A look at Apple's slow AI features rollout, impressive visionOS 2 beta, and plans for the thinnest, lightest devices in tech in time for the iPhone 17 in 2025
Apple will gradually roll out its new Intelligence features over several months, seeking to avoid the pitfalls that have plagued other AI systems.
BloombergMark Gurman
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s AI plan emerged from its WWDC-era push to integrate an opt-in Apple Intelligence service across its software. Related coverage had already indicated that key capabilities, including the new Siri, would not arrive with the initial software releases in Apple’s staged feature rollout.
This report ties that software pacing to two longer product threads: a visionOS 2 beta and a 2025 effort to make Apple hardware markedly thinner and lighter. Later coverage’s work to bring Apple Intelligence to Vision Pro suggests the company was positioning AI as a cross-device layer rather than a single-release feature.
First-order effects
Apple users receive Intelligence capabilities in stages rather than as a complete launch-day package, limiting immediate access while giving Apple more room to avoid failures associated with other AI systems.
Apple must coordinate its software rollout with visionOS 2 and its forthcoming hardware-design program, making execution across products more important than a single flagship AI debut.
Second-order effects
Rivals that emphasize rapid AI feature shipping gain a clearer contrast point, while Apple’s approach makes reliability and integration the nearer-term basis for comparison.
Developers and customers face a staggered feature baseline across Apple devices and software releases, complicating when AI-dependent experiences can be broadly deployed.
Third-order effects
If Apple sustains this approach, consumer AI competition may shift from headline feature counts toward phased deployment across tightly integrated device ecosystems.
The combination of AI software and lighter hardware points to a broader move in which product design and on-device experiences are planned together, though the pace of adoption remains uncertain.
The trend: Consumer AI is being industrialized as a cross-device platform capability, with vendors balancing rapid feature announcements against controlled deployment and hardware integration.
It's a real shame they can't ship visionOS 2.0 before the international launch. There will be a whole wave of new reviews and I think lots of folks would have a very different take on the thing with some of the new features. Missed opportunity.
Given that there's only one generation of hardware and that the platform has had relatively limited availability until now, I see absolutely no reason not to immediately drop support for visionOS 1 in fall and fully embrace this year's new capabilities. Feels very freeing.
I still don't get the obsession with “thin” when it comes to laptop, tablet, and even phone, design. I'm more concerned with “weight”. I don't care how thing the thing is, I just don't want it to kill my shoulder when I put it in my bag. https://9to5mac.com/...
I don't get why people are mad at this move. If the new iPad Pro is a sign of future products then it seems like they won't be sacrificing battery and durability for thinness.
So don't feel bad about your phone 15 not running Apple Intelligence. It doesn't look like the 15 Pro will run it either on 2024. Makes sense, I'm sure most, if not all, the AI demos at WWDC were all canned. It's going to take some time for any of this to become reality.
Instead of “slowly roll” I'd characterize WWDC as a “vision” or “strategy” view of AI versus a specific “this is for the Fall” or “feature list”. There was a lot of “Siri might be able to” or “capability could make it easy to.” That's a huge change and more like how Microsoft u…
Marks amazing breakdown of which AI features will and won't launch with iOS 18 from Apple And the most disappointing note of all for vision pro users 😭 [image]
Apple is focused on a much skinnier phone in time for the iPhone 17. It's also working to make the MacBook Pro & watch thinner. The plan is for the latest iPad to be the start of a new class of devices that are the thinnest/lightest in their categories. https://www.bloomberg.com/…
Power On: Apple will slowly rollout Apple Intelligence, with some features coming after iOS 18 this year and much of the new Siri coming in 2025 https://www.bloomberg.com/...