My Apple Intelligence wishlist: 10 features it needs to compete with OpenAI and Google

I’ve tracked Apple Intelligence’s evolution intently throughout latest months, evaluating its potential and limitations. Throughout numerous articles, I’ve explored the challenges Apple faces because it expands into synthetic intelligence (AI), from the early efforts seen within the iPhone 16 to the long-term enterprise potential and adoption of the Imaginative and prescient Professional platform.

Whereas Apple Intelligence has laid essential groundwork, many anticipated options stay incomplete or underwhelming, significantly in comparison with the extra superior cloud-based AI platforms from OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

Apple’s give attention to on-device processing and privateness for Apple Intelligence is its best power and in addition its greatest limitation. Regardless of spectacular {hardware} developments within the iPhone 16 and Apple Silicon’s neural engine, Apple Intelligence remains to be in its infancy, missing the mixing, third-party help, and developer instruments wanted to compete with its cloud-based rivals.

This high 10 function “wishlist” explores the following steps Apple might take to raise its generative AI (Gen AI) platform from a promising, transitional product to a robust, versatile AI ecosystem. I additionally assess every enchancment’s technical and strategic feasibility by drawing on latest discussions about Apple’s well being, finance, and media path. 

Whether or not you are a developer, tech fanatic, or just interested by AI’s future, these suggestions goal to handle the gaps Apple should fill to stay a frontrunner within the AI race.

Productiveness & Workflow Enhancements

1. Regenerative AI (RAG) APIs & AI Writing Instruments

Whereas Apple Intelligence’s writing instruments present fundamental performance like textual content rewrites and proofreading, future enhancements might leverage Regenerative AI/Retrieval Augmented Technology (RAG) APIs to introduce extra subtle options. This would come with real-time grammar corrections, tone changes, and specialised fashions educated on industry-specific languages, reminiscent of authorized or medical terminology. 

By integrating specialised dictionaries and company data into apps like Mail, Notes, and Pages, professionals and college students might create extremely correct, context-aware content material that adapts to their area of experience. This is able to revolutionize workflows by enabling extra superior knowledge sourcing, rewriting, and content material era.

• Technical Viability: Requires seamless real-time knowledge processing, specialised mannequin integration (e.g., 1B or 2B parameter fashions for authorized/medical fields), and local-cloud coordination to make sure clean efficiency. Specialised dictionaries would have to be educated and often up to date for contextual accuracy.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive — Apple’s push into skilled and academic markets, significantly in authorized and medical sectors, makes this a priceless and strategic extension of present AI instruments. RAG might additional solidify Apple’s foothold in these key industries.

• Precedence: Excessive — This enhancement is essential for skilled sectors the place exact terminology and real-time knowledge incorporation are important, particularly in authorized, healthcare, and enterprise functions.

Use Case: A authorized skilled drafting a contract might use AI to generate textual content primarily based on authorized requirements and pull related case legislation or references from safe company databases. Equally, a medical researcher might improve their papers with exact terminology and {industry} data, all sourced and verified by a specialised AI mannequin.

2. Voice-based AI Workflow Automation & Proactive Notifications

Siri might deal with advanced multi-step workflows by way of easy voice instructions. For instance, customers might ask Siri to “put together my day”, which might schedule conferences, prioritize emails, set reminders, and recommend routes primarily based on site visitors. Proactive notifications would intelligently filter and floor essentially the most related alerts primarily based on real-time person exercise, minimizing pointless distractions.

• Technical Viability: Requires important enhancements in Siri’s pure language processing and process administration algorithms.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – As opponents like Google Assistant evolve, Siri wants to reinforce automation and productiveness to remain aggressive.

• Precedence: Excessive – This is able to rework Siri from a fundamental assistant to an important instrument for day by day productiveness.

Use Case: Think about telling Siri to “schedule my conferences”. It’s going to mechanically deal with all of your emails, ship invitations, and reschedule conflicting occasions primarily based on precedence — all through a easy voice command.

