Smartphone manufacturers, including those other than Apple, are consistently citing one reason why you need a new cell phone: artificial intelligence. AI functions are intended to save time, beautify images, take over search queries and much more. In short: make everyday life easier.
In the form of Apple Intelligence, this has only worked to a limited extent so far. International voices to the greatestexpress themselves cautiously.
Apple Intelligence is not yet causing excitement in iOS 18.1
The update to iOS 18.1 brings AI functions to the iPhone for the first time. But the euphoria is not there, as Alison Johnson fromThe Vergesummarizes:
»Everything is there and everything works well. But none of this comes close to the time-saving computing platform switch we were promised.”
On the one hand, there are functions such as text summarization, which, in the author's opinion, do not save much time. Tools like Smart Reply, i.e. replying to emails with pre-written messages, work, but the human touch is missing. The problem probably also affects content such as personal photo memories.
Also Graham Barlow fromTechRadaris critical of the innovations in the form of Apple Intelligence. He sees great potential in the functions, but overall it's a bet on the future. In addition, the new functions are not present in the system and are hidden in the background:
»In fact, the AI features that Apple has introduced so far are all hidden somewhere in the background. You must tap the correct icon to view them. It's almost as if Apple is ashamed of them."
The author Max Eddy from The New York Times (Wirecutter). His verdict: Apple Intelligence is not yet fully developed. This also includes Siri, which can now follow a dialogue better, but is not yet convincing when it comes to answering questions.
In addition, the results of Apple's Magic Eraser counterpart are "not perfect and have irregularities." The function can be used to optionally remove objects and people from an image.
The problem of irregularity also becomes apparent when summarizing texts. According to the author, nuances and connections are lost here.
Finally Ina Fried gives it awayAxiosan optimistic outlook on Apple Intelligence. The author considers the current improvements to be modest, but sees the foundation for future exciting improvements laid.
Apple Intelligence is coming to Germany in April 2025
Up toit will be a few more months. By then, on the one hand, additional functions will be introduced into Apple's AI suite, and on the other hand, Apple will not miss the opportunity to tweak the adjustment screws and improve existing functions.
But we're talking about the future here. So anyone who uses Apple Intelligence to buy an iPhone 15 Pro or newer could be disappointed - at least if the improvements don't come.
The wait may well be worth it
If the rumors are true, this is coming, which will feature many improvements compared to the third generation. After all, the last SE model came onto the market in 2022.
- The iPhone SE 4 is also said to be equipped with the A18 chip and therefore ready for future AI functions from Apple Intelligence.
- If the Cupertino manufacturer doesn't increase the price of this model disproportionately, the fourth SE generation is potentially the cheapest entry into Apple Intelligence.
If you are not in a hurry to buy, you can also use thiswait. By then, major bugs may have been fixed and older flagship iPhones may have dropped in price.
If you don't rely on Apple's operating system anyway, you will already find numerous representatives in the Android competition who are vying for customers' favor with AI functions.
