Apple's AI gamble and broken promises spark iPhone buyers' doubts

For months, experts have been talking about how these AI upgrades might drive people to rush out and get the latest iPhones. However, one analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has consistently warned that these expectations were too high. He pointed out that even as far back as last year, the buzz around Apple Intelligence was overblown. Now, his predictions appear to be coming true.

The main issue seems to be that Apple has been struggling to deliver on its promises. The company showcased a bunch of cool AI tricks for Siri, but as we saw last week, many of these are now delayed until next year. This delay has led to a lot of negative feedback, with people questioning if Apple can really compete in the AI space. It's not just a few people either, as even long-time Apple-focused publications and reporters are expressing their disappointment.

The problem started last year when Apple revealed its plans at WWDC 2024. The company talked about all the ways in which Siri would become smarter, understanding personal context and working better with apps. But as time went on, the launch dates kept getting pushed back. By the time Apple finally admitted that some of these features wouldn't arrive until next year, the damage was done. People felt let down, and this feeling is impacting how they view the new iPhones.

Apple, it seems, was aware of this. They reportedly gave their suppliers lower sales forecasts for iPhones, indicating they knew the AI features weren't going to be a big hit. This suggests that the company had already factored in the public’s reaction to the delays.

With the tech industry now ripe with competition over who can innovate the most with AI, Apple is now facing increased pressure to keep up with the likes of Google, OpenAI, and other companies that are all pushing the boundaries. The delay in delivering on their AI promises has shaken confidence, and it’s possible that this will affect sales of the upcoming iPhone models as well. If Apple cannot deliver on its AI promises, it may lose out to other companies that can.

Personally, Apple's failure to delivery on its promises this year have given me pause on upgrading this new cycle. I am predominantly an Android user, but as a tech reporter I like to use iOS as well in order to stay in the loop, thus why I invested in an iPhone 16 Pro that I carry as a secondary device. The way things are going, it's looking like I'll be hanging on to it for a while, unless something dramatically changes in the way Apple has been handling this rollout.