Apple Intelligence is here. Early users are underwhelmed

Michael Hunter, an Atlanta-based real estate marketing professional and Apple (AAPL+0.11%) power user, has watched Apple’s new Apple Intelligence features evolve from promising to problematic. After a month with iOS 18.1’s early release through his developer account, Hunter was impressed by the system’s enhanced Siri capabilities and responsiveness.

But his enthusiasm dimmed after updating to iOS 18.2 beta last week.

“This has to be the buggiest rollout that Apple has ever done,” said Hunter, who uses Siri across his collection of 20 Apple devices.

The latest version has proven unstable, with voice responses frequently defaulting to screen text and basic Siri functions becoming unreliable. “They took away Siri from me and ruined my day-to-day use,” Hunter said.

Apple began rolling out its Intelligence features to regular iPhone users this week, marking its biggest push yet into consumer AI as it races to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s (GOOGL+1.67%) Gemini. The update represents a crucial moment for Apple, which has bet that by integrating AI more deeply into iOS while maintaining its privacy-first approach, it can catch up to competitors who got an earlier start in the AI race.

But the response so far has been muted, with users facing long waitlists only to find capabilities that feel familiar after two years of similar features from competitors. And it’s raising questions about whether Apple’s characteristically late but polished entrance into AI can still excite consumers.

Potential users (only those with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16) eager to try Apple Intelligence are finding themselves in an unusual position: waiting in line for a software update. After downloading iOS 18.1, users must toggle a switch in Settings and then join a waitlist that can last several hours.

The reason for the delay isn’t entirely clear. One Apple watcher has speculated it’s either due to the need to enroll each user in Private Cloud Compute, where sophisticated AI requests are processed on privacy-focused hardware, or simply because Apple is deliberately pacing the rollout of these beta features. Either way, the wait adds another layer of friction to a launch that’s already testing users’ patience.

Once through the waitlist, Apple Intelligence adds several AI-powered features to everyday iPhone tasks. Messages and notifications now come with quick AI summaries right on the lock screen. The Photos app gains an eraser tool that can remove unwanted objects and automatically fill in the background.

A new writing assistant can proofread and restyle text in various tones, from friendly to professional. And Siri has been upgraded to better understand natural, messy speech patterns – even handling corrections mid-sentence when users stumble over their words.

But these features, while polished, arrive as familiar territory in 2024. Sources told Bloomberg that internal research at Apple found ChatGPT to be 25% more accurate than Siri and capable of answering 30% more questions. Some within Apple believe their generative AI technology lags more than two years behind industry leaders, Bloomberg reports — a stark admission for a company known for setting technology trends rather than following them.

Apple executives frame this measured pace as intentional.

“This is a many-year, honestly, even decades-long arc of this technology playing out, and so we’re going to do it responsibly,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software, told The Wall Street Journal.

It’s a familiar playbook for Apple: Enter late but with polish, emphasizing privacy and integration over speed to market. But in an AI race where competitors are shipping new features weekly, this slow-and-steady approach faces unprecedented pressure to prove itself.

Apple’s AI push comes at a crucial moment for iPhone sales. Despite positioning the iPhone 15 Pro as its first AI-ready device, Apple is now cutting orders for about 10 million baseline iPhones through early 2025, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. While premium models remain unaffected, Kuo notably doesn’t expect Apple’s new AI features to boost overall iPhone sales, suggesting the company’s late entry into consumer AI might not provide the market lift it needs.

Still, Wall Street remains bullish on Apple’s AI ambitions, with Daniel Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, predicting the company will reach a $4 trillion valuation by 2025.

“Apple Intelligence is the beginning of an AI Revolution at Apple,” Ives said.

With Apple set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, Ives sees iOS 18.1 as just the opening move in a broader transformation that will “unlock a multiyear supercycle.” With an estimated 20% of the world’s population eventually accessing AI through Apple devices, Ives said December’s iOS 18.2 features will be key to maintaining that momentum.

But early access to those features isn’t inspiring confidence for everyone. For Hunter, who doesn’t use ChatGPT or other AI tools, Apple Intelligence was supposed to be a game changer — and it just hasn’t lived up to his expectations.

“I thought it was going to be my actual assistant,” he said. “I was expecting a little bit more.”