Apple to unveil AI features for its smartphones in June

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon and Lee Eun-joo]

Smartphone manufacturers are applying artificial intelligence (AI) features to many of their handsets, with Apple Inc. scheduled to unveil new iPhones in June 2024, following Samsung Electronics Co.’s flagship Galaxy series earlier in the year.

Bloomberg said on Tuesday local time that Apple is expected to reveal AI features at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). These AI features will be applied not only to the iPhone 16 series, which is scheduled for release in 2024, but also to the previous year’s iPhone 15 series, iPads, and Mac products via the new operating system, iOS 18, which will be unveiled at the event.

The A17 chip in the iPhone 15 includes a neural engine capable of implementing on-device machine learning, making it fully capable of handling AI functions. The neural engine refers to the processing unit in Apple semiconductors, known for its excellent AI computation performance.

With Apple’s annual smartphone sales topping 200 million units, the application of AI features to the iPhone 15 and 16 could quickly result in over 200 million AI-enabled iPhones.

The AI features to be included in iPhones are expected to be similar to those in Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy devices, including hybrid AI, which operates on-device AI as the default and receives assistance from the cloud.

Bloomberg anticipated that additional functions include converting voice memos to text, enhancing photos with AI, and suggesting replies to emails and text messages.

Samsung Electronics has been quick to establish an AI smartphone ecosystem, opening the AI smartphones category with the Galaxy S24 Unpacked event in January 2024, six months ahead of Apple. The South Korean company began sequentially applying Galaxy AI to older models via OS updates in the first half of 2024, and has applied Galaxy AI functions to a total of nine models, including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold5/Flip5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series, all released in 2023, as of the end of March.

Galaxy AI began to be applied to models released two years ago, such as the Galaxy S22 series and Galaxy Z Fold4/Flip4, from May 2024 and some AI functions were even implemented in three-year-old models such as the Galaxy S21 series and Galaxy Z Fold3/Flip3.

Major AI functions applied to the Galaxy S24, such as real-time translation, memo summarization, text translation, and circle to search, can be used in models such as the Galaxy S22 series and above, and the Galaxy Z Fold 4/Flip 4 and above.

Samsung Electronics’ rapid expansion of Galaxy AI to three-year-old models less than six months after its introduction is aimed at solidifying its position as the leader in generative AI smartphones. Its strategy is to lock in users by expanding the Galaxy AI ecosystem before Apple unveils its AI features at WWDC in June and releases the iPhone 16 series, and the company has already stated its aim to equip 100 million devices with Galaxy AI within 2024 and appears to have achieved it based on the sales of models with Galaxy AI.

The Galaxy S series itself has around 30 million units per series, and AI has been applied to models such as the Galaxy S22, which was released two years ago. With the Galaxy Z6 series set to be unveiled in Paris in July 2024, the number of Galaxy AI devices is expected to increase even further.

With Apple joining the fray, the market for generative AI smartphones is expected to grow significantly. Generative AI smartphones use large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, unlike conventional machine learning AI already widely used in existing smartphones. Counterpoint Research forecasts that the share of generative AI phones in total smartphone shipments will increase from 11 percent in 2024 to 43 percent by 2027.