Our columnist reviews the first wave of AI features coming to iPhones with iOS 18.1, and asks Apple’s software chief why so much is still missing.

Two years might sound like a long time, but if Apple’s first-party AI tools are up to ChatGPT’s standard by 2026, Apple devices will have incredibly competent AI capabilities. Considering how fast the AI industry is evolving, who knows what AI will be capable of in just two years, and will Apple continue to lag behind?

Apple Intelligence might be two years behind ChatGPT, but I don’t expect Apple to need as long to catch up to OpenAI and Google. Until then, I’ll happily use ChatGPT as my go-to AI, even if it’ll take a while until I can run Apple Intelligence on my iPhone.

A new report suggests Apple could be as much as two years behind companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in artificial intelligence. It argues that while Apple is making gains with Apple Intelligence, it hasn’t reached the capabilities of the leading AI labs.

According to Bloomberg, Apple's internal research exposed the wide gulf between Siri and ChatGPT when it comes raw AI intelligence and accuracy.

Apple Intelligence may reportedly be more than two years behind competitors like OpenAI and Google, potentially hindering sales of the iPhone 16 and new iPad mini.

Gurman suggested that ChatGPT can outperform Apple’s Siri. Reportedly, ChatGPT gives about 25 % more accurate answers than Siri. In addition to this, ChatGPT could answer 30% more questions in comparison to Siri.

Apple has said that it is atleast two years behind in AI research and development as compared to other tech companies.