Apple’s grandiose campus in Cupertino shimmered beneath the summer sun as the company gathered its most devoted developers, tech journalists, and industry watchers for the 2024 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Among those in attendance, anticipation swelled with every hint about the company’s next leap into artificial intelligence—what Apple has branded “Apple Intelligence.” Yet, as executives like Craig Federighi outlined the supposed marvels of Apple’s AI vision, a nagging reality became impossible to ignore: despite the polish, pageantry, and deep pockets, Apple’s artificial intelligence ambitions still lag uncomfortably behind those of arch-competitors Google and Microsoft.
In a rapidly evolving landscape where AI is not just an add-on but a core experience, Apple’s measured, privacy-conscious, and incremental approach to integrating intelligence into its devices invites important questions. Is Apple merely biding its time, ensuring security and user trust before unleashing a more mature offering? Or is it genuinely at risk of ceding its leadership status in a tech world increasingly defined by rapid advances from rivals?
To understand why many technologists and consumers are feeling underwhelmed by Apple Intelligence, it’s instructive to look at what’s on offer from the competition. Apple’s pitch for AI is enticing in theory: imagine an iPhone that can seamlessly synthesize your emails, messages, schedules, and even public data to tell you—instantly and contextually—when you should leave for the airport to pick up your nephew Julian, factoring in real-time flight status and local traffic. It’s a vision reminiscent of science fiction’s best personal assistants.
But in practice, these features remain largely vaporware. At WWDC 2024, the most substantial advances were conversational context for Siri (the ability to remember what you said earlier in an interaction), incremental improvements in voice recognition, and fun novelties like emoji generation and writing assistance. By contrast, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot—already live and integrated across their devices—set a much higher bar:
Yet, there’s a flipside. The very secrecy and cautions that were strengths in consumer trust through earlier eras—the iPod, iPhone, and App Store—now manifest as sluggishness in rapidly evolving fields like AI. When competitors are iterating in public, releasing ‘experimental’ features to see what sticks, Apple’s go-slow approach can make its offerings appear stale. For many users, it’s not enough that Apple’s AI is theoretically more private; they want to see tangible, everyday utility.
On the desktop side, Apple’s macOS is actually gaining ground on Windows, if still a distant third to behemoths like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Is this resilience a sign that Apple’s slow-and-steady approach will pay off once it finally does deliver substantive AI features? Or does it simply reflect broader trends—like longer device replacement cycles and the stickiness of Apple’s ecosystem—that obscure the urgency of catching up on AI?
Most analysts concur that we haven’t yet entered the “AI era” as a mass-market consumer phenomenon. Once users feel they need smarter, more helpful digital assistants—rather than simply faster or sleeker phones—the time lag Apple faces could become much more consequential.
A year’s delay in generative AI terms is now an epoch. Consider how quickly public expectations have shifted: just two years ago, mainstream users were unaware of Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models. Today, they expect real-time image generation, context-aware digital assistants, and seamless cross-device productivity. If Apple’s software remains “good enough” but not superior, it risks weakening the very loyalty that has made its devices more desirable and profitable for so long.
More concerning is a scenario in which Apple never truly catches up. Unlike the transition from feature phones to smartphones—where Apple led the way—this time it is playing catch-up. If consumers en masse come to believe that Google and Microsoft offer the smartest digital experiences, Apple’s historic selling points (design, stability, privacy) might no longer justify a premium price.
However, the very mechanisms that make Apple trustworthy also slow its ability to iterate at the same pace as Google or Microsoft. Rivals are more comfortable with public experimentation and, by extension, mistakes. Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot occasionally hallucinate or fail, but their capacity to learn from live user data and adapt quickly has pushed them to the forefront of usable, everyday AI.
If Apple waits until its AI is perfectly private, safe, and reliable, it may never catch up with the rapidly escalating expectations of consumers and developers. The challenge is not just one of catching up, but of doing so without betraying the core values that define the brand.
Here, the question becomes existential: can a company optimize simultaneously for privacy and for the adventurism that marks the bleeding edge of AI? Apple’s size and engineering talent suggest it’s possible, but history shows that balancing such priorities is complex and fraught with trade-offs. The coming years will test whether Apple’s deliberate approach is prudent or self-defeating.
Apple is not doomed. Its moat—hardware, loyalty, ecosystem, and security—remains formidable. But in artificial intelligence, missed deadlines and incremental upgrades are fast becoming intolerable. To remain a leader, Apple Intelligence must emerge from behind the curtain and dazzle—not just with privacy, but with undeniable, everyday utility.
