Apple CEO Tim Cook made some interesting comments at the company’s most recent earnings call. While iPhone sales dipped when compared to same time a year before, Cook noted that sales of new iPhones were strongest in countries where Apple Intelligence was available. Notably, that excluded China.
That is likely to change. Apple has done a deal with Alibaba that will enable Apple Intelligence in China, with Alibaba being able to “censor and filter AI output to comply with requirements from the Chinese government”. The same report notes that Baidu will also have a rile to play in the provision of Apple Intelligence in China.
While that could give iPhone sales a much-needed shot in the arm, that’s not the only market segment where Apple suffered disappointing results.
The Wearables, Home and Accessories category suffered a dip. While the impact of court-imposed limitations on the latest Apple Watch may have had an impact, the big let down in Apple’s product portfolio is the Vision Pro. But Apple is hoping an upcoming update, planned for April, will help things along.
The word is that visionOS will be updated to support Apple Intelligence. The Vision Pro is built with an M2 chip and 16GB of system memory. From a hardware perspective, there is no reason it can’t run Apple intelligence.
The big question is whether a software update that enables Apple Intelligence will be enough to coax Australians to part with at least $5999. I doubt the Apple Intelligence is what’s holding Vision Pro sales back.
The Vision Pro is perhaps the most expensive experimental product ever released. While there are definitely some applications for it, the vast majority of people will look at the Vision Pro and wonder what it will let them do that a $1799 MacBook Air can’t do. And it already runs Apple intelligence if that’s something you are keen to try.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.