Apple's AI Approach: Innovation, Criticism, And The Road Ahead

Forbes

19-06-2025

Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI strategy, moves forward with app innovation despite criticism.
At WWDC in 2024, Apple rolled out its AI strategy and named it Apple Intelligence.
It was an optimistic vision that created many expectations. However, Apple has received a great deal of criticism over the last year since its original launch, as the perception is that it overpromised and underdelivered on its AI strategy.
Apple's AI strategy is criticized for its late entry, limited cloud capabilities, and overemphasis on on-device processing. Critics argue Apple has lagged behind leaders like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft in foundational AI research and large language model (LLM) development. Instead of building a strong AI platform early, Apple focused on privacy and hardware, leaving it reliant on partnerships—like integrating ChatGPT into Siri.
Skeptics also point to Apple's insistence on running AI models mostly on-device. While this approach protects privacy and improves speed, it limits the scale and complexity of AI features compared to cloud-based systems. Some developers and analysts believe this restricts Apple's ability to deliver truly transformative AI experiences.
At this year's WWDC in early June, Apple acknowledged that many of the things promised in the 2024 Apple Intelligence launch are behind. Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, stated, "We're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal. This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year."
Open AI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and players have their own LLM engines. But Apple needed to partner with and use a third party to help deliver AI integration to their OS and apps. In this case, they partnered with Open AI and ChatGPT to add AI to MacOS and iOS.
When this was originally announced, this was an ambitious undertaking. Google's ownership of the Gemini LLM meant that they could, from the ground up, integrate AI into Android at a granular level. It has given Android a leg up regarding AI integration into a mobile OS.
While this may be a better approach, Apple has done one thing that I find interesting. At least in the short term, they are AI-enabling their own apps.
Apple has integrated its AI, Apple Intelligence, into several of its apps. Here are some key examples:
Apple is also allowing other apps to utilize the on-device AI model at the core of Apple Intelligence.
Their rifle-shot approach to AI in their apps is important, but given that AI has a global reach on data, the criticism that it limits the scale and complexity of AI features compared to cloud-based systems is legitimate.
This has led some analysts and media to suggest that Apple needs to acquire one of the existing LLM companies to help deal with this global AI scaling. While that is an interesting idea, I don't see that happening.
Apple is getting better at using existing LLM partnerships and this approach. In the process, I believe they are working on their own home-grown LLMs to give them the control they need to keep their customers' data private and give them the kind of privacy Apple excels at with its products.
In a great analysis of Apple's AI strategy, Ed Handy, writing in the Cult of Mac, argues that Apple's slow rollout is not a crisis. He suggests that-
"Apple isn't leading in AI — and most users won't notice Artificial intelligence is the hot technology of the 2020s, and Apple is far from the forefront in its development. OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot makes Apple's Siri seem like a high school science project. Google Gemini creates pictures that make anything from Apple's Image Playground look laughable. The AI-enhanced version of Siri won't reach customers until a year after Apple initially expected. None of that matters, though. Not really.
Let's take a look at Google's Android operating system to see why. Android got out ahead of iPhone with integrated AI features, but it didn't make users happier. The most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index survey indicates that Samsung users are 1% less pleased with their Android-powered smartphones than they were a year ago. Satisfaction with Google and Motorola Androids both decreased by 3%. But the survey also found that iPhone users are 1% less satisfied. What this means is that cool new AI features, or the lack thereof, have no effect on what typical users think of their phones."
As one who has tracked Apple for over 40 years, I can attest that Apple marches to the beat of its own drum. And the way they deliver their Apple Intelligence is not influenced by outside criticism.
Apple has historically excelled at creating new products and services. While some of the criticism has merit, Apple's approach to AI-enabling its apps is still a solid strategy with room for much innovation over time.
Disclosure: Google, Meta, Samsung, Microsoft and Apple subscribe to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.