Android smartphones are currently integrating a host of advanced AI features, particularly from Google Gemini. These include tools like Circle to Search, AI-enhanced photography, and system-level assistance, all of which are notably ahead of similar offerings from Apple.
However, I am personally uninterested in these features. They require ongoing background processing, consume storage space, and gradually reduce battery life. Additionally, there are privacy concerns, as Google uses data to train future models, including data from your photos.
Conversely, Apple Intelligence is lacking at this point. Siri continues to face challenges, and most AI features currently available do not significantly enhance user experience.
Apple has announced a new suite of AI features to be launched with iOS 27, focusing on an updated Siri AI. However, only the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max possess the necessary processing power to fully utilize these features.
Users with less powerful models will have access to a simplified version. Consequently, the majority of iPhone users will experience minimal changes, which is acceptable.
Apple’s lesser focus on AI compared to its competitors might be attributed to its emphasis on privacy. The company has long championed the slogan “Privacy. That’s iPhone,” and aims to avoid cloud processing for AI models, which is commendable. Furthermore, Apple allows users to disable AI features and revert to a more traditional phone usage.
There’s too much AI in Android
Since late 2023, Android devices have seen a surge in AI capabilities. This trend started with Google’s Pixel series and was followed by Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, which prominently featured Circle to Search.
Following this trend, companies like OnePlus, Xiaomi, and smaller brands such as Honor, also introduced their own AI-driven features. In the current market, AI has become a pivotal marketing element, making devices without prominent AI mentions seem outdated.
This pressure has extended to Apple, which has launched its own AI features under the Apple Intelligence brand. With the tech industry heavily promoting AI as the next major shift, remaining uninvolved is not feasible, particularly for Apple, which needs to assure investors of its competitive stance.
Some Android AI features are genuinely beneficial. For example, Circle to Search excels at recognizing on-screen content and now includes AI-generated summaries. It efficiently extracts phone numbers, text, and other contextual details, proving useful in everyday scenarios.
AI has become an easy marketing lever, but hardware progress… has been conservative
However, these features come with compromises. While AI serves as a straightforward marketing tool, hardware innovation in some flagship phones has been relatively modest. Devices from Samsung and Google could use larger batteries and faster charging, especially when competitors like Xiaomi and OnePlus are advancing with 90W charging and more.
The resource cost is another factor. Running AI locally requires substantial RAM and storage. Many devices allocate 11-12GB solely for the AI core, which continuously impacts battery life and memory usage.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Take the Pixel 10, for instance. It comes with 12GB of RAM, but only about 8GB is available for apps and games. Android Authority reports that Google allocates approximately 3.5GB exclusively for its Gemini-powered AI framework, which remains permanently active as the system retains the Nano model and AICore service in memory at all times.
Most iPhones can’t keep up with the AI madness – that’s a good thing
Apple’s approach to AI is heavily influenced by its commitment to privacy, and AI often conflicts with privacy concerns. This necessitates that most processing occur on-device, which means the phone handles the workload rather than a data center.
This constraint requires Apple to work harder to compensate for the lack of power and context that Google Gemini, with its extensