Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Imagine paying a lower limit of $ 999 for a new iPhone 14 Pro in 2022 , only to discover that it ca n’t operate the full iOS 18 experience in less than two year . It might vocalise dystopian , especially for a production know for its long shelf lifetime that ’s largely the result of an industry - leading package update policy at Apple .

Yet , it seems that nightmarish surprise will be here in just over a workweek . Bloomberg late reported on somecrucial AI - driven features coming to iOS 18 , withSiri being one of the main recipientsof all that conception . But iPhone users might have to bear a pretty price for it all .

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying face-down outside, showing the Natural Titanium color.

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

“ Apple is betting that the new AI features for the iPhone will encourage user to upgrade their gadget . Many of the on - gimmick AI capabilities will postulate an iPhone 15 Pro or afterward to work , ” Bloomberg newsperson Mark Gurman wrote on X ( formerly Twitter ) . That means you may not get all of the novel AI features on telephone set like the iPhone 15 , iPhone 15 Plus , iPhone 14 Pro , etc .

While that may already sound like a terrible deal , there is more to the picture here , especially from a value standpoint . Apple has reportedly set the M1 processor as the baseline for iPads , which run nothing more than a stretched iOS interface on a large screen . The M1 processor first stumble the shelf in 2021 .

Apple is betting that the Modern AI features for the iPhone will encourage exploiter to upgrade their devices . Many of the on - equipment AI capability will require an iPhone 15 Pro or subsequently to work . Macs and iPads , meanwhile , will ask at least an M1 chip.https://t.co/iSDTs6Xahi

& mdash ; Mark Gurman ( @markgurman)May 31 , 2024

And the same silicon fair game is applicable for Macs . But that ’s a screen background - grade processor , so lease ’s set the computing aspect aside and focus on the iPhone - iPad disparity here . The belated iPad Air with the newer M2 processor inwardly take up at $ 599 . For the iPhone 15 Pro ,   you will have to part mode with a minimum hit of $ 999 in the U.S. In other markets , you are looking at a much fatter broadside .

iOS 18’s AI features won’t come cheap

One would think that on - machine AI processing may have to do with setting the ironware lower limit at the A17 Pro processor built atop the 3 - millimicron client by TSMC . Or more specifically , the onboard 16 - gist neuronic processing building block ( NPU ) , which is faster than the iPhone 14 Pro ’s own 16 - core AI accelerator ironware . I ’ll wait until Apple explain this disparity , possibly with a footnote on the pressure acquittance . Or none at all .

Apple enjoin the A17 Pro ’s NPU is doubly as fast , so there ’s that . Now , this is an early prediction , even though Bloomberg ’s coverage has mostly been spot - on , but the plans could transfer down the road . Take Samsung and Google , for example .

Samsung ab initio say the Galaxy AI features would be bound to the in style Galaxy S24 - serial phones but subsequentlyexpanded them to older headphone , as well . Google suppose on - gadget Gemini Nano would only be able to work on the Pixel 8 Pro ,   but soon interchange course andfolded the small-scale Pixel 8 into the pictureas well .

People expend a circumstances on flagships because they come with a promise of being succeeding - proof , at least for a few years . And they sure do n’t expect the next major software update to draw running lines in just over a twelvemonth . If the Bloomberg account is precise , that seems to be the fate of the iPhone 14 series and its predecessors — Pro or otherwise .

But what exactly are we expecting in terms ofAI fringe benefit in iOS 18 ? Well , let ’s start up with Siri . For the first time , Apple will let Siri interact with the apps installed on your phone . With a voice prompt , the digital help will open document , cover email - touch tasks , and summarise article , among other chore .

“ The new system will go further , using AI to break down what people are doing on their equipment and mechanically enable Siri - ascertain features , ” reportsBloomberg . Down the road , the supporter will also be able to fulfil two tasks with a single spokesperson command .

On a broader note , iOS 18 will get tricks like voice memoranda summarization , recaps of notice , AI - assisted exposure redaction , automated message response , and more . Apple is reportedly focusing more on on - gimmick processing ( where petition are handled topically instead of sending them over to cloud server ) because that approach is safer and quick .

It all sound telling . But if those tricks are restricted potent iPhones free just last year and beyond , that ’ll be a big caution to contend with .