I’m a longtime iPhone consumer who has not upgraded to one of many iPhone 15 fashions. The iPhone 14 Professional remains to be a tremendous machine. It’s virtually the equal of the bottom iPhone 15. And I’m pretty assured that I might hold it for yet another yr after the iPhone 16 hits shops subsequent September. But when the rumored Apple GPT is able to debut with iOS 18 on the iPhone 16 collection, I’ll improve instantly, even when I’ve to pay extra or get the iPhone 16 Professional Max for the perfect native generative AI expertise.
The way forward for AI on the iPhone sounds promising already. A report from Korea says that the Cellphone 16 collection will get a revamped Siri expertise.
The rumor saying Siri will change into the “final digital assistant” dropped on the heels of Samsug’s large Gauss announcement. That’s the Korean large’s ChatGPT equal that can most likely debut on the Galaxy S24 as quickly as January. That’ll give Samsung an enormous head begin. Additionally, it’ll put loads of stress on Apple to ship its personal generative AI expertise.
Will Apple GPT be unique to the iPhone 16 Professional and 16 Professional Max?
I mentioned I’d be prepared to pay extra for an iPhone 16 mannequin subsequent yr to get the very best generative AI expertise. I’ve no method of realizing what it’ll be, however I actually don’t anticipate Apple’s Siri GPT to be unique to the iPhone 16 Professional and 16 Professional Max.
If something, I feel Apple ought to work out methods to make its ChatGPT different obtainable on as many iPhone fashions as doable, together with my present iPhone 14 Professional. Earlier rumors mentioned Apple is contemplating each on-device generative AI experiences and cloud-based AI options. Samsung confirmed that Gauss may also depend on on-device {hardware} and cloud infrastructure.
This next-gen Siri expertise that iOS 18 ought to deliver should work on older iPhones.
I additionally know the way Apple works. Apple may make iOS appropriate with older units, sure. However some options might be unique to the latest iPhones, those which have the higher {hardware} for it.
The iPhone 15 Professional Max has the perfect zoom capabilities of any smartphone as a result of it contains a tetraprism lens that no different mannequin rocks. The iPhone 15 Professional and 15 Professional Max function the A17 Professional chip that delivers console-grade gaming experiences. However these console video games don’t work on the iPhone 14 Professionals.
On the identical time, iOS 17 permits options on the iPhone 15 that might work on the iPhone 14 Professional, however Apple determined to not allow them. Just like the default 24-megapixel images, the battery life stats, and the utmost battery cost setting.
Why I’m prepared to pay extra for the iPhone’s AI options
With all that in thoughts, I’m sure that Siri AI would supply generative AI options that work on most iPhones. Nevertheless, Apple will certainly devise distinctive functionalities for the iPhone 16 collection, particularly the Professional fashions.
Put otherwise, I anticipate the A18 Professionals that can energy the iPhone 16 Professional fashions to function upgrades to the Neural Engine concerned in machine studying (ML) and synthetic intelligence (AI) in iOS 18.
Not solely that, however the A18 Professional chips needs to be higher at dealing with the AI options coming within the subsequent few years. And for those who’ve been following ChatGPT improvements for the previous yr, you have got a fairly good concept of how a lot has occurred within the span of 12 months.
Nevertheless, I don’t want new {hardware} to get the perfect ChatGPT options. All I would like is a subscription to the Plus tier, and the latest generative AI options might be obtainable within the cloud.
The purpose is I’d nonetheless need to pay extra money for entry to the latest generative AI expertise. That’s comprehensible, as nothing is free on the web. We are able to’t anticipate that from ChatGPT or Siri GPT.
I might run the most recent ChatGPT Plus expertise on the iPhone proper now through OpenAI’s app. However it wouldn’t be a local generative AI expertise.
Additionally, the issue with ChatGPT is that it’s not but near delivering a private AI expertise. OpenAI most likely can’t do it till it makes its personal {hardware}.
However Apple GPT has a a lot better likelihood to try this on iPhone 16 and different fashions. That’s the place on-device processing would turn out to be useful, contemplating Apple’s large stance on privateness. And, once more, that is why I’d need the very best {hardware} to deal with iOS 18’s private AI options.
That mentioned, I’m solely speculating. Fortunately, WWDC 2024 ought to give us a take a look at the primary generative AI options Apple might be prepared to disclose. And I’ll be in a greater place to find out whether or not an iPhone {hardware} improve is important.
That mentioned, I feel that native generative AI is perhaps the perfect factor to occur to the iPhone subsequent yr. And I’m extra enthusiastic about it than battery improvements, new buttons, bigger screens, or higher cameras. In response to present leaks, the iPhone 16 is meant to ship on all these fronts.
