Apple Intelligence and Siri

During his opening remarks, Cook put a positive spin on Apple Intelligence in iOS 18, emphasizing the features that the company has already delivered, from Writing Tools and Image Playground to its groundbreaking Private Cloud Compute (PCC) infrastructure that’s “an extraordinary step forward for privacy and AI.” He also conceded that the “more personal Siri” features need more time, but that work is progressing.

With regard to the more personal Siri features we announced, we need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high-quality bar. We are making progress and we look forward to getting these features into customers’ hands.

Tim Cook

Despite the lack of Siri improvements, Cook says the numbers reflect that Apple Intelligence is having a positive impact on iPhone 16 sales. When asked about iPhone sales, Apple’s chief executive said they saw stronger year-over-year performance in markets where Apple Intelligence was already available, suggesting that the AI feature drove more sales. He also noted that the expanded language and EUI support didn’t arrive until April, the start of Q3.

Cook evaded a more pointed question about specific reasons behind the Siri delays, refusing to address whether it was “organizational factors,” a “legacy software stack,” or “R&D spending.” Instead, Cook more or less repeated his opening comments, responding that “we just need more time to complete the work so they meet our high-quality bar. And there’s not a lot of other reason for it. It’s just taking a bit longer than we thought.”