I’ve tracked Apple Intelligence’s evolution carefully throughout current months, evaluating its potential and limitations. Throughout varied articles, I’ve explored the challenges Apple faces because it expands into artificial intelligence (AI), from the early efforts seen in the iPhone 16 to the long-term business potential and adoption of the Vision Pro platform.
Whereas Apple Intelligence has laid necessary groundwork, many anticipated options remain incomplete or underwhelming, notably in comparison with the extra superior cloud-based AI platforms from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.
Additionally: Apple Intelligence arrives next month: 6 AI upgrades iPhone users can expect first
Apple’s deal with on-device processing and privateness for Apple Intelligence is its greatest strength and also its biggest limitation. Regardless of spectacular hardware advancements in the iPhone 16 and Apple Silicon’s neural engine, Apple Intelligence continues to be in its infancy, missing the mixing, third-party assist, and developer instruments wanted to compete with its cloud-based rivals.
This high 10 function “wishlist” explores the subsequent steps Apple might take to raise its generative AI (Gen AI) platform from a promising, transitional product to a robust, versatile AI ecosystem. I additionally assess every enchancment’s technical and strategic feasibility by drawing on current discussions about Apple’s well being, finance, and media path.
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Whether or not you are a developer, tech fanatic, or just inquisitive about AI’s future, these suggestions purpose to handle the gaps Apple should fill to stay a frontrunner within the AI race.
Productiveness & Workflow Enhancements
1. Regenerative AI (RAG) APIs & AI Writing Instruments
Whereas Apple Intelligence’s writing instruments present primary performance like textual content rewrites and proofreading, future enhancements might leverage Regenerative AI/Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) APIs to introduce extra refined options. This would come with real-time grammar corrections, tone changes, and specialised fashions educated on industry-specific languages, equivalent to authorized or medical terminology.
By integrating specialised dictionaries and company information into apps like Mail, Notes, and Pages, professionals and college students might create extremely correct, context-aware content material that adapts to their area of experience. This is able to revolutionize workflows by enabling extra superior information sourcing, rewriting, and content material era.
- Technical Viability: Requires seamless real-time information processing, specialised mannequin integration (e.g., 1B or 2B parameter fashions for authorized/medical fields), and local-cloud coordination to make sure clean efficiency. Specialised dictionaries would must be educated and commonly up to date for contextual accuracy.
- Strategic Chance: Excessive — Apple’s push into skilled and academic markets, notably in authorized and medical sectors, makes this a invaluable and strategic extension of present AI instruments. RAG might additional solidify Apple’s foothold in these key industries.
- Precedence: Excessive — This enhancement is essential for skilled sectors the place exact terminology and real-time information incorporation are important, particularly in authorized, healthcare, and enterprise purposes.
Use Case: A authorized skilled drafting a contract might use AI to generate textual content based mostly on authorized requirements and pull related case legislation or references from safe company databases. Equally, a medical researcher might improve their papers with exact terminology and {industry} information, all sourced and verified by a specialised AI mannequin.
2. Voice-based AI Workflow Automation & Proactive Notifications
Siri might deal with complicated multi-step workflows via easy voice instructions. For instance, customers might ask Siri to “put together my day”, which might schedule conferences, prioritize emails, set reminders, and recommend routes based mostly on visitors. Proactive notifications would intelligently filter and floor essentially the most related alerts based mostly on real-time consumer exercise, minimizing pointless distractions.
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Technical Viability: Requires vital enhancements in Siri’s pure language processing and job administration algorithms.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – As rivals like Google Assistant evolve, Siri wants to boost automation and productiveness to remain aggressive.
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Precedence: Excessive – This is able to remodel Siri from a primary assistant to an important device for day by day productiveness.
Use Case: Think about telling Siri to “schedule my conferences”. It’s going to mechanically deal with all of your emails, ship invitations, and reschedule conflicting occasions based mostly on precedence — all through a easy voice command.
