Apple reportedly wants its upcoming artificial intelligence features to appeal to a user’s practical side

In his latest “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that, at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference next month, the company will unveil a different approach to artificial intelligence, focusing on tools that ordinary consumers can use in their daily lives. 

He says the idea is to appeal to a user’s practical side — and leave some of the more whiz-bang features to other companies. Here are more details from Gurman’s report: Apple is preparing to spend a good portion of its Worldwide Developers Conference laying out its AI-related features, he adds. At the heart of the new strategy is Project Greymatter — a set of AI tools that the company will integrate into core apps like Safari, Photos and Notes. The push also includes operating system features such as enhanced notifications.

The system will work as follows: Much of the processing for less computing-intensive AI features will run entirely on the device. But if a feature requires more horsepower, the work will be pushed to the cloud.

Apple is bringing the new AI features to iOS 18 and macOS 15 — and both operating systems will include software that determines whether a task should be handled on the device or via the cloud. Most of the on-device features will be supported by iPhone, iPad and Mac chips released in the last year or so. The cloud component, meanwhile, will be powered by M2 Ultra chips located in data centers, as I’ve previously reported.

…. the company has held talks with both Google and OpenAI about integrating their chatbots into iOS 18. In March, it seemed like Apple and Google were nearing an agreement, and people on both sides felt like something could be hammered out by WWDC. But Apple ultimately sealed the deal sooner with OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, and their partnership will be a component of the WWDC announcement.

WWDC

Apple will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 10 through 14, 2024. Developers and students will have the opportunity to celebrate in person at a special event at Apple Park on opening day.

Free for all developers, WWDC24 will spotlight the latest iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS advancements. As part of Apple’s ongoing commitment to helping developers elevate their apps and games, the event will also provide them with access to Apple experts, as well as insight into new tools, frameworks, and features.

This info from Gurman is from the free edition of “Power On”. If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com—you’ll receive the newsletter earlier and get exclusive access to a Q&A section.