Dear Studio Fam,
The 2024 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference presented a comprehensive overhaul of the Apple ecosystem with fundamental updates to iOS, MacOS, iPad OS, and VisionOS, along with the long-rumored introduction of Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?). This week we focus on Apple Intelligence.
Apple anchored its AI announcements around its commitment to user privacy, specifically calling out the risks associated with relying upon third-party servers to protect user information. Apple presented two concepts underpinning its privacy-centric AI: proprietary on-device AI models and Apple Private Cloud Compute. On-device processing fits with Apple’s historical approach to user privacy, particularly on iOS where computationally intensive insights into Messages history and Photos have been done when the iPhone is locked and charging. Apple Private Cloud Compute bridges the gap between what's possible on a phone and in powerful servers.
Private Cloud Compute is unique for a number of reasons, both in terms of hardware and software. Most people don’t realize that Apple’s iCloud service actually runs on Google Cloud using generic server infrastructure. Private Cloud Compute runs entirely in dedicated servers powered by Apple Silicon, ensuring cryptographically secure management of all user data. But even if these differences matter, they seem irrelevant given the final AI feature announced during the WWDC24 keynote: native integration with ChatGPT by OpenAI.
Apple Intelligence dominated the 1:45 keynote, but it was not until the last two minutes of the 20-minute AI presentation – a full 96 minutes from the start – that it was announced, “Oh yeah, and we’ve built ChatGPT directly into iOS, and it’s free.” Just 15 minutes earlier, the Keynote featured all of the risks of sending data to third party AI servers! But this craven reversal actually makes a lot of sense. Generative AI is expensive. OpenAI spends $1 to make 25 cents. By integrating ChatGPT into iOS, Apple is shifting much of the cost of AI functionality onto OpenAI’s investors. We see the beginnings of a new AI app store in this choice, as it was also announced that other third-party AI tools will be available in the future.
Read on for more news about Apple Intelligence.
Feedback? hello@buildwithstudio.com
By Studio: Hot Takes From Our Watch Party
In this blog post by the Studio team, we distill our initial reactions from our WWDC24 Keynote watch party. Watching Apple Keynotes together as a team is a longstanding tradition at Studio, so you will find perspectives from all departments including Product, Design, and Engineering.
Elon Musk Threatens To Ban Apple Devices
Minutes after the end of the WWDC24 keynote, Elon Musk tweeted about his wariness of broadly integrating OpenAI’s tech into Apple devices. Going so far as to threaten to ban such devices from his companies, Musk went on to criticize Apple for relying on third parties for such services at all. The tantrum might just be a distraction from the fact that on the same day, Musk withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI.
Things Apple Killed This Week
- Grammarly (Rewrite)
- Midjourney (On Device Generative AI)
- Calculator apps (AI-powered calculator, now on iPad)
- 1Password, Dashlane, etc. (Dedicated Password app)
- LockID (OS Native App Locking)
- Translator apps (AI translation on Apple Watch)
- Athletics (New Performance Stats on Apple Watch)
- AllTrails (New Route Mapping on Apple Watch)
- Magnet, Better Touch Tool (Window snapping in MacOS)
- Bezel, Reflector (Screen mirroring in MacOS)
- TeamViewer (SharePlay + Facetime)
- Every Single GPT Wrapper (OpenAI integration)
- Elon’s vibes
Apple Intelligence Limited To Latest Devices
Apple is no stranger to planned obsolescence, the long term strategy of inducing customers to buy the latest model by designing devices to break or introducing features specific to the latest release. In the case of Apple Intelligence, fewer than 10% of iPhone users will be able to use it. Ostensibly this is because only the chips in the iPhone 15 series are capable of running the on-device models. But that’s no excuse to keep older iPhone users from using the Private Cloud, or connecting GPT at the OS level.
Stock Market Loves Apple Intelligence
Apple stock reached a new all-time-high the day after the introduction of Apple Intelligence. Investors were so thrilled by the prospect of new device sales that the stock added over $200 billion of market capitalization. Other revenue sources remain unclear, but the promised future support for other third party AI models bodes well for developers seeking new ways to monetize Apple users.