Additionally: The iPhone 16 is undeniably great hardware – but you should still probably skip it
Safety & Privateness Enhancements
3. Enhanced AI Privateness and Safety Controls
As AI turns into extra built-in into day by day use, Apple can improve its privateness and safety controls, permitting customers to customise how AI interacts with private information. Customers might have granular management over what info third-party apps can entry and the way this information is used, guaranteeing all AI interactions adjust to privacy expectations.
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Technical Viability: Requires the enlargement of Apple’s already strong cryptographic protocols and the event of extra customizable consumer consent frameworks.
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Strategic Chance: Very excessive – Privateness is central to Apple’s branding, and including extra strong AI controls will likely be important as AI utilization will increase.
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Precedence: Excessive – Global regulations and shopper expectations round information privateness make this a important growth space.
Use Case: A consumer can modify permissions in order that Siri solely accesses their calendar information for scheduling duties however doesn’t entry messages or areas, guaranteeing most privateness management with out compromising performance.
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4. Monetary Administration and Safety
AI might mix monetary administration instruments with real-time fraud detection. AI would assist customers monitor spending, present budgeting recommendation, and ship predictive monetary alerts whereas monitoring transactions for uncommon or fraudulent exercise. This is able to convey AI to Apple Wallet and Pay, making these instruments safer and user-friendly.
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Technical Viability: Requires the event of sturdy AI algorithms to investigate monetary information in real-time and detect suspicious actions.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – Apple’s growing involvement in monetary providers (Apple Pay, Apple Card) makes this an apparent subsequent step.
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Precedence: Excessive – Fraud detection and customized monetary administration are more and more necessary as Apple expands its monetary providers ecosystem.
Use Case: Apple Pockets might mechanically alert customers to suspicious exercise of their accounts and AI might present customized budgeting recommendation based mostly on spending patterns, serving to customers obtain their monetary targets.
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Well being & Wellness Improvements
5. Superior Well being and Health
AI might present real-time diagnostics and predictive well being insights by leveraging the wealthy sensor information from the Apple Watch. AI would analyze sleep patterns, coronary heart fee, and exercise ranges, alerting customers to well being points like irregular heartbeats or recommending optimum exercises based mostly on previous efficiency and present health ranges.
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Technical Viability: Requires integrating complicated well being information into AI fashions able to offering real-time diagnostics and customized well being insights.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – Apple’s ongoing investment in health and fitness aligns properly with this enhancement, because the demand for well being tech continues to develop.
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Precedence: Excessive – Well being and health options are key drivers for Apple Watch adoption, making this a high-priority function for Apple’s wellness ecosystem.
Use Case: AI might alert customers if their coronary heart fee is irregular throughout a exercise and recommend modifying their routine. It might additionally supply customized exercise plans based mostly on their well being information to assist them attain their health targets.
Additionally: The 4 biggest new health features Apple just announced
Inventive & Media Instruments
6. AI-Enhanced Media Manufacturing Instruments
For inventive professionals, AI might streamline duties in Apple’s creativity instruments, equivalent to Final Cut Pro and GarageBand. AI might automate video modifying, sound mixing, and results era, suggesting edits based mostly on consumer preferences and artistic fashion. This method would enable customers to deal with the inventive features of their work, leaving repetitive duties to the AI.
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Technical Viability: Requires constructing AI fashions that perceive consumer preferences and artistic workflows in actual time.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – Apple’s established presence in inventive markets makes this a pure evolution for its skilled software program suite.
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Precedence: Average – Whereas important for inventive professionals, this function serves a distinct segment market in comparison with extra extensively used instruments, equivalent to productiveness or monetary administration.
Use Case: A filmmaker utilizing Remaining Minimize Professional might have AI mechanically lower clips, shade appropriate scenes, and apply filters based mostly on their previous initiatives or inventive preferences, dramatically lowering modifying time.
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Sustainability & Accessibility
7. Sustainability and Environmental Monitoring
Apple’s AI might assist customers monitor and scale back their environmental influence by accumulating information from HomeKit and Matter-enabled devices, EVs, and good meters. AI might analyze vitality consumption, suggest eco-friendly alternate options, and supply customized sustainability suggestions based mostly on consumer conduct and system utilization patterns.
