While it is unlikely that European iPhone 16 buyers will see all the Apple Intelligence features supported there soon, the Chinese fans have the highest chance to see Apple’s take on generative AI approved for use after the iOS 18 rollout.
According to a local analyst, Apple’s traditional emphasis on privacy and on-device processing, paired with the development of its homebrew Large Language Model, makes Apple Intelligence “the most likely of foreign AI models to get regulatory approval in the country,” reports the South China Morning Post.
For the iPhone 16 in the US, Apple partnered with OpenAI for its ChatGPT generative AI service, and even intends to invest in its next financing round that is expected to fetch a $100 billion valuation.
In China, however, only local generative AI companies have gotten approval for their models, and ChatGPT isn’t commercially available. Apple is rumored to partner with local search giant Baidu for its Ernie LLM, just like Samsung does in China, but this would mean that its own AI features will be placed on the back burner there.
In the meantime, Apple is facing growing pressure from local companies like Huawei, which witnessed the whopping 44% increase in shipments in China, compared to Apple’s 6% slump. According to Ivan Lam at Counterpoint Research, Apple’s “iPhone will continue to see erosion in the premium segment by Huawei and other Chinese brands.”
Chinese consumers still consider Apple a prestige brand, though, and have expressed desires to upgrade from their iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets to the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro Ma flagship that will offer a larger screen and faster processor, whether it will be laden with Apple Intelligence or not.