AI is coming to the iPhone (eventually). Apple reportedly plans on implementing generative AI technology onto the iPhone and iPad, likely toward the end of next year, MacRumors reports.
The rumor comes from Jeff Pu, an analyst who regularly covers Apple’s supply chain for the investment firm Haitong International Securities. According to Pu, Apple is set to build a few hundred AI servers this year and even more next year, paving the way for the technology. The company also plans to use a combination of cloud-based AI as well as “edge AI,” which performs more data processing on-device.
If Pu’s timeline holds, we could see AI on the iPad and iPhone with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Apple working on an AI product. In July, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said Apple was testing a ChatGPT-like chatbot called “Apple GPT” but the company had yet to create a strategy for releasing the bot to the public.
In recent years Apple has acquired several AI companies.
During its earnings call in May, CEO Tim Cook said the company planned to take a slow, “thoughtful” approach to creating AI products. "It's very important to be deliberate and thoughtful in how you approach these things, and there’s several issues that need to be sorted," he said.