How disappointing is it that only the iPhone 15 Pro will get Apple’s new AI? It’s Siri-ously disappointing. And Apple has no real excuse.
iOS 18 with Apple Intelligence has been announced now, and based on older iOS releases, it was quite predictable Apple would “pull an Apple” and create separation between iPhone models by making new AI features exclusive to some of them.
In fact, it was so predictable that I… predicted it about a week ago. But I’m not here to brag (well, maybe a little bit). I’m here to do my other favorite thing (as a tech writer), which is to complain about first-world problems.
A first-world problem or not, Apple has decided to make its new “Apple Intelligence” ML algorithms exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. That’s it. Two iPhones.
In one of the most controversial Apple moves in recent times, new iOS 18 AI will be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro: iPhone 15
As I said, it was expected that Apple was going to keep certain new iOS 18 features exclusive to the most expensive iPhones (because this happens every year), but this went beyond my wildest expectations.
Apple Intelligence is quite literally coming to only two iPhone models right now, and eventually, six in total – when the iPhone 16 series is out. Unless only the iPhone 16 Pro models get AI, which will be the cherry on top!
This move makes the $800 iPhone 15 and $900 iPhone 15 Plus, which are Apple’s current flagship phones (!), sort of irrelevant.
Sure, some would say “not everyone cares about the AI in iOS 18” but that’d be a very weak argument, since the most impressive part about iOS 18 is indeed Apple Intelligence.
And let’s not forget people using the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13, which are pretty capable devices even by today’s standards. The decision to make Apple Intelligence exclusive to the latest Pro iPhones could indeed push people using the vanilla version of the iPhone to upgrade to a Pro model.
Of course, that’s exactly what Apple’s always wanted, which is what every phone maker wants – to upsell. However, I’m simply not sure that’s a fair way to achieve that. It feels like cheating. Cheating your own users who’ve waited a while to get a taste of the whole next-gen “AI” thing.
