At another high-profile launch event on Tuesday, Apple revealed its newest iPhone collection: the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, along with a new, sleeker model called the iPhone Air. The “Air” name is intended to evoke Apple’s other lightweight devices, such as the MacBook Air and iPad Air, which are often more affordable. It also harks back to an era when smartphone manufacturers competed to make ever-thinner devices. But in today’s AI-driven landscape, the capabilities of software have become more important than the physical dimensions of the device.
In this area, Apple has fallen behind its rivals.
During the iPhone 17 launch, Apple only mentioned AI a handful of times—primarily to revisit features previously announced at June’s WWDC, such as Visual Intelligence and on-device AI models, and in reference to select camera improvements, like the new Center Stage capability on the iPhone 17’s front camera.
Interestingly, the most notable AI-powered feature wasn’t part of the phone itself: it was the Live Translation function powered by AI, coming to the AirPods 3.
There was no reference to Siri at all, whether powered by AI or not.
There’s been plenty of discussion about how Apple’s slow progress in AI could hurt its position in the industry and its future prospects. In the meantime, Google recently launched its own AI-driven Android flagship, the Pixel 10, while iPhone users are still waiting for an AI-enhanced Siri, which now isn’t expected until 2026.
So far, Apple has introduced only basic AI features for its products, such as tools for writing, summarization, generative image creation (which some users are dissatisfied with), live translation, visual lookup, and Genmoji, among others. However, a virtual assistant that can handle a broad range of tasks and questions—without defaulting to ChatGPT—or one that can draw richer insights from your apps is still missing from Apple’s lineup.
Recent reports suggest Apple is seeking help from outside partners to close the AI gap. An upgraded Siri could potentially be powered by another company’s technology, like Google Gemini, behind the scenes.
At first glance, the delay and the possible move to outsource AI—or even make a major acquisition—might seem risky for Apple. Yet, allowing a third party to supply some of the iPhone’s AI could actually be a plus for users.
Many iPhone users already favor Google’s services over Apple’s, choosing Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Maps, and Chrome instead of Apple’s own Mail, iWork suite, Maps, and Safari. For web searches, most turn to Google Search rather than Apple’s built-in Spotlight, despite its integration of sources like Wikipedia. So why shouldn’t users have access to Google’s AI technology as well?
If Apple opts to form a partnership to embed third-party AI into its devices, the outcome could be even more beneficial for iPhone owners. This approach would see advanced AI capabilities built more deeply into the phone, offering a smoother and more integrated user experience, rather than simply running a separate AI app. It would also allow Apple to avoid the massive infrastructure investments needed to compete in AI, which would be good for its already robust financial performance.
Additionally, because AI technology is advancing so quickly, this strategy would give Apple flexibility to update its models or add support for new ones as other AI firms surpass their competitors.
The benefit for buyers would be getting the best of both: Apple’s renowned design and hardware (including thinness), paired with leading AI features from Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, or others. This could also bolster Apple’s brand reputation.
This would also mean that the appealing design and hardware improvements of new iPhones would remain a major driver for sales and upgrades, letting Apple focus on its strengths: superior build quality, camera advancements, privacy-centric technologies, thoughtful software updates like Liquid Glass—and, of course, ultra-thin phones.
Apple could maintain its position as a top-tier hardware brand rather than an AI-focused one, so customers would still be eager for the latest iPhones without missing out on cutting-edge technology when choosing Apple.
Of course, this scenario would only unfold if Apple moves forward with launching a version of Siri enhanced by third-party AI, or acquires an AI company outright. But if Apple chooses to stick with its own Apple Intelligence features without advancing them rapidly, the results could be quite different.
