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> While the tech press fixated on Apple's relatively quiet AI story at WWDC 2025, the company was executing a more subtle strategy. Rather than engaging in the

> While the tech press fixated on Apple's relatively quiet AI story at WWDC 2025, the company was executing a more subtle strategy. Rather than engaging in the current LLM arms race (where it's demonstrably behind), Apple doubled down on what it does best: creating compelling user experiences through design and integration. I cant believe real people actually believe this kind of stuff. The author seems to think tech press alone is fixated on AI story. Apple themselves was all gung-ho about AI last time around. They sold an entire line of iPhones touting the benefits of AI. They even "invented" a brand for their line of offering - Apple Intelligence. And when it all fell flat, Apple had to apologize and had to (yes, had to) showcase other things. Liquid Glass essentially was a replacement for that. If Apple had anything meaningful to show in AI world, it would have show cased that. And author seems to think Apple is playing 4D chess. Sometimes the simplest explanation is what is really going on.

bombcar 1y ago
The reality distortion field didn’t die with Jobs.
- DannyBee 1y ago
  The author is far enough into apple fanboy conspiracies that they will probably next claim the reality distortion field didn't die because Jobs never died.
  - bombcar 1y ago
    Jobs is dead. Proof: Assume he is not dead. What Apple has become would kill him. Ergo, he is dead.
- mrandish 1y ago
  True... and in AR the Liquid Glass UI actually distorts reality.
paxys 1y ago
The fact that the majority of AI features which were promised (and pushed hard) by Apple for iPhone 16 are still nowhere in sight should honestly be a bigger story. So many people upgraded to that phone entirely for AI.
- kitten_mittens_ 1y ago
  I updated to avoid paying the new American tariffs. The advertised AI features were decidedly underwhelming.
- layer8 1y ago
  There is a class action lawsuit regarding that: https://clarksonlawfirm.com/lp/apple-intelligence-false-advertising/ https://clarksonlawfirm.com/lp/apple-intelligence-false-adve...
  - behnamoh 1y ago
    i hope it wins against apple. i also bought my new iphone mainly for AI reasons but looking back, i should have purchased a pixel.
    - lukev 1y ago
      I dunno. I feel like a lawsuit would need to demonstrate damages. Real-world productivity improvements due to AI in terms of actual metrics or financial outcomes remain stubbornly undemonstrated.
      - simondw 1y ago
        Really? If a company advertises a new red version of their widget and I excitedly upgrade because I love red, but when it comes it's gray just like the old widget, don't I have a case? Surely I don't need to demonstrate that red makes me more productive.
        bradleyankrom 1y ago
DannyBee 1y ago
No, you see, Apple has spent untold billions of dollars chasing AI as a feint. Them repeatedly apologizing and telling investors they are working as fast as they can is all lies. They have everyone just where they want them, and are poised to deliver the killing blow of ... a new UI that everyone has to relearn.
conradev 1y ago
An even simpler explanation is that regular UI redesigns are an important tool for a device manufacturer to make the experience feel new or refreshed, and this novelty helps sell devices. Everyone reacts to the content of the redesign when it lands, but the fact that it happens should not be surprising. Usability issues only manifest after point of sale. Messaging/marketing happens after the work has been done (and can involve post-rationalization).
rs186 1y ago
And nobody mentions "developers forced to redesign and reimplement their app UI for no good reason" as part of the cost. Of course fanboys couldn't care less about that.
alwillis 1y ago
There’s lots of new AI features in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, etc. But they aren’t the blockbuster features. They’re more like quality of life issues that users will appreciate. A now that 3rd parties can access Apple’s LLM models… let me correct that. Shortcuts, a visual automation app, can also access models on device or bigger, more capable models using Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. Apple’s not playing multidimensional chess… but they are playing the long game, where users won’t have to use multiple AI chatbots to get work done, because most of what they want to do is handled by their current apps with new AI capabilities—on device.
- bitpush 1y ago
  Apple's models are not competitive. Apple has not demonstrated any leadership in fundamental models so far, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. If anything I'd expect Google, OpenAI, Anthropic ... Or even Meta to have a better on-device "lite" model before Apple.
  - alwillis 1y ago
    > Apple's models are not competitive. 1. You have no way of objectively assessing this. 2. Apple’s been using machine learning, neural networking and other AI technologies in their operating systems before most of these AI companies even existed. 3. Apple was the first to ship AI-specific hardware (Neural Engine) in the iPhone X in 2017 > Google, OpenAI, Anthropic ... Or even Meta to have a better on-device "lite" model before Apple. Google's "lite" model Gemma 2B has 2 billion parameters and their Gemini Nano has 1.5 billion. The largest lite model Meta tops out at 1.5 billion. The model demonstrated at WWDC has 3 billion parameters [1] with 2-bit and 4-bit quantization. So Apple has already surpassed Meta and Google when it comes to LLMs on smartphones from the jump. Seems pretty competitive. 3rd party developers will have access to it as well. If the task requires a more comprehensive model, it can access Apple's Private Cloud Compute [2] seamlessly. Sounds like a win-win to me. This model is also exposed to automation; you'll be able to create custom workflows that incorporate AI very easily. [1]: From Apple's press release: A key component of Apple Intelligence is a new on-device Foundation Model. This model, with approximately 3 billion parameters, has been engineered for efficiency and is optimized to run directly on Apple's latest silicon. To achieve this, Apple has employed advanced quantization techniques, including 2-bit and 4-bit quantization for the model's weights and an 8-bit KV cache, which significantly reduce the model's memory and computational footprint without compromising performance [2]: "Private Cloud Compute: A new frontier for AI privacy in the cloud" https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/ https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/

bombcar 1y ago

The reality distortion field didn’t die with Jobs.

