Why does Apple Intelligence only run on so few iPhones?

When Apple Intelligence hits the market in the fall, Apple’s generic AI, including the improved Siri, will only be available for a few devices – at least in the mobile sector. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are supported – and possibly the four new iPhone 16 models that are expected to arrive in September. When it comes to Macs, Apple is less stingy and wants to support all Apple Silicon models since the M1. Apple has not commented on why Apple Intelligence places such high demands on the hardware.

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Older iPads and Macs are allowed to run

According to Apple’s AI boss John Giannandrea, the main problem is that the old Neural Engine modules are in Apple chips not skilled enough be. The local language model Apple is planning could theoretically run even on “very old” devices. “But it would be so slow that it wouldn’t be of any use.” It’s not about selling more new iPhones. “No, absolutely not. Otherwise we’d be smart enough to use our latest iPads and Macs, right?”

In fact, in the past, Apple used to reserve some high-end features only for the latest iPhones. But even devices several years old received significant innovations. Given the slow rollout of Apple intelligence, this no longer seems to be a strategy.

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All iPhone 16 models are ready for Apple Intelligence

In addition to the new Neural Engine, Apple also apparently sees higher storage requirements. The standard models of the iPhone 15 with the older A16 SoC have 8 GB of RAM instead of 6. According to reports from the United States, Apple is said to have determined internally months ago that there must be at least 8 GB of RAM to use Apple Intelligence. This in turn fits with the support for M1 SoCs in Macs and iPads, which have at least 8 GB available. The fact that Apple finally considers the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus “too old” is likely to upset buyers of devices released last fall.

For the iPhone 16, Apple is now said to be planning to install different variants of the new A18 SoC – a standard version and a Pro variant for the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, however, all of these will be compatible with Apple Intelligence by default. The political factor still remains: besides the fact that Apple will probably support more languages ​​than just US English in 2025, EU regulations could prevent the company from rapidly expanding its offering worldwide. However, Apple fears at least this. Critics support this argument For advanced and believes it serves primarily to put pressure on Brussels.

(B.Sc.)