Apple may reportedly offer artificial intelligence features on devices with iOS 18

Apple may be planning a major upgrade to its iPhone devices with the iOS 18 update. A new report suggests that the Cupertino-based tech giant is working to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) features to its smartphones at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is expected to be held in June. Interestingly, the company may offer all AI features on the device rather than making them cloud-based. Notably, a report last week highlighted that Apple may launch a new artificial intelligence browsing feature for Safari that allows users to summarize web pages.

This information comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s Power On communication, who responded to a question about how many of Apple’s planned AI features might be cloud-based. According to Gurman, not much at all! The tech giant can provide all functionality natively and handle it on the device itself. If this move is true, it could have both advantages and disadvantages depending on how the iPhone maker approaches the issue of artificial intelligence capabilities.

Having AI capabilities entirely natively is great for privacy and data security. This means that any data shared with apps or system features never leaves the user’s iPhone, and it’s unlikely that this information will reach third parties. This makes the device more secure and users don’t have to worry about their sensitive data.

However, there is a drawback. In fact, there are several. First, AI computers require very high processing power compared to the conventional tasks performed by devices. Most large language models run GPU-based inference on a computer. Even today’s smartphones are trying to add special “AI processors” that come with a powerful combination of CPU, GPU and NPU (Neural Processing Unit). Still, running complex algorithms natively on the device can be a tricky task. That’s why Samsung is letting users choose whether they want certain Galaxy AI features to run on the device or through a server.

It may be a challenging task for Apple to bring some of these features natively. This brings us to the second drawback. If Apple remains focused on only delivering on-device AI capabilities, it may not be able to offer some of the features its competitors offer. For example, Galaxy AI has an interpreting feature that can translate a spoken conversation between two speakers standing near the phone in real time. Likewise, Oppo offers AI-powered image generation capabilities to Chinese users. Can Apple optimize such functionality on the device? Can it do it fast enough not to fall behind its competitors? WWDC 2024 may answer some of these questions.