Okay, so it’s been almost a month since iOS 18.2 released in South Africa, bringing with it all those AI features Cupertino’s been hyping up. Features that promised to transform our iPhones into futuristic, personalized wonder-devices! And I must admit, I boarded the hype train right from the very beginning and updated to the latest release as soon as I got back from my recent visit to China with TCL. Well, I’ve been living with it for the past few weeks, and let’s just say the excitement has faded faster than the promises of the GNU – feeling more like a public beta test than a polished, revolutionary leap.
Why I backtracked and got the iPhone 16 Pro Max
Genmoji
First up, we have to address the elephant in the room – or rather, the oddly-rendered emoji in my message thread. Genmoji, Apple’s attempt at AI-powered personalized emojis, is… interesting, to say the least. The idea is cool – Create an emoji of yourself as a rock star, an astronaut, or even a secret agent. But the execution? Let’s just say my “Rockstar” Genmoji ended up looking more like a confused politician with a ZCC star super-imposed on my chest.
Look, I appreciate a good dose of the absurd, but this isn’t exactly the emoji revolution I was hoping for. And honestly, how often do you really need a personalized emoji of yourself riding a buffalo while sipping a cocktail? (Don’t answer that.)
Siri: Even AI can Outsource
Then there’s Siri. Oh Siri, I had so much hope and aspirations – that you would finally make me proud after all the years of defending you against those smug Android users and their Google assistant. I envisioned a future where you’d anticipate my needs, answer my questions with witty banter, and seamlessly manage my digital life, but alas you’re still the same old Siri. Apple promised us a smarter, more intuitive digital assistant, powered by the magic of AI. But in my experience, Siri still feels like it’s not going to make it past the 5th grade.
Sure, it can handle basic tasks like setting alarms or playing music. But ask it something even remotely complex, and you’re likely to be met with a confused silence or, even worse, a redirect to ChatGPT. Yes, you read that right. Even AI is outsourcing its work, welcome to 2025!
The irony isn’t lost on me. It’s like Apple is admitting that Siri just can’t keep up. And honestly, after weeks of testing, I totally agree.
Image Playground: A Quirky Distraction
Next, we have Image Playground. This is Apple’s take on AI image generation, and it’s… well, it’s definitely something. You can ask it to create images of pretty much anything, and the results are often bizarre and surreal. Think “a cat wearing a tuxedo riding a unicorn through a rainbow.”
It’s fun for a few minutes, but ultimately feels like a novelty. I can’t imagine myself using it for anything beyond a quick laugh or a surreal social media post. I spent a whole 10 min on image playground, before my desire to play completely evaporated.
Clean Up: A Missed Opportunity
Apple has always been a leader in photography, so I had high hopes for Clean Up, their AI-powered photo editing tool. The idea is simple: remove unwanted objects or people from your photos with a tap. But in practice, it’s a bit of a letdown.
It struggles with even basic tasks, like removing unwanted objects.The results are often messy and unnatural, with blurry patches and distorted backgrounds. Compared to similar features from Google Pixel, Samsung and even OPPO, Apple’s Clean Up feels like a rough draft.
Writing Tools: Useful, But Not Groundbreaking
One area where Apple Intelligence does show some promise is in its writing tools. These tools can help you rewrite, proofread, and summarize text, which can be handy for emails, messages, or even longer documents.
But again, it’s not exactly revolutionary. We’ve seen similar features in other apps and services (with much better execution and accuracy), and Apple’s implementation doesn’t feel particularly innovative.
App Integrations: More Hype Than Substance
Finally, let’s talk about app integrations. Apple promised that Intelligence would seamlessly integrate across its ecosystem, offering features like smart summaries and personalized recommendations. But so far, the reality has been underwhelming.
Notifications are often vague or inaccurate, and summaries are frequently unhelpful or just plain weird. It feels like Apple is still figuring things out, and the user experience suffers as a result. Apple’s management of notifications has always lagged behind Android, it’s the one area that has consistently got me considering jumping ship, and they have just managed to make it worse. Visual intelligence is another feature with a lot of promise but ultimately underwhelming. Using visual intelligence with the camera button on my iPhone 16 Pro Max often just defaulted to random website links- much like we have come to expect from Siri results. Capturing an image of a lioness resting behind a fence at the zoo, brought up results for fence manufacturers and installations. At least switching the result from search to ChatGPT actually identified the image as a lioness resting – Once again Apple outsourcing its intelligence.
The Verdict
So, what’s the final verdict on Apple Intelligence? Well, It’s a mixed bag.
There are some genuinely useful features, but they’re often overshadowed by clunky implementations, bizarre quirks, and a general feeling of “beta-ness.”
Apple has clearly set its sights high, but the execution hasn’t quite caught up with the ambition. There’s still a long way to go before Apple Intelligence can come close to the competition let alone live up to its own hype. For now, Apple Intelligence feels more like a work in progress than a finished product.
