News flash for most of you upgrading to iOS 18: you don’t get Apple Intelligence.
I visited my parents last week and saw that they had a pair of still fresh looking iPhone 14 Pro Max phones. I commented on the handsets and my parents asked about the new iPhone 16 Pro Max I was carrying. We talked about some new features, like the camera controls (“It’s just like a real camera!”), and I held down the power button to show them the new look of Siri. Later I showed my father how to remove some folding chairs from the background of a photo. It was then that I realized that they both thought they were getting Apple Intelligence on their phones.
When I explained that their phone wouldn’t get the new Siri, Image Clean Up, or several other Apple Intelligence features, they were shocked and, I think, dismayed. This is an awareness issue for Apple and needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
For perhaps the first time in Apple history, Apple is creating a platform-level situation of haves and have-nots.
Not the parity you expect
Most Apple users understand that they won’t get new iOS features if they don’t upgrade. Still, I can’t think of a case where people running the same version of iOS won’t have the same experience, especially those still using relatively new hardware.
Okay, to be fair, neither of us (both in their 80s) fully understood the details of Apple’s take on artificial intelligence. Still, I had to explain to them that even though their iPhones are still fairly new and have excellent cameras and powerful A16 Bionic CPUs, their phones are not designed to support Apple Intelligence.
As we approach the first major release of Apple Intelligence (expected in October), it strikes me that there are potentially millions of iPhone owners who are eligible to upgrade to iOS 18, but won’t get Apple Intelligence because their iPhones won’t run at least last year’s A17 Pro CPU.
Apple does an admirable job of extending platform updates to iPhones up to seven years old, including Phone XS, iPhone
The less intelligent
If you look at it that way, perhaps a billion iPhones could get this upgrade, but only a fraction can run Apple Intelligence. Apple is hoping everyone will upgrade just to gain access to this Cupertino brand of Apple intelligence.
I don’t see that happening. Not necessarily because people don’t want to upgrade, but if they like their current iPhone and know it can handle the latest iOS 18 update, they might not think it’s necessary. Based on my completely unscientific and unprojectable sample, I suspect they don’t know the limitations of their current iPhone and, like my parents, will be disappointed when they realize that the major iOS update they just installed gives them exactly zero points . Apple Intelligence.
As for my parents, I think they were most upset about not getting a much smarter Siri. This was the only part of Apple Intelligence that they fully understood, possibly because my mom asks Siri questions all the time (and often gets frustrated with the results). She looked forward to a digital assistant that would finally make things right.
It’s that moment when people discover that their updated iPhone, while better because of the myriad of changes that come with iOS 18 (new Control Center, Edit Home Screen, Passwords app), will lack what Apple spent millions to promote on TV . billboards and social media.
Apple needs better reporting and that should happen before Apple Intelligence arrives this month.