Apple Intelligence - what Macs, iPads, and iPhones are required

Apple just told the world that almost everyone with an iPhone will need to buy a new phone to do this stuff. (Only last year's Pro phones as good enough). How can the stock possibly be down?

I think it would be more accurate to say "Any M-series Mac or iPad" as all iPads and iPhones 4+ have always used Apple Silicon, but of the A-series variety.

GeneT said:

Apple just told the world that almost everyone with an iPhone will need to buy a new phone to do this stuff. (Only last year's Pro phones as good enough). How can the stock possibly be down?

Perhaps because it may not move the needle on iPhone demand all that much, as a lot of people don't (yet) think that the current menu of AI offerings goes much beyond being on a scale of laughable (Gemini)-to-mediocre (ChatGPT/MetaAI/Anthropic)?

For example, to the extent that it's useful, the OpenAI app works perfectly fine for me on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. Normally, I upgrade every two years, but unless the iPhone 16 offers something more radical than typically touted attributes like more speed, smaller bevel size, longer battery, better camera, is a wee bit thinner etc., I may skip even the 16. At this point, the phones (and iPads) are so good that even an Apple-crazy customer like myself is starting to go 'meh' with the incremenaility of hardware improvements. 

I'm far from an early adopter but I have 2 of the 3 covered, and barely use my iPads for anything so I'd never need AI features on them. Glad we decided to switch from the base/mini iPhone 13s to the 15 Pro/Max last year. Still a GAI skeptic but it seems like Apple has their focus on bringing us whatever benefits we can get from LLMs without most or all of the significant issues, be they privacy, copyright infringement, political bias, incorrect information and hallucinations, etc. We'll see in the Fall how well they've done!

By future-proofing products, what Apple has secured is brand loyalty. If I buy a smart phone today and get more than four years of service out of it, I'm quite happy to buy another one. Apple has a massive collection of consumers out there who can participate in using their new AI tools on Day 1. To an extent Apple is monetizing that installed base by offering content to that base via Apple Music, Apple TV+ and so on. In addition, Apple is not, if you will, a one-trick pony. It sells smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, smart speakers, smart watches, and so on. When a customer buys one of those devices, odds are a good experience will lead to buying others as well. That's especially the case since Apple works hard to integrate all its products into a seamless system, one that extends to automotive electronics. So no, we don't have a lot of consumers out there replacing their smart phones on an annual basis but in many ways that's a good thing. If Apple can continue to bring in millions despite not selling new iPhones to the same customers annually, what it is providing is quality product that in the long run justifies the high cost of initial purchase. If Apple is focused on enhancing the lives of its customers, that's a good thing and very much in keeping with the goals of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. One more thing. If you have a product that can last a long time, you can justify a high initial purchase price. In today's inflation-tinged  environment, looking to sell an expensive smart phone that customers are expected to replace annually is a losing proposition.