DannyBee 1y ago
The author is far enough into apple fanboy conspiracies that they will probably next claim the reality distortion field didn't die because Jobs never died.
- bombcar 1y ago
  Jobs is dead. Proof: Assume he is not dead. What Apple has become would kill him. Ergo, he is dead.
mrandish 1y ago
True... and in AR the Liquid Glass UI actually distorts reality.

paxys 1y ago

The fact that the majority of AI features which were promised (and pushed hard) by Apple for iPhone 16 are still nowhere in sight should honestly be a bigger story. So many people upgraded to that phone entirely for AI.

kitten_mittens_ 1y ago
I updated to avoid paying the new American tariffs. The advertised AI features were decidedly underwhelming.
layer8 1y ago
There is a class action lawsuit regarding that: https://clarksonlawfirm.com/lp/apple-intelligence-false-advertising/ https://clarksonlawfirm.com/lp/apple-intelligence-false-adve...
- behnamoh 1y ago
  i hope it wins against apple. i also bought my new iphone mainly for AI reasons but looking back, i should have purchased a pixel.
  - lukev 1y ago
    I dunno. I feel like a lawsuit would need to demonstrate damages. Real-world productivity improvements due to AI in terms of actual metrics or financial outcomes remain stubbornly undemonstrated.
    - simondw 1y ago
      Really? If a company advertises a new red version of their widget and I excitedly upgrade because I love red, but when it comes it's gray just like the old widget, don't I have a case? Surely I don't need to demonstrate that red makes me more productive.
      - bradleyankrom 1y ago

DannyBee 1y ago

No, you see, Apple has spent untold billions of dollars chasing AI as a feint. Them repeatedly apologizing and telling investors they are working as fast as they can is all lies. They have everyone just where they want them, and are poised to deliver the killing blow of ... a new UI that everyone has to relearn.

conradev 1y ago

An even simpler explanation is that regular UI redesigns are an important tool for a device manufacturer to make the experience feel new or refreshed, and this novelty helps sell devices. Everyone reacts to the content of the redesign when it lands, but the fact that it happens should not be surprising. Usability issues only manifest after point of sale. Messaging/marketing happens after the work has been done (and can involve post-rationalization).

rs186 1y ago

And nobody mentions "developers forced to redesign and reimplement their app UI for no good reason" as part of the cost. Of course fanboys couldn't care less about that.

alwillis 1y ago

There’s lots of new AI features in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, etc. But they aren’t the blockbuster features. They’re more like quality of life issues that users will appreciate. A now that 3rd parties can access Apple’s LLM models… let me correct that. Shortcuts, a visual automation app, can also access models on device or bigger, more capable models using Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. Apple’s not playing multidimensional chess… but they are playing the long game, where users won’t have to use multiple AI chatbots to get work done, because most of what they want to do is handled by their current apps with new AI capabilities—on device.

bitpush 1y ago
Apple's models are not competitive. Apple has not demonstrated any leadership in fundamental models so far, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. If anything I'd expect Google, OpenAI, Anthropic ... Or even Meta to have a better on-device "lite" model before Apple.
- alwillis 1y ago
  > Apple's models are not competitive. 1. You have no way of objectively assessing this. 2. Apple’s been using machine learning, neural networking and other AI technologies in their operating systems before most of these AI companies even existed. 3. Apple was the first to ship AI-specific hardware (Neural Engine) in the iPhone X in 2017 > Google, OpenAI, Anthropic ... Or even Meta to have a better on-device "lite" model before Apple. Google's "lite" model Gemma 2B has 2 billion parameters and their Gemini Nano has 1.5 billion. The largest lite model Meta tops out at 1.5 billion. The model demonstrated at WWDC has 3 billion parameters [1] with 2-bit and 4-bit quantization. So Apple has already surpassed Meta and Google when it comes to LLMs on smartphones from the jump. Seems pretty competitive. 3rd party developers will have access to it as well. If the task requires a more comprehensive model, it can access Apple's Private Cloud Compute [2] seamlessly. Sounds like a win-win to me. This model is also exposed to automation; you'll be able to create custom workflows that incorporate AI very easily. [1]: From Apple's press release: A key component of Apple Intelligence is a new on-device Foundation Model. This model, with approximately 3 billion parameters, has been engineered for efficiency and is optimized to run directly on Apple's latest silicon. To achieve this, Apple has employed advanced quantization techniques, including 2-bit and 4-bit quantization for the model's weights and an 8-bit KV cache, which significantly reduce the model's memory and computational footprint without compromising performance [2]: "Private Cloud Compute: A new frontier for AI privacy in the cloud" https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/ https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/