Safety & Privateness Enhancements

3. Enhanced AI Privateness and Safety Controls

As AI turns into extra built-in into day by day use, Apple can improve its privateness and safety controls, permitting customers to customise how AI interacts with private knowledge. Customers might have granular management over what info third-party apps can entry and the way this knowledge is used, making certain all AI interactions adjust to privateness expectations.

• Technical Viability: Requires the growth of Apple’s already sturdy cryptographic protocols and the event of extra customizable person consent frameworks.

• Strategic Probability: Very excessive – Privateness is central to Apple’s branding, and including extra sturdy AI controls can be important as AI utilization will increase.

• Precedence: Excessive – International rules and shopper expectations round knowledge privateness make this a essential growth space.

Use Case: A person can modify permissions in order that Siri solely accesses their calendar knowledge for scheduling duties however doesn’t entry messages or areas, making certain most privateness management with out compromising performance.

4. Monetary Administration and Safety

AI might mix monetary administration instruments with real-time fraud detection. AI would assist customers observe spending, present budgeting recommendation, and ship predictive monetary alerts whereas monitoring transactions for uncommon or fraudulent exercise. This is able to carry AI to Apple Pockets and Pay, making these instruments safer and user-friendly.

• Technical Viability: Requires the event of strong AI algorithms to research monetary knowledge in real-time and detect suspicious actions.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – Apple’s rising involvement in monetary companies (Apple Pay, Apple Card) makes this an apparent subsequent step.

• Precedence: Excessive – Fraud detection and personalised monetary administration are more and more essential as Apple expands its monetary companies ecosystem.

Use Case: Apple Pockets might mechanically alert customers to suspicious exercise of their accounts and AI might present personalised budgeting recommendation primarily based on spending patterns, serving to customers obtain their monetary objectives. 

Well being & Wellness Improvements

5. Superior Well being and Health

AI might present real-time diagnostics and predictive well being insights by leveraging the wealthy sensor knowledge from the Apple Watch. AI would analyze sleep patterns, coronary heart charge, and exercise ranges, alerting customers to well being points like irregular heartbeats or recommending optimum exercises primarily based on previous efficiency and present health ranges.

• Technical Viability: Requires integrating advanced well being knowledge into AI fashions able to offering real-time diagnostics and personalised well being insights.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – Apple’s ongoing funding in well being and health aligns effectively with this enhancement, because the demand for well being tech continues to develop.

• Precedence: Excessive – Well being and health options are key drivers for Apple Watch adoption, making this a high-priority function for Apple’s wellness ecosystem.

Use Case: AI might alert customers if their coronary heart charge is irregular throughout a exercise and recommend modifying their routine. It might additionally provide personalised exercise plans primarily based on their well being knowledge to assist them attain their health objectives.

Inventive & Media Instruments

6. AI-Enhanced Media Manufacturing Instruments

For artistic professionals, AI might streamline duties in Apple’s creativity instruments, reminiscent of Last Minimize Professional and GarageBand. AI might automate video enhancing, sound mixing, and results era, suggesting edits primarily based on person preferences and artistic model. This strategy would enable customers to give attention to the artistic elements of their work, leaving repetitive duties to the AI.

• Technical Viability: Requires constructing AI fashions that perceive person preferences and artistic workflows in actual time.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – Apple’s established presence in artistic markets makes this a pure evolution for its skilled software program suite.

• Precedence: Reasonable – Whereas important for artistic professionals, this function serves a distinct segment market in comparison with extra broadly used instruments, reminiscent of productiveness or monetary administration.

Use Case: A filmmaker utilizing Last Minimize Professional might have AI mechanically reduce clips, coloration appropriate scenes, and apply filters primarily based on their previous initiatives or artistic preferences, dramatically lowering enhancing time.

Sustainability & Accessibility

7. Sustainability and Environmental Monitoring

Apple’s AI might assist customers observe and cut back their environmental impression by gathering knowledge from HomeKit and Matter-enabled units, EVs, and sensible meters. AI might analyze vitality consumption, suggest eco-friendly alternate options, and provide personalised sustainability ideas primarily based on person conduct and system utilization patterns.

