Tony Fadell, former Apple executive and creator of the iPod, defended Apple’s cautious approach to artificial intelligence. Speaking at the 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Fadell acknowledged the not-so-overwhelming first impressions but emphasised the strategy’s long-term benefits.
“People were like, ‘I downloaded it,’ and they were like, ‘Apple’s AI is meh,'” Fadell said. “But it works! And that’s the thing you want — is you start building things that work, and you build on top of those and make better and better features.”
The first wave of Apple Intelligence features, available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, includes writing tools, message summaries, and an enhanced Siri experience. Unlike competitors Google and Microsoft, which launched more ambitious AI products throughout the past year, Apple opted for a more measured rollout focusing on practical integrations and privacy.
Fadell, who worked at Apple from 2001 to 2010, praised the company’s decision to implement smaller AI models, noting that the approach “doesn’t require nuclear power” — a reference to other tech giants’ investments in nuclear energy to power their AI infrastructure.
During Thursday’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed promising early adoption rates for iOS 18.1, noting that its uptake in the first three days was double that of iOS 17.1 in the previous year. Cook attributed this surge to strong interest in Apple Intelligence features.
The company plans to release additional AI capabilities in December, initially in US English before expanding to the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. Further language support is scheduled to roll out starting in April.
“There’s definitely interest out there for Apple Intelligence,” Cook stated, suggesting the new features are proving to be a significant incentive for iPhone upgrades.