Until then, the whisper among analysts and power users alike is growing louder: in the domain-defining contest for useful everyday AI, Apple can no longer afford to be merely good enough. It must leap forward, or risk becoming an also-ran in a future it once promised to invent.
Source: PCMag WWDC 2025: Apple Is Years Behind Google and Microsoft in AI. How Much Does It Matter?
In a rapidly evolving landscape where AI is not just an add-on but a core experience, Apple’s measured, privacy-conscious, and incremental approach to integrating intelligence into its devices invites important questions. Is Apple merely biding its time, ensuring security and user trust before unleashing a more mature offering? Or is it genuinely at risk of ceding its leadership status in a tech world increasingly defined by rapid advances from rivals?
The Ground Apple Has Lost: Comparing Feature Sets
To understand why many technologists and consumers are feeling underwhelmed by Apple Intelligence, it’s instructive to look at what’s on offer from the competition. Apple’s pitch for AI is enticing in theory: imagine an iPhone that can seamlessly synthesize your emails, messages, schedules, and even public data to tell you—instantly and contextually—when you should leave for the airport to pick up your nephew Julian, factoring in real-time flight status and local traffic. It’s a vision reminiscent of science fiction’s best personal assistants.But in practice, these features remain largely vaporware. At WWDC 2024, the most substantial advances were conversational context for Siri (the ability to remember what you said earlier in an interaction), incremental improvements in voice recognition, and fun novelties like emoji generation and writing assistance. By contrast, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot—already live and integrated across their devices—set a much higher bar:
- Contextual Awareness: Copilot and Gemini can ‘see’ what’s on your screen and provide instant, actionable suggestions.
- Integrated Productivity: These platforms generate photorealistic images, summarize and draft complex emails, and pull off real-time, on-device translation of both audio and video.
- System-wide AI: AI assistance is now deeply embedded at the operating system layer, from Windows 11’s taskbars to Android’s system-wide prompts and summaries.
The Culture of Secrecy and Privacy: A Double-edged Sword
Apple’s deliberate approach is not without its justifications. At every turn, Apple highlights the importance of privacy: its new “Private Cloud Compute” seeks to process sensitive data locally or within secure Apple-controlled environments. In an era of rising surveillance fears and constant data breaches, this focus garners justified loyalty from users.Yet, there’s a flipside. The very secrecy and cautions that were strengths in consumer trust through earlier eras—the iPod, iPhone, and App Store—now manifest as sluggishness in rapidly evolving fields like AI. When competitors are iterating in public, releasing ‘experimental’ features to see what sticks, Apple’s go-slow approach can make its offerings appear stale. For many users, it’s not enough that Apple’s AI is theoretically more private; they want to see tangible, everyday utility.
Platform Advantages and Missed Opportunities
Despite these missteps, Apple isn’t out of the running—far from it. One of the great ironies of the present moment is that Apple, unlike many device makers, enjoys near-complete vertical integration of hardware and software:- Robust Device Portfolio: Recent Apple devices feature processors (like the A17 Pro and M2/M3 chips) with dedicated neural engines capable of advanced AI computation at the edge.
- Security Baseline: Devices are shipped with secure enclaves, trusted execution environments, and the aforementioned Private Cloud Compute—meaning Apple can, in theory, deploy secure, low-latency AI on billions of devices nearly overnight.
Market Impact: Why Sales Haven’t Dipped—Yet
Curiously, Apple’s AI lag hasn’t yet caused obvious pain in unit sales or market share—at least not significantly more so than competitors. In the most recent quarterly numbers, iPhone sales dipped about 5%, and global market share nudged downward from 19% to 18%. These modest declines parallel those seen by Samsung (whose share also slipped 1%), likely reflecting broader market saturation and macroeconomic factors such as tariffs and, notably, increasing regulatory hurdles in China, where Apple faces tightening restrictions and stiffer competition.On the desktop side, Apple’s macOS is actually gaining ground on Windows, if still a distant third to behemoths like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Is this resilience a sign that Apple’s slow-and-steady approach will pay off once it finally does deliver substantive AI features? Or does it simply reflect broader trends—like longer device replacement cycles and the stickiness of Apple’s ecosystem—that obscure the urgency of catching up on AI?
Most analysts concur that we haven’t yet entered the “AI era” as a mass-market consumer phenomenon. Once users feel they need smarter, more helpful digital assistants—rather than simply faster or sleeker phones—the time lag Apple faces could become much more consequential.
