Apple Intelligence launch is a mess – don't buy the iPhone 16 or install iOS 18 based on the promise of what's to come

What a week it is for Apple fans, as the next few days will see the launch of iOS 18 and the iPhone 16. This special week in September comes like Christmas every year, giving tech lovers the chance to enjoy a shiny new smartphone or breathe new life into their old one.

This year is no different: The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max have launched with exciting new features like camera controls and larger displays on the Pro models. All four models are accompanied by iOS 18, the next generation of the iPhone operating system, which itself offers home screen customization options that let you choose any color to colorize your app icons, a new password app for all your login information, and even an updated calculator app with math notes. I'm not even scratching the surface on iOS 18, though; there's plenty more to get excited about, and the operating system works with any iPhone from the XS onwards.

So why the pessimistic headline? After all, the iPhone 16 Pro looks like a solid upgrade to last year's best iPhone, with a faster chip, camera upgrades, new buttons, better and bigger screens, and even longer battery life. Touted as the “first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence,” these new smartphones catapult us into a new Apple AI future – well, sort of.

(Image credit: Apple)

In all of Apple’s commercials for the latest iPhones, you can find people taking advantage of Apple Intelligence. New commercials with The Last of Us“Bella Ramsey shows the actor using AI to summarize emails, talk to the improved Siri, and create movie memories. All pretty cool, right? Sure, but embedded in each ad (in small white font) is a disclaimer that Apple Intelligence will not be available when the iPhone 16 launches on September 20.”

Apple Intelligence | More personal Siri | iPhone 16 Pro – YouTube

Watch on

Why, you ask? You just pre-ordered an iPhone 16 because you saw all the cool Apple Intelligence features on the London Underground or at the cinema. Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceWell, those Apple Intelligence features – like writing tools, cleanup, and new mail categories – are coming, just not in the first version of iOS 18. To be perfectly honest, it's a bit of a strange situation.

Apple sells the latest and greatest iPhones based on “what if?” questions, and as consumers we're supposed to trust the process and jump on the ride. Unfortunately, the lack of key features at launch of not only the iPhone 16, but also iOS 18, means that these upgrades and updates all feel rather lukewarm.

If you don't believe me, just look at Apple's iOS 18 preview page: Apple Intelligence is the main feature, followed by incremental updates to apps we use every day and color customization options that should have been available on the iPhone years ago. This is all very strange – even Mail's categories feature isn't available in iOS 18 to begin with, as it's powered by Apple AI.

The promise of “What if?”

As a former Apple Retail employee, I don't envy any of my former colleagues who have to explain to angry customers why their fancy new iPhone can't do the great things advertised. Even from a demo perspective, it's going to be difficult for them – how do you get retail customers to want a product without the best features?

It's an intriguing situation, but not one that will last. Apple Intelligence is set to arrive in US English as part of iOS 18.1 in October, and then in other localized English languages in December. If you're in the UK like me, you'll be able to use Apple Intelligence when it launches in beta next month by simply changing your device's language and Siri's language.

But after the release of iOS 18.1, Apple's intelligence tools will appear scattered, with no concrete timeframe for when we'll be able to use everything we were shown at WWDC 2024 in June. If current estimates are correct, Siri's on-screen detection won't be available until iOS 18.4, which will likely arrive in March 2025, while other features like Genmoji and Image Playground are planned for iOS 18.2, which Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says will launch just before the new year.

The WWDC

(Image credit: Apple)

Here lies my bigger concern: the promises of what's to come. I've been using Apple Intelligence as part of the iOS 18.1 developer beta and am happy with what I've tried so far, but Genmoji, Image Playground, and the wonder of an actually useful Siri are all just pipe dreams right now. No one outside of Apple has ever seen these AI tools in the flesh; they're not even in beta testing as part of a developer beta yet.

So can Genmoji even generate two emojis together as seamlessly as we saw on stage? Does Image Playground perform as well as some of the best AI image generators? No one has any idea, we just blindly trust Apple as the company has performed well in the past.

This wouldn't be the first time Apple has launched a new iPhone with promises of future features (see Deep Fusion), but it is the first time such a key selling point has simply been missing from an iPhone release. In a year, if all goes well, the chaotic launch of Apple Intelligence will be a thing of the distant past. But if Genmoji or Image Playground become a replica of the AirPower fiasco, the iPhone 16 launch could be an absolute nightmare for Apple.

If you're in the market for a new iPhone, you'll probably be happy with buying a new model with the incredible new A18 chips, camera controls, and other hardware improvements. If you're looking at the new iPhones for Apple Intelligence, especially the features not included in iOS 18.1, it's worth considering between upgrading now and one in a few months.

If you want a few new features and a more stable iPhone operating system, you'll be happy with iOS 18. However, if you install iOS 18 expecting Apple intelligence and everything you were promised to have, you might be a little disappointed.

Our early iPhone 16 review, earlier iPhone 16 Pro review, and Apple Intelligence's hands-on review all point to a very exciting year for Apple. Just be aware of what you're getting into, because if you spend hard-earned money on the promise of future features, you could end up regretting your decision.

Apple Intelligence launch is a mess – don't buy the iPhone 16 or install iOS 18 based on the promise of what's to come

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