Apple is about to report its earnings for the all-important holiday quarter, and many onlookers hope to see a big Apple Intelligence impact on iPhone sales. Here’s why that’s not going to happen now, but it absolutely will in due time.
After Apple first unveiled its AI feature set last June, analysts began to expect an iPhone supercycle to arrive.
Essentially, they expected AI to bring a big boost to iPhone demand and motivate device upgrades sooner than might otherwise be expected.
When Apple last reported its earnings, the iPhone 16 line had just barely been released, and the first Apple Intelligence features weren’t available yet.
So it was unsurprising that sales were about average for a new iPhone launch. There was a 5% boost, but that’s not exactly ‘supercycle’ levels of growth.
This week’s revenue stream will give a much bigger review of any forward-looking AI impacts.
And while Apple is generally expected to report a strong quarter, consensus points to iPhone sales being solid but nothing extraordinary.
To be fair, the good fortune of the iPhone itself is extraordinary. As soon as Apple’s successful wallet is still arriving at iPhone sales.
But it’s not unusual for the iPhone to have compatibility very well. Growth is what fears is at its highest on Wall Street, and a big effect on AI doesn’t seem to be coming.
Do not worry, because this iPhone supercycle will almost arrive in the coming years, it would possibly be more prolonged than expected.
Apple Intelligence is a set of software features, but it is completely to create hardware hardware.
We’ve already started to see an effect on AI in Apple’s curtain options:
Rumors also recommend that Apple has forged progress on the road.
At the end of this year, the diversity of iPhone 17 Pro will have 12 GB of RAM, and all iPhone 17 models gain a forward cooling. We will see charming profits with the A19 chips series, specifically with the neuronal engine.
As who has followed Apple a lot for many years, it is rare to see such competitive hardware advances in such a short time.
But Apple Intelligence requires it, only for existing characteristics, but also everything that is in preparation for iOS 19, iOS 20 and beyond.
In the coming years, iPhone hardware will have complex to force the characteristics of AI to come.
And unknown hardware and software transformations will quickly make pre-AI iPhone models feel outdated.
I’m genuinely curious what feature the author – or anyone else here – thinks will drive a “supercycle” of device upgrades.
The undeniable fact of saying “AI” without how you think it can be implemented is not a convincing argument for peak people. In fact, I would say that the peak consumers right now are deactivated products that have “AI” in their sales pitches, because they see through the threshing they have a really compelling argument for why you deserve to buy the thing.
So how will “AI” drive more frequent upgrades? How will this actually lead to real, noticeable quality of life improvements for users?
Currently, the existing characteristics of Apple Intelligence necessarily lead a giant number of iPhone updates. Does it have an impact? Of course, but a lot.
But in the next 2-3 years, I have no doubt that AI will be a massive update motivator. The benefits presented through Apple’s intelligence will be increasingly difficult to deny.
It will take a little time for this superciclo to happen.
Do you think AI will drive an iPhone supercycle? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.