John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO, in his first official appearance at the company’s “Wonder & Shine” event, unveiled Apple’s approach to artificial intelligence and emphasized that the iPhone is currently the best option to become a “personal intelligent hub.”
In his remarks, Ternus outlined Apple’s strategy to compete in the AI market; an approach that, unlike some competitors, is not focused on building an entirely new device for AI, but rather aims to make the iPhone the primary tool for users to interact with AI capabilities.
These statements came as Ternus has officially taken over leadership of Apple from Tim Cook. Cook now serves as the company’s executive chairman. The new CEO’s remarks also provide a clearer picture of the path the company will follow to have a stronger presence in the AI era.
iPhone; Apple’s Personal Intelligent Hub
At his introduction ceremony in Cupertino, Ternus described the device characteristics that he believes can become an ideal personal intelligent hub. According to him, such a device must have a broad understanding of the user’s personal context and circumstances, always be available, and have enough processing power to run AI models on-device.
Alongside on-device processing, this device must be able to connect to the internet to access cloud AI models. From Ternus’s perspective, a large display, high-quality cameras, and microphones are also among the essential components of such a product so the device can see and hear the user’s surroundings.
Long battery life is another feature Ternus considers essential for an ideal intelligent hub. He also emphasized ease of use, saying users should not face a complicated process to work with such a device.
The Apple CEO also stressed the importance of the device’s integration with the user’s other products, apps, and services. According to him, the user experience should be such that all these parts together create a single, cohesive experience.
Ternus went on to argue that the collection of these features ultimately leads to a very familiar product; a product that was already designed for such a role: the iPhone.
He said about this: “In other words, you arrive at something completely familiar, because no product in the world has been designed better than the iPhone to become your personal intelligent hub.”
Apple’s Emphasis on Privacy in the AI Competition
In another part of his speech, Ternus named data privacy as one of Apple’s most important points of differentiation in competing with other companies active in the AI field.
Referring to some competitors’ approaches, he said: “Others see users’ personal data as something to collect and store.” This remark is one of Apple’s clearest positions on how its approach to users’ personal data differs from competitors.
The Apple CEO continued to stress the importance of keeping users in control of their personal data and explained that users’ trust becomes truly meaningful when their personal information remains under their control.
Referring to the Apple Intelligence approach, Ternus concluded: “To be honest, trust only goes so far as your data not being out of your control; that is why Apple Intelligence runs on-device whenever it can.”
Accordingly, it appears Apple intends, in the intensifying AI competition, instead of relying solely on introducing entirely new hardware, to integrate intelligent capabilities ever more into the product billions of users already use, namely the iPhone.