• Technical Viability: Requires the event of algorithms that gather and analyze knowledge from each Apple and non-Apple units, reminiscent of EVs and sensible meters.

• Strategic Probability: Reasonable – Aligns with Apple’s sustainability objectives however requires important exterior partnerships for non-Apple knowledge integration.

• Precedence: Reasonable – Sustainability is a vital however secondary focus in comparison with different AI-driven options, reminiscent of safety or productiveness instruments.

Use Case: A person’s HomeKit system might work with their EV to optimize charging throughout off-peak hours, and AI would offer suggestions for lowering vitality consumption all through the day.

8. AI Accessibility for Training and Common Use

AI might additional improve accessibility for customers with disabilities by adapting system interfaces and content material dynamically. Actual-time captioning, gesture recognition, and adaptive studying environments might assist college students and customers with disabilities work together with Apple units extra simply. AI might additionally help personalised studying, adapting content material presentation primarily based on particular person wants.

• Technical Viability: Builds on Apple’s present accessibility instruments, requiring AI enhancements for extra adaptive performance.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – Accessibility is core to Apple’s mission, and increasing AI right here aligns with its give attention to inclusivity and academic know-how.

• Precedence: Excessive – Accessibility and schooling are important for broadening Apple’s person base, making this a precedence function.

Use Case: A pupil with a listening to impairment might use real-time captioning throughout on-line courses or lectures, whereas AI adapts studying supplies to swimsuit their particular person wants.

Cross-Ecosystem & Personalization

9. Gen AI Retailer & Broader AI Options for IoT Gadgets

Apple might launch a devoted Gen AI Retailer for AI-powered apps, enabling customers to find and obtain AI-driven functions for duties like private help, house automation, and media suggestions. This is able to additionally lengthen AI performance to Web of Issues (IoT) units, reminiscent of HomePod and Apple TV, permitting AI to automate day by day routines and personalize experiences throughout the house.

• Technical Viability: Requires a scalable infrastructure for AI mannequin distribution and integration throughout IoT units.

• Strategic Probability: Reasonable to excessive – A devoted retailer for AI apps might open new income streams, and increasing AI to IoT units would make Apple’s ecosystem smarter.

• Precedence: Reasonable – This might drive important service income, however system integration could take longer.

Use Case: A person might obtain a house automation AI from the Gen AI Retailer, which coordinates vitality utilization and residential actions primarily based on day by day routines, and studying patterns to optimize effectivity.

10. AI Studying and Personalization

AI might make Apple units extra intuitive by studying from person habits and behaviors. AI would offer personalised recommendations for apps, settings, and actions, reminiscent of suggesting a playlist throughout a exercise or optimizing settings for focus when work hours are detected.

• Technical Viability: Requires subtle machine-learning fashions that study dynamically from person conduct throughout all units.

• Strategic Probability: Excessive – Apple’s give attention to personalised person experiences would align completely with this function.

• Precedence: Reasonable to excessive – Whereas not as pressing as some productiveness instruments, bettering personalization is essential to deepening person engagement.

Use Case: AI might acknowledge when a person usually works out, mechanically suggesting their most well-liked exercise playlist and adjusting system settings like Do Not Disturb to reinforce focus. Equally, AI might study a person’s work routine and recommend apps or contacts often used throughout work hours, streamlining day by day duties.

The longer term 

Apple Intelligence is on the cusp of reworking how we work together with units, however it stays a piece in progress. This wishlist highlights the important thing areas the place Apple could make significant strides, from enhanced developer integration to increasing AI’s position in well being, finance, and accessibility. 

Whereas Apple’s give attention to privateness and on-device processing units it aside, the corporate should embrace a broader AI technique to fulfill person expectations. By addressing these gaps, Apple can solidify its management in AI and ship an ecosystem that is each safe and modern, driving the following wave of clever person experiences.