Apple didn’t have a particularly great year: from
one bad software update after another to the fact that profits only increased because of more efficient manufacturing rather than demand. Then there’s also the matter of the
Apple Vision Pro which might
soon be ending production. Now Bloomberg’s industry insider Mark Gurman reveals that iOS 19 will see a staggered launch just like
iOS 18.
iOS 18 — which has been coasting off of promises about
Apple Intelligence — is being rolled out in phases because the announced features weren’t actually ready in time. We first got wind of this when Gurman, who had gotten his hands on Apple’s AI earlier than most, found it
underwhelming compared to Gemini. According to him Apple still had a long way to go to catch up.
Then we actually saw it all happen in front of us as Apple told us that its AI features would be released to the public in phases. In fact, the iPhone 16 launch was so underwhelming that Apple stock began dropping when it was announced. This was likely heavily influenced by the fact that Apple Intelligence was not available on the iPhone 16 at launch and not available in the EU or China period.
As it stands we’ll still only be getting very basic features this December — ChatGPT integration and Genmoji to name a couple — and won’t see other additions till next year. Even worse, Apple has delayed the Siri revamp till 2026, long after the iPhone 17 would have been out. And it doesn’t stop here.
At least it looks pretty. | Video credit — Apple
Gurman says that insiders at Apple have told him iOS 19 will be just as staggered as
iOS 18. Most major features that iOS 19 will promise won’t be delivered until iOS 19.4. This, as Gurman noted, is consistent with
Apple’s recent plans to reduce annual releases for its products. However, it also means that newer iPhone models won’t have the same launch day allure that their predecessors had.
I’m all for moving away from annual releases but in a way that benefits the consumer. Release your phone late when it’s complete rather than putting it on the market as an incomplete product and promising future updates to resolve problems and deliver on promises. This strategy didn’t work for the modern gaming industry and I hope consumers have the sense to put a stop to this nonsense here too.
