The big Apple event of the year takes place tomorrow (September 9) with the launch of the iPhone 16 – but how will Apple’s new Apple Intelligence-equipped ultraphone compare to Samsung and Google’s best?
With the arrival of the Google Pixel 9 last month and with the Samsung Galaxy S24 range having sat high in most best phones lists (including ours) all year, Apple has work to do to stay ahead of the competition.
But no matter how impressive the new hardware is, it will be in the AI arena that the battle between Google, Samsung and Apple will be won. I’ve already had a few weeks to play with Gemini Live, so, here are my top five ways that Apple has a chance to steal the AI crown back from its rivals.
1. Do a better job of integrating Siri with the mobile OS
Both the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 9 have Gemini Live onboard to handle AI voice interactions (if you subscribe to Gemini Advanced), and while being able to talk to your phone like it’s a human is slightly unnerving at first, you soon get used to it.
The key to Siri pulling the same trick, but better, will be in how well it integrates with the rest of your phone; it’s pointless being able to chat about what star sign you are most compatible with unless you can get Siri to hook up with your calendar app and tell you whether you’re free for a date on Thursday night.
We’re still waiting for Google to release the extensions that will make this happen with Gemini; at the moment, Gemini Live responds with some version of, “I can’t use your Google Calendar when we’re live, yet”, in response to these sorts of requests.
Unfortunately, it’s not looking likely that we’ll get the full Siri 2.0 experience until 2025, either, but Apple may surprise us yet.
2. Make the ChatGPT integration seamless
One advantage that Gemini seemingly has over Apple is that it’s only using one virtual assistant, whereas Apple says that Siri will hand-off to ChatGPT for complex questions it can’t handle. That will be fine if the integration is smooth and seamless, but we’ll only know how well it works once we can test it.
In reality, the Google Pixel still has Google Assistant doing a lot of the heavy lifting and sometimes the integration between Gemini and the Assistant isn’t as smooth as it could be. To launch Gemini Live, for instance, you still have to say “Hey, Google”, which brings up Google Assistant, then tap the Go Live icon – a clunky process, to say the least.
I think Apple has a good chance of getting this right straight out of the gate, but I’d also expect Google to catch up as Gemini gains more powers over time.
3. Better integration with macOS
Google recently integrated Gemini into the Chrome address bar, which is a big step forward for phone/PC/laptop integration, but there’s still no direct connection between Gemini on your phone and your computer.
Since Apple controls everything in its ecosystem, from the hardware to the software, and given that Apple Intelligence will run on both macOS and iOS, it should be able to provide better integration options. I just want the ability to talk to my iPhone and get it to do things on my Mac. Is that asking too much? I don’t think so.
4. Make Siri 2.0 free
There was recently some talk about Apple charging for Apple Intelligence, but industry insider Mark Gurman has reported that Apple is not charging for its Apple Intelligence features in the future, until at least until 2027.
In contrast, Google gives you a year’s worth of Gemini Advanced (which you need to Go Live with Gemini) for free with purchases of the Pixel 9 series, after which it will cost $20 (£18.99, AU$32.99) a month. This feels like a lot just to use the AI features you might have bought the phone for – and if you own an earlier Pixel, or indeed a Samsung phone, you’ll definitely have to shell out for the AI upgrade. Apple could easily win on this front, at least.
5. Don’t make us wait for it
As we’ve reported, it doesn’t look like the iPhone 16 will have Apple Intelligence at launch. Gurman, a well-respected expert on all things Apple, revealed a few weeks ago that we’ll probably have to wait until iOS 18.1 for Apple Intelligence to come to the iPhone, and until early 2025 and iOS 18.2 for the full Siri 2.0 experience.
I get it – introducing artificial intelligence to a piece of tech that fits into your pocket is probably quite the challenge – but there was a chance here for Apple to steal the impetus back from Google, which is currently leading the charge with Gemini Live already shipping, even if it’s not all there yet.
I’m still hoping to be surprised by what happens on tomorrow, but it’s looking increasingly like Apple Intelligence will be released piecemeal. So while the future may be here, we’ll have to get used to getting it in installments.
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graham.barlow@futurenet.com (Graham Barlow)
