Apple Intelligence and the need for new hardware

Apple Intelligence is going to be a part of every Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch user’s life. The folks in Cupertino are working feverishly to embed Apple Intelligence into their operating systems and apps as quickly as possible while walking the tightrope between privacy and providing data to power the large language models (LLMs) and other data pools AI depends on. 

But Apple Intelligence requires more than software. It relies on hardware with sufficient processing power and memory to execute those millions of complex calculations quickly. It turns out that perhaps the biggest issue in Apple’s older hardware has been memory. 

One of the most often leveled criticisms around Apple’s products has been the low amount of memory that’s built into many devices. Until recently, most of Apple’s desktop and computing products have shaped with 8GB of memory. In 2015 that was an amount to boast about but in 2024 it’s barely taller stakes. The picture was even less favorable on the iPhone and iPad. Those came with quite limited memory in all but the most expensive models. 

Apple’s ability to extract maximum performance with less memory has been an advantage. Less memory results in a lower manufacturing cost which means higher margins for Apple. But Apple Intelligence and Apple’s need to quickly pivot so it can catch up with and, hopefully, leapfrog competitors, means it needs to alter its hardware strategy. And that’s where the new iPad mini announcement brings us.

What does the new iPad mini tell us?

The new iPad mini looks identical to its predecessor. Several years ago, at an Apple product briefing, I was told that the iPad mini’s size and shape needed to remain consistent because many of Apple’s biggest iPad mini customers used the iPad as an embedded device. For example, many police forces around the world use the iPad mini in vehicles that are fitted with special mounts and charging solutions as well as with apps that are made specifically to work with the iPad mini’s screen dimensions and resolution. 

When we look at the new iPad mini, there is very little difference in the spec sheet between it and the previous model.

The old differences between the sixth and seventh generation iPad mini are:

• Update from A15 to A17Pro chip (but with the same number of CPU, GPU and Neural Engine cores)
• The newer iPad mini supports Apple Intelligence
• Update from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6e
• Support for the Apple Pencil Pro
• New 128GB and 512GB configuration options (an update to the 64GB minimum and a new higher capacity) 

What’s not on Apple’s spec sheet is the increase in memory. The new iPad mini gets an upgrade from 4GB to 8GB of memory. And while the processor bump does offer increased performance (Apple says the new A17Pro chip has a 30% faster CPU, 25% faster GPU and the neural engine that is twice as fast), how that shows up in the real world is up for debate. 

The iPhone 16 adds another piece to the puzzle

When Apple released the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro in 2023, Apple Intelligence was nowhere to be seen. It would be another eight months until WWDC 2024 when it was first announced and a further three months before beta versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 would start to bring features to the masses – as long as you had a device with sufficient memory. 

And this is likely why the iPhone 15 misses out on Apple Intelligence whereas the iPhone 15 Pro models can use Apple Intelligence. 

What does that mean for most of us?

After close to two decades contributing to and editing Macworld Australia before it closed down, I saw three brad groups of Apple customers.

One group are the folks who upgrade their gear regularly. When a new iPhone is released, they quickly upgrade so they can enjoy the newest features.

Group two are the patient ones who tend to hold on to their gear for two to five years. They are Apple loyalists who think abut upgrade cycles in terms of larger steps rather than annual upgrades. 

The last group run their Apple gear until it dies. When I was editing Macworld Australia, I did an informal survey through our weekly email newsletter to find out what the oldest Mac, still in daily use, was amongst the readership. I was amazed when people started telling me about 15 year old Macs that were still chugging along for email, web browsing and word processing. 

Apple knows that Group One will spend money and start reaping the Apple Intelligence harvest. And they know Group Three are only going to update when their current hardware dies. And, even then, they will often look at the refurbished or used market rather than buy the latest and greatest.  

The second group, which my observations show to be the largest group by a hefty margin, are where Apple will be able to encourage upgrades. And, Apple Intelligence will be the key differentiator between what they have today and what they can have tomorrow. This where Apple will start to create a perceived need to upgrade. 

I live in that middle group – most devices stay with me for about three years. And, given they work with the current iteration of Apple Intelligence, I can’t imagine making a logical decision to upgrade any of my devices soon. But Apple is not going to appeal to my logic. It will use Apple Intelligence to build an emotional business case to upgrade. 

I would not be surprised to hear at WWDC 2025 that new Apple Intelligence features will be released that require a newer processor or more memory than one or more of my current devices have.  And that may help Apple overcome the slow down in hardware sales that has been around since pandemic lockdowns lifted and hardware sales escalated in the rush to enable people to work from home. 

I have no doubt that Apple will be using Apple Intelligence as a way to encourage people to bring hardware upgrades forward. With all Macs now being non-upgradeable, the only way to have a Mac with more memory is to buy another Mac. Anyone holding on to an Intel-powered Mac (who are most likely in my Group Three) who wants to experience Apple Intelligence will need to start looking at Macs running Apple Silicon.