The Risks: Falling Out of Step With User Expectations
The most significant risk for Apple is not sudden collapse, but gradual irrelevance in areas where its brand has always justified a premium. If Apple fails to deliver compelling and differentiated AI features, it could become just another hardware maker—a niche it has always eschewed.A year’s delay in generative AI terms is now an epoch. Consider how quickly public expectations have shifted: just two years ago, mainstream users were unaware of Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models. Today, they expect real-time image generation, context-aware digital assistants, and seamless cross-device productivity. If Apple’s software remains “good enough” but not superior, it risks weakening the very loyalty that has made its devices more desirable and profitable for so long.
More concerning is a scenario in which Apple never truly catches up. Unlike the transition from feature phones to smartphones—where Apple led the way—this time it is playing catch-up. If consumers en masse come to believe that Google and Microsoft offer the smartest digital experiences, Apple’s historic selling points (design, stability, privacy) might no longer justify a premium price.
Notable Strengths: Where Apple Could Prevail
Counterbalancing these threats, Apple does maintain certain structural advantages it can play to smartly:- Integrated AI Chips: Apple can ensure that all new devices are AI-capable out of the box, avoiding the “have and have-not” fragmentation found in many Windows PCs and Android phones.
- Brand Trust: Decades of marketing positioning around trust, privacy, and security remain potent, especially in an age of rampant data commercialization.
- Ecosystem Cohesion: Apple’s famous ‘walled garden’ retains users longer than rivals, making platform-wide upgrades immediately impactful and consistently experienced.
Critical Analysis: Balancing Privacy, Progress, and Pressure
In this landscape, Apple faces a difficult tightrope walk. Its legacy of privacy and closed, tightly integrated systems protects users—at a time when consumers are more concerned than ever about surveillance capitalism. The Private Cloud Compute initiative and local, on-device AI set an admirable standard for the industry, and one that might become more valuable as the privacy backlash against over-collecting firms intensifies.However, the very mechanisms that make Apple trustworthy also slow its ability to iterate at the same pace as Google or Microsoft. Rivals are more comfortable with public experimentation and, by extension, mistakes. Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot occasionally hallucinate or fail, but their capacity to learn from live user data and adapt quickly has pushed them to the forefront of usable, everyday AI.
If Apple waits until its AI is perfectly private, safe, and reliable, it may never catch up with the rapidly escalating expectations of consumers and developers. The challenge is not just one of catching up, but of doing so without betraying the core values that define the brand.
Here, the question becomes existential: can a company optimize simultaneously for privacy and for the adventurism that marks the bleeding edge of AI? Apple’s size and engineering talent suggest it’s possible, but history shows that balancing such priorities is complex and fraught with trade-offs. The coming years will test whether Apple’s deliberate approach is prudent or self-defeating.
A Look Ahead: What Must Change for Apple Intelligence?
For Apple to turn what is currently a competitive disadvantage into a unique selling point, several things must occur:- Acceleration of AI Feature Rollout: Apple must commit more resources and technical talent to developing and shipping genuinely useful AI features—not just for creative pros, but for mainstream users.
- Clearer Communication: Transparency regarding product roadmaps, progress, and priorities will help users better understand and anticipate the arrival of smarter, more able assistants.
- Strategic Partnerships: Apple may need to leverage, or at least learn from, AI research elsewhere—whether through acquisitions, collaborations, or deeper integration with established models.
- Flexible Privacy Models: It’s conceivable that Apple will allow users to decide their preferred level of privacy vs. usefulness, introducing more granular controls over what data is processed locally or in the cloud.
Conclusion: Is Years-Behind Good Enough for Apple?
The AI revolution is not slowing down to wait for Cupertino. With every WWDC, the pressure mounts for Apple to deliver its long-promised next leap. For now, its blend of stylish devices, and unrivaled privacy measures remain enticing. But as the era of “good enough AI” fades, and as consumers bathe in the richness of more advanced assistants from Google and Microsoft, impatience is mounting.Apple is not doomed. Its moat—hardware, loyalty, ecosystem, and security—remains formidable. But in artificial intelligence, missed deadlines and incremental upgrades are fast becoming intolerable. To remain a leader, Apple Intelligence must emerge from behind the curtain and dazzle—not just with privacy, but with undeniable, everyday utility.
Until then, the whisper among analysts and power users alike is growing louder: in the domain-defining contest for useful everyday AI, Apple can no longer afford to be merely good enough. It must leap forward, or risk becoming an also-ran in a future it once promised to invent.
Source: PCMag WWDC 2025: Apple Is Years Behind Google and Microsoft in AI. How Much Does It Matter?
