The two biggest selling points for the iPhone 16 were the camera control button and Apple Intelligence. However, Apple Intelligence is undergoing a very staggered launch and isn’t even available in some regions of the world. And whatever features have been rolled out make it quite obvious that Apple Intelligence needs a lot of work before it’ll be something worth buying a new phone for.
Samsung on the other hand has already designed a new LLM-powered Bixby assistant that it has made available in China. This new Bixby is said to be coming to the rest of the world with the launch of the Galaxy S25 phones. It will use Samsung Gauss (the company’s own AI model) and Google Gemini.
But how does it beat Apple at its own game?
The revamped Siri that Apple promised has reportedly been delayed till 2026. | Video credit — Apple
Not only is Apple Intelligence incomplete but it’s also being delayed. Apple promised its own LLM-powered Siri but that has been postponed till 2026, well after the launch of iPhone 17.The new Bixby however has already shown to be capable of executing tasks that Apple advertised for the iPhone 16. It can interface with apps, understand context, fetch data from storage and even proactively offer help. In fact, it’s even capable of understanding on-screen elements.
In the simplest terms: Samsung will offer the iPhone 16’s biggest selling point before the iPhone 16 even has it. If consumers can stomach the cost advantage of the iPhone then it’s quite clear which of the two flagships is a more complete product.
Samsung also expects Apple to increase prices for the iPhone 17 and bridge the gap between iPhone and Galaxy phones. If that happens then it’ll be an even easier decision for anyone who wants competent AI on their phone.
Unfortunately for Apple it can’t take its time developing AI toolsets. Especially not after advertising Apple Intelligence so much back in September. This is Samsung’s best card up its sleeve and could make for some strong arguments in favor of the S25 phones in January.