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Technical Viability: Requires the event of algorithms that accumulate and analyze information from each Apple and non-Apple units, equivalent to EVs and good meters.
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Strategic Chance: Average – Aligns with Apple’s sustainability targets however requires vital exterior partnerships for non-Apple information integration.
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Precedence: Average – Sustainability is a vital however secondary focus in comparison with different AI-driven options, equivalent to safety or productiveness instruments.
Use Case: A consumer’s HomeKit system might work with their EV to optimize charging throughout off-peak hours, and AI would offer suggestions for lowering vitality consumption all through the day.
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8. AI Accessibility for Schooling and Common Use
AI might additional enhance accessibility for users with disabilities by adapting system interfaces and content material dynamically. Actual-time captioning, gesture recognition, and adaptive studying environments might assist college students and customers with disabilities work together with Apple units extra simply. AI might additionally assist customized studying, adapting content material presentation based mostly on particular person wants.
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Technical Viability: Builds on Apple’s present accessibility instruments, requiring AI enhancements for extra adaptive performance.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – Accessibility is core to Apple’s mission, and increasing AI right here aligns with its deal with inclusivity and academic expertise.
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Precedence: Excessive – Accessibility and training are important for broadening Apple’s consumer base, making this a precedence function.
Use Case: A scholar with a listening to impairment might use real-time captioning throughout on-line lessons or lectures, whereas AI adapts studying supplies to go well with their particular person wants.
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Cross-Ecosystem & Personalization
9. Gen AI Retailer & Broader AI Options for IoT Units
Apple might launch a devoted Gen AI Retailer for AI-powered apps, enabling customers to find and obtain AI-driven purposes for duties like private help, house automation, and media suggestions. This is able to additionally lengthen AI performance to Internet of Things (IoT) units, equivalent to HomePod and Apple TV, permitting AI to automate day by day routines and personalize experiences throughout the house.
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Technical Viability: Requires a scalable infrastructure for AI mannequin distribution and integration throughout IoT units.
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Strategic Chance: Average to excessive – A devoted retailer for AI apps might open new income streams, and increasing AI to IoT units would make Apple’s ecosystem smarter.
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Precedence: Average – This might drive vital service income, however system integration might take longer.
Use Case: A consumer might obtain a house automation AI from the Gen AI Retailer, which coordinates vitality utilization and residential actions based mostly on day by day routines, and studying patterns to optimize effectivity.
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10. AI Studying and Personalization
AI might make Apple units extra intuitive by studying from consumer habits and behaviors. AI would offer customized strategies for apps, settings, and actions, equivalent to suggesting a playlist throughout a exercise or optimizing settings for focus when work hours are detected.
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Technical Viability: Requires refined machine-learning fashions that be taught dynamically from consumer conduct throughout all units.
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Strategic Chance: Excessive – Apple’s deal with customized consumer experiences would align completely with this function.
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Precedence: Average to excessive – Whereas not as pressing as some productiveness instruments, enhancing personalization is vital to deepening consumer engagement.
Use Case: AI might acknowledge when a consumer sometimes works out, mechanically suggesting their most popular exercise playlist and adjusting system settings like Do Not Disturb to boost focus. Equally, AI might be taught a consumer’s work routine and recommend apps or contacts ceaselessly used throughout work hours, streamlining day by day duties.
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The long run
Apple Intelligence is on the cusp of remodeling how we work together with units, however it remains a work in progress. This wishlist highlights the important thing areas the place Apple could make significant strides, from enhanced developer integration to increasing AI’s function in well being, finance, and accessibility.
Additionally: Apple delivers on hardware upgrades but punts Apple Intelligence rollout
Whereas Apple’s deal with privateness and on-device processing units it aside, the corporate should embrace a broader AI technique to fulfill consumer expectations. By addressing these gaps, Apple can solidify its management in AI and ship an ecosystem that is each safe and revolutionary, driving the subsequent wave of clever consumer experiences.