As we look forward to WWDC 2024, iOS 18, and the advent of Apple AI on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more, there will be an unlikely Apple competitor to thank for the company's newfound passion for all things intelligent. And artificial.
In this week's new story: W.S.J. Apple has revealed insights into how it has “fallen behind in the AI arms race” and is working to “catch up with Microsoft, Alphabet's Google and other competitors that have begun integrating generative AI into their core products.”
The report details many of the rumors and reports we've already heard, including Apple's plans to reveal a partnership with OpenAI that will see ChatGPT integrated into the iPhone. The report also reiterated claims made this week by Apple software chief Craig Federighi that the company appears to be going all-in on AI. In a major ChatGPT leak about the iPhone earlier this week, he said he had “directed managers to include as much AI as possible in the latest version of the iPhone and iPad operating system, known internally as “Crystal.”” WSJ reiterates that idea and explains why. Why Apple's AI Pivot? Microsoft Co-Pilot.
Microsoft Copilot Surprises Apple Executives
According to a report Thursday, “everything changed” for Apple when ChatGPT launched in 2022. Up until that point, Apple had been working on AI and trying to improve Siri with “loosely defined deadlines” and loose collaboration with other parts of the company. However, WSJ wrote that Federighi “switched” to AI around Christmas 2022 after “starting playing around with a Microsoft-owned GitHub AI coding tool called Copilot.” The report claims that Apple has “undergone a major overhaul” of its employees, “finding new ways to integrate generative AI into products and providing resources to pursue these projects.” Federighi reportedly said he “has come to appreciate generative AI technology and that it will be integrated into all aspects of Apple's software.”
This is the moment when WWDC and Apple's anticipated foray into the world of AI, expected at the June 10th keynote, will begin in earnest. Apple has been touting “machine learning” for years, and the AI that underpins features like Face ID and Computational Photos on its best iPhones has become a presence throughout the Apple experience. But recently Apple has made a more focused effort to talk about AI. In particular, the new M3 MacBook Air has been hailed as “the world's best consumer laptop for AI” with powerful 16-core Neural Engine (NPU)-powered features such as speech-to-text, translation, and more. Likewise, the new top iPad, the M4 iPad Pro, is advertised by the company as “an incredibly powerful device for AI.” The M4 chip's enhanced NPU can perform 38 trillion operations per second. That's not quite as much as the new PCs from Microsoft's Copilot Plus brand, but it's a brave start. The first Apple hardware with serious AI hardware momentum is expected to be the new iPhone 16, scheduled for a typical September release later this year.