As Apple prepares for Tuesday’s launch of its new iPhones, the company faces one of its biggest challenges in years: how to break the impression of stagnation in an era where competitors are dynamically integrating artificial intelligence into their flagship products.
This year, Apple’s response may be purely physical – in the form of a radically slimmed-down model to refresh the range and boost sales.
The main new addition to the upcoming line-up is said to be the ‘iPhone Air’, a thinner device than existing models, taking its name from the popular MacBook Air series of laptops. Such a move would be the first significant change to Apple’s smartphone design in a long time, going beyond annual incremental tweaks.
According to analysts, the novelty associated with the slimmed-down format could effectively convince even owners of the 14, 15 or 16 models to upgrade. However, Apple’s engineers faced key challenges, such as fitting a powerful battery and advanced cameras into a slimmer chassis.
Price positioning will also be key – between the standard model and the more expensive Pro version – in order to reach the widest possible audience.
The new design could also be a strategic step towards a future foldable iPhone. While such a device is not expected this year, the slimmed-down design could be a technological testing ground.
Foldable smartphones are particularly relevant in the Chinese market, where Apple is losing market share to local manufacturers and consumers value innovation in the form factor. Although Samsung is already introducing the seventh generation of its foldable devices and Google the third, the segment still accounts for less than 2% of global sales.
However, the real battle is on the software front, specifically artificial intelligence. Apple is clearly lagging behind. Plans for a major overhaul of the Siri assistant have been delayed, and the company is relying on a partnership with OpenAI to power some of the AI functionality in its systems.
At the same time, Google’s flagship smartphones are being designed from the ground up to demonstrate the capabilities of the proprietary Gemini models. There are even reports of Apple talking to Google about using Gemini technology to upgrade Siri.
The potential ace up Apple’s sleeve, however, remains the tight integration of hardware and software. Analysts suggest that the company may emphasise the AI processing capabilities of Apple’s next-generation Silicon chips. These would enable an advanced, ‘agent-based’ Siri assistant that performs tasks in the background without taxing the battery.
Such a strategy, based on on-device processing, could lay the foundation for deeper integration of AI into the entire operating system, harnessing the huge potential of Apple’s 2.35 billion active devices worldwide.
Despite huge customer loyalty, the time for AI to catch up is limited and counted in months rather than years.
If Siri continues to disappoint in a year’s time and a foldable iPhone is not on the horizon, keeping users satisfied could prove much more difficult for Apple.
