Apple has done it again. It has taken something which already exists and made its own. Apple Intelligence is another term for AI that is likely to catch up in the industry. But what separates Apple from its rivals is that you are assured of privacy, even with AI coming into play.
The company even highlighted the changing architecture around which it claims to have built a robust AI ecosystem involving its devices. Apple confirmed that its AI tools and features will be available for free but you need the right hardware to experience these upgrades. And that’s where we feel the whole point of promising AI for free goes away.
Free But Not Really
Apple is basically saying you can have these new AI features with iOS 18 on your iPhones, iPads or Macs but you will need to buy one of the latest models to get these features. So, technically, you are paying well over Rs 1 lakh if you want to try out the new AI tools on an iPhone, similarly, you spend over Rs 60,000 on an iPad and around Rs 80,000 for a MacBook that is powered by M1 or later M-series silicone. Here’s a list of devices that can run these new AI tools:
– iPhone 15 Pro
– iPhone 15 Pro Max
– iPad Air with M1 chipset or later
– iPad Pro with M1 chipset or later
– MacBook Air with M1 chipset or later
– MacBook Pro with M1 chipset or later
– iMac with M1 chipset or later
– Mac Mini with M1 chipset or later
– Mac Pro with M2 Ultra
The term free is loosely communicated but one has to read through the fine print, or in this case, the footnote of any event, which is exactly what we did to see the caveats of using AI.
Running AI Isn’t Cheap
Make no mistake, Apple has all the rights to charge its customers one way or another for its AI features. After all, the hardware and software resources needed to run these systems aren’t cheap, and eventually, you would expect the company to pass on these costs to its customers.
But Apple knows that it is too early to expect you to invest in the AI tools, especially with a tier that caters to a niche group. We have already seen Google and OpenAI push their respective AI chatbots through subscription, and soon rather than later, Apple will have to sign up for a similar model. Till then, the company feels that expanding its product ecosystem will help with the cost of economics to run the AI systems which not only promises to keep your data private but secure as well.
Analysts and Apple investors would expect the company to start showing returns for its hefty investment. That is likely to be the final move for Apple and will only happen if it is able to match the hype that has been created at the WWDC 2024 keynote this week.
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