Apple is expected to reveal its AI strategy at WWDC in June… Samsung and AI phone clash predicted

“The key to differentiation is user-experienced technology” AI-launched in fall launch ‘iPhone 16’ Discussion of Google cooperation due to limitations of closed ecosystem

Apple is expected to unveil its new AI strategy at its annual technology conference, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), in June. There is analysis that Apple, which is evaluated as lagging behind its competitors in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), will attempt to turn the game around through an ‘on-device AI’ strategy that allows AI functions to be used without an Internet connection. When the new smartphone ‘iPhone 16’ equipped with AI functions is released in the second half of the year (July to December), it is expected that there will be a clash with Samsung Electronics, which dominates the AI ​​phone market.

According to Bloomberg on the 24th, columnist Mark Gurman, an Apple expert, said, “Apple will showcase a new AI strategy at WWDC to be held in June.” He said, “Apple’s next innovation is the on-device large-scale language model (LLM),” adding, “Apple is still chasing OpenAI and Google in AI, so it may lag behind in performance, but it will implement the technology (in devices).” “It could be a game changer,” he said. Analysis suggests that the key to on-device is not how superior AI performance is, but rather features that users can directly experience, such as real-time interpretation or video editing.

On-device AI refers to a method of embedding AI directly into information technology (IT) devices such as TVs, computers, and smartphones. Because AI requires high-performance processors and memory, general users have had no choice but to use AI indirectly by receiving processed results from big tech cloud servers. However, with the development of technologies such as AI chip development, high performance can be achieved even in personal devices, and AI models have been made lighter to reduce the burden of computation. Recently, AI laptops, AI computers, and AI phones have been appearing one after another. A representative example is the AI ​​phone ‘Galaxy S24’ series introduced by Samsung Electronics in January this year. On-device AI has the advantage that AI can continue to be used even if communication is lost and that sensitive personal information does not need to be exported to an external cloud.

New iPhone products are usually released around September every year. The tech industry predicts that AI functions to be installed in the iPhone 16, scheduled to be released in the second half of the year, will be introduced at this WWDC. Apple did not directly mention AI at last year’s WWDC, but it has already unveiled technologies that incorporate AI, such as automatically correcting mistakes when entering text on the iPhone or recommending phrases according to context. Apple is in urgent need of a breakthrough as its smartphone business has reached a plateau. Apple has been criticized for not showing any significant progress in smartphones since the launch of the iPhone 12, the first 5th generation (5G) phone in 2020. Even in the premium smartphone market priced over $600, which holds an overwhelming market share of 70%, Samsung Electronics is under threat as it is advancing with AI phones. Market research firm Counterpoint Research evaluated in a recent report, “Samsung Electronics will lead the AI ​​phone market this year based on its first-mover effect like foldable smartphones.”

As Apple’s footsteps are falling, the closed ecosystem that has been maintained so far is also shaking. Apple has been developing its own generative AI since last year, but some say there are limits to covering all functions with proprietary technology alone. According to Bloomberg, Apple is said to have recently discussed installing Google’s AI model ‘Geminii’ on the iPhone. Gemini is currently installed on the Galaxy S24. Apple is also known to be considering installing Baidu’s AI model in China. In China, it is believed that it is more advantageous to use a Chinese company’s model rather than one’s own model because approval from the regulatory authorities is required before launching an AI model.

Reporter Park Hyeon-ik [email protected]