedly banking on these AI features to push people into buying the upcoming smartphones. ChatGPT-related features are said to be unavailable at the release of the stable version of iOS 18.

Apple Intelligence Features Might See a Staggered Release

According to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the Cupertino-based tech giant is planning to release Apple Intelligence features in a staggered manner. This means that some of the features will be available at the release of iOS 18, whereas others may take till 2025 to arrive.

Some analysts have reportedly suggested a “super cycle” for the iPhone 16. The super cycle refers to boosted sale numbers of a device due to the inclusion of major or in-demand features or capabilities. Industry veterans are said to believe that Apple Intelligence might create a similar effect on iPhone 16 sales. This would mean more people would either buy into the iPhone ecosystem or would be upgrading their existing devices to iPhone 16 models.

However, Gurman claims that it is unlikely due to Apple's staggered approach to releasing AI features and lack of any major hardware upgrades. The iPhone 16 series is expected to bring camera improvements, a new processor, a new Capture button, and not much else. As a result, Apple Intelligence will become a major driver of sales.

As per Gurman, while features such as Writing tools, notification summarisation, object removal from images, transcriptions for phone calls and more will be available when iOS 18 is rolled out, some major features such as ChatGPT integration and the revamped Siri are said to not be available till later this year or early 2025.

Further, Apple Intelligence will not be available in the EU and China entirely due to policy restrictions in the respective countries. The report also highlights that the majority of consumers are not well-versed in AI, and may not be interested in them as much as the iPhone maker hopes.

However, it is still early to claim whether or not Apple Intelligence can help the company sell more devices. The tech giant is all set to host the “It's Glowtime” event on Monday, where it is expetected to formally introduce the iPhone 16 series along with other devices. Once the upcoming iPhone devices go on sale, only then it will be possible to gauge whether or not consumers are buying into the idea of AI that may not arrive right when they pull out the device from the box.