Kuo: Apple Knows Apple Intelligence is 'Underwhelming' and Won't Drive iPhone Upgrades

The Apple Intelligence features that Apple introduced with iOS 18 are not pushing people to upgrade their iPhones, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated today. Apple's recent Siri failures are also going to have an impact on 2025 iPhone shipments, which the market is beginning to realize.

Sad Siri Feature
As early as last July, Kuo said expectations that ‌Apple Intelligence‌ could drive ‌iPhone‌ upgrades were likely "too optimistic," and in January, he was even more explicit and said that the appeal of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ had "significantly declined" because of the delay between when Apple showed off ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features in June and when they launched starting in October.

Kuo is maintaining his cautious view in light of Apple's Siri debacle, which has seen the company delay heavily advertised ‌Apple Intelligence‌ ‌Siri‌ features that it initially said would come in ‌iOS 18‌.

According to Kuo, Apple is already aware of ‌Apple Intelligence‌'s "underwhelming performance," and has provided suppliers with conservative ‌iPhone‌ shipment forecasts as a result.

Lately, the market consensus has shifted to a more cautious stance on iPhone shipments and Apple Intelligence (Siri), which supports my earlier predictions. Moreover, it's clear that when Apple shared conservative shipment forecasts with its key suppliers early this year, they had already factored in Apple Intelligence's underwhelming performance.

The negative public sentiment that Apple is facing due to the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ ‌Siri‌ delay could further impact sales of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models in the coming months. Apple last week said that ‌Siri‌ personal context and App Intents are being pushed back until the "coming year," and it doesn't seem like the company expected such a critical reaction from the tech community and its customers.

Longtime Apple reporter John Gruber, for example, recently published an in-depth report calling out Apple's ‌Siri‌ shortcomings, and his commentary has resonated with many who have the same feelings about Apple's longtime struggle with ‌Siri‌ improvements.

Many others have also spoken up on the very public demonstrations of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ ‌Siri‌ features that Apple provided over the course of the last year and the subsequent delay that has shaken public confidence in the company's ability to deliver AI features that can compete with OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

iPhone 17 Release Date, Pre-Orders, and What to Expect

Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 Pro Clear Case Leak Reveals Three Key Changes

Sunday August 31, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface. The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas. Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
xiaomi apple ad india

Apple and Samsung Push Back Against Xiaomi's Bold India Ads

Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging." Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
iOS 18 on iPhone Arrow Down

Apple Preparing iOS 18.7 for iPhones as iOS 26 Release Date Nears

Sunday August 31, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.7 for compatible iPhone models, according to evidence of the update in the MacRumors visitor logs. We expect iOS 18.7 to be released in September, alongside iOS 26. The update will likely include fixes for security vulnerabilities, but little else. iOS 18.7 will be one of the final updates ever released for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR,...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 17 Pro: 5 Reasons Not to Upgrade This Year

Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming to...

Top Rated Comments

MrGimper Avatar
25 weeks ago
Is there a single Apple Intelligence feature that isn’t just a gimmick?

Genuine question.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
btrach144 Avatar
25 weeks ago
Apple finally has something to stress iPad hardware but misses.

Apple lied to investors to sell iPhones and keep their stock price high.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Queues Avatar
25 weeks ago
Good. Sick of AI cannibalizing everything even though it's largely been foisted upon us with, for the moment, limited use cases for the median consumer. Particularly when it looked like last year's iPad OS update got entirely bulldozed to make way for AI features (that we ended up not even getting).
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
25 weeks ago
An AI update from the Columbia Journalism Review



https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/we-compared-eight-ai-search-engines-theyre-all-bad-at-citing-news.php

As John Oliver would say...



Attachment Image
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
attohs Avatar
25 weeks ago
Apple needed a reality check. They've been coasting on "meh" for a while now.

What happens next is critical.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
airwalk331 Avatar
25 weeks ago
Forget about the business for a minute and go back to the product. Take an honest and very critical look at the product.

This is what Apple did when Steve returned. Most fluent in business and company management would NOT have looked favorably on what Apple was doing when Steve was given the reigns again.

Apple looked at the product and followed through on what the vision and their standards for said product were and executed. As a result, Apple flourished.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)