Apple's new AI features may not be released with iPhone 16. Here's what we know so far

Apple made its foray into artificial intelligence with a new service called Apple Intelligence which it unveiled at last week's WWDC 2024 event. While Apple showcased a number of AI features it would bring to iPhones, iPads and MacBooks at WWDC, these features were not part of the first developer beta rolled out by the company just a few hours later. 

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, most Apple Intelligence features will not be available for users to try until laterthis summer. Moreover, when the service ultimately does debut with the stable build of iOS 18 in September, it will be available as a preview which would highlight that it's not quite ready to regular use. Reportedly, Apple Intelligence will only be available to a subset of Apple uses in American English at first and users may also have to join a waitlist to use some features.

Traditionally, Apple releases its latest iOS version soon after the launch of the new iPhone series in mid-September. However, since these devices have to be manufactured and equippep with the latest OS weeks in advance, the new features must be complete by mid-August. Given that many of the new AI features won't be ready in time, Apple is likely to roll them out in a staggered manner over the several months. 

The staggered approach to rollout of Apple Intelligence could provide Apple some much needed time to build its cloud infrastructure, train its AI models and limit the potential spread of misinformation. 

Siri 2.0 won't arrive till next year: 

Gurman also stated that most of the revamped Siri features that Apple showcased at WWDC 2024 won't be arriving till next year. The version of Siri which will be introduced with iOS 18 with iPhone 16 is reported to have some new features including a new interface, type to Siri functionaity, better natural conversation skills and a broader understanding of Apple products. 

Moreover, Apple Intelligence's integration with ChatGPT may also not rollout until next year. In the meantime, Apple is also said to be looking to hammer deals with Google and Anthropic for bringing their chatbots to iPhones. A similar deal could be struck with Baidu and Alibaba Group in China.