Apple In 2024: AI, Selling Vision Pro Are Key Challenges

Apple missed out on the spotlight when generative artificial intelligence emerged last year. The tech giant hopes to play catch-up in 2024. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook pointed to AI features in the company’s current product lineup. But 2024 promises to be different for Apple. The company plans to announce new generative AI capabilities for its Siri personal assistant application. Apple has been working on a ChatGPT-like generative AI project since 2022, known informally as Apple GPT. Apple scientists provided a possible glimpse of what’s ahead in a recently published research paper. Apple is likely to add AI capabilities to its upcoming iPhone 16. Meanwhile, rival Samsung plans to unveil its Galaxy AI smartphone. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives thinks Apple will introduce an AI app store this year. Apple is keeping its AI plans close to the vest. Cook said Apple is actively working on AI projects but declined to elaborate. Apple already is selling products that have features based on AI and machine learning. coming up with a response to the generative AI phenomenon isn’t Apple’s only challenge in 2024. The company is launching its first new hardware platform since the Apple Watch debuted in April 2015. That product is the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. Wall Street analysts aren’t counting on the first version of Vision Pro to be a smashing success. Apple is pitching the Vision Pro as a “spatial computer,” with potential applications in education, enterprise and entertainment. Apple is likely to produce 300,000 to 400,000 units of Vision Pro in 2024. The first generation Vision Pro is about laying the foundation for a new device category. Apple likely sees the Vision Pro as a steppingstone product to smartglasses. Analysts see the iPhone as a mature product with slowing growth. The next model, iPhone 16, likely will be a minor upgrade. Apple stock bulls disagree and predict the iPhone 16 will be an edge AI device with an advanced Siri assistant. Apple is predicted to release OLED screen iPad tablets, an Apple Watch that can detect sleep apnea, and AirPods wireless earbuds that double as hearing aids in 2024. Apple’s year ahead is likely to be marked by increased regulatory scrutiny of its business practices, including antitrust cases related to its App Store.