Apple calling everything that it released 'intelligent' won't help it catch up

There comes a point when you say a word so often that it loses meaning, and Apple approached that with "intelligent" in the "It's Glowtime" event's launch of the new Apple Watch. It was fewer than a dozen times but over that short period, it felt like Apple had told its presenters to hammer that point home.

Don't even begin trying to count how often it was said about the iPhones. The iPhone 16 introduction was even interrupted by an extended segment about Apple Intelligence, but then at least that device is getting that feature.

So is the iPhone 16 Pro range, and so is the Mac although that wasn't discussed in the event.

The Apple Watch Series 10, though, is not getting Apple Intelligence. But the word or its variant still got about one mention for every two minutes of the launch segment's running time.

Including Tim Cook at the start of the event, the Apple Watch segment featured five presenters — and three of them wedged in "intelligent" or "intelligence."

For comparison, 2023's launch of the Apple Watch Series 9 ran for just over 26 minutes. And the word was not used once.

Apple has its own language

Apple used to have this thing about using its own terminology instead of anyone else's. MagSafe instead of Qi, for instance, or "Retina display."

In this case, Apple had its own term for artificial intelligence and it had used it for at least a decade. Plus "Machine Learning" was more accurate a description than AI, and unquestionably Apple was far ahead with it though specifically adding neural engine cores to its processors.

Only, it seems someone questioned it. By late 2023, Apple was perceived to be far behind the rest of the industry. That was partly because the rest of the industry was publicly making generative AI apps like ChatGPT.

But it was also because every other player in the technology industry was talking about AI. In reality, Apple was too, but it wasn't using that term.

Whether pressure drove Apple to play catch up, or whether Apple's Craig Federighi ignited it because of his own AI interest, Apple has spent 2024 talking up AI.

Even as we near the official releases of macOS Sequoia and iOS 18, Apple has been more talking about what it now calls Apple Intelligence than it has been releasing much.

Ignoring betas and release promises, just looking at Apple's talking seems to tell a tale. Initially it stuck to "Machine Learning" for all the best reasons, until it realized it was being undermined by the use of the term "artificial intelligence."

So Apple tries to get back in the game, linguistically, and also set out a stall for why its AI is different, by coining the term Apple Intelligence. It did that at WWDC 2024, and it's one of those terms that sounds poor when you first hear it, but then you get used to it remarkably quickly.

It's no surprise that the term was used throughout the iPhone launches, and it will be again when the next Macs are released. There's no criticism about Apple using its term to describe its feature.

But when it's also being applied to a device like the Apple Watch that very specifically is not getting Apple Intelligence, then it jars. Then it's saying more than it intends to.

It's saying that Apple still doesn't think users associate it with AI. It's sounding like Apple is a bit desperate.