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Insiders expect Apple’s WWDC 25 to be another AI disappointment

MacDailyNews

Jun 2

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Apple, a year after debuting its AI platform, will do little at WWDC to show it’s catching up to leaders like xAI and OpenAI. Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News, “People within the company believe that the conference may be a letdown from an AI standpoint.” As the rest of Big Tech powers into the AI future, Apple is dangerously behind and, so far, looks to have little hope of catching up any time soon.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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A year ago, Apple Inc. unveiled its long-awaited entry to the generative AI space. With Apple Intelligence, the company assumed the role of the thoughtful latecomer that had taken its time to get AI right. Wall Street bought in to the idea, and consumers were curious. The message was clear: Apple may have been behind, but it wouldn’t be for long.
By August, when developers got their hands on the first beta version of Apple Intelligence, that narrative began to fall apart. It became obvious that the product was more branding than breakthrough.

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MacDailyNews Take: Told ya so. Even before it happened. As usual.

Apple was caught flat-footed, due to a lack of vision on the part of leadership… So, the only solution is to partner with a [Google, OpenAI, Baidu, etc.] for the real GenAI stuff while pretending (marketing) really hard that some on-device AI Apple has whipped up in a few months is “insanely great Apple innovation” that’s at the heart of Apple’s 2024’s AI announcements when it’s really just an adjunct… Watch Apple make a big show of its on-device AI at WWDC and run many ads touting it from June onwards… This is what happens after a decade plus with a caretaker CEO at the helm after he hits the last page of his iteration playbook, yet attempts to stay in the game for too long. – MacDailyNews, April 1, 2024

The new “AI features” for iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS to be revealed at WWDC is mainly a marketing exercise. The pressure is on Apple’s marketing team to position the company as an innovator in the space (“only Apple does so much on-device AI which enhances users’ privacy to ‘stunning’ effect,” etc.) that also makes “smart partnerships” with other AI companies (OpenAI, for example; even though it’s currently forced to partner if they want to offer any real GenAI features). Now, more than ever, finding themselves so far behind, Apple needs to sell, sell, sell! – MacDailyNews, May 28, 2024

WWDC24’s “Apple Intelligence” dog and pony show happened on June 10, 2024.

It’s very easy to be a Johnny Come Lately. At MacDailyNews, you not only get it first, you often get it before it even happens.

Gurman continues:

With the one-year anniversary of Apple Intelligence approaching, the company finds itself in a bind. It needs to build some AI buzz at the June 9 Worldwide Developers Conference, but it has little to add to the conversation. Within the last few weeks, OpenAI struck a blockbuster partnership with Apple’s former design chief, while Google made major strides at its I/O event…
Apple needs a comeback. But that probably won’t be happening at this year’s WWDC. People within the company believe that the conference may be a letdown from an AI standpoint. Others familiar with the company’s planned announcements worry they could make Apple’s shortcomings even more obvious.

MacDailyNews Take: Our Takes age like bottles of very fine wine.

When you’re caught flat-footed like Tim Cook’s Apple, you pop into scramble mode to try to catch up. Early on, you hit it with a big marketing flourish (WWDC24) in order to buy some more time. Then you dribble out features as they get finished and actually exist. Classic vaporware. – MadDailyNews, July 31, 2024

Executing a vaporware strategy is an unfortunate necessity without a visionary CEO and it takes time to actually realize (code, test, build out datacenter infrastructure, etc.) a grand marketing vision. – MacDailyNews, September 10, 2024

You know, some people get upset when we point out that Tim Cook is a boring, reactive caretaker who’s not really the best person to be running Apple today or for at least the past several years.

Operations manager Cook should have been a 3-5 year stopgap after Steve Jobs’ untimely passing, running the iteration playbook, providing continuity for the company while it found a real CEO. Instead, he hung on — and keeps hanging on — well past his sell-by date.

Sigh.

You can be upset with us for having the temerity to call it like we see it, but the fact remains that Apple would be doing significantly better today with a visionary who’d have seen AI on the horizon, who’d have recognized the intrinsic importance of Siri and therefore invested in it instead of criminally neglecting it, and who wouldn’t have squandered the company’s gigantic leads in things like personal assistants and podcasting. – MacDailyNews, August 22, 2024

Apple needed new blood years ago, but the old blood simply won’t let go. – MacDailyNews, January 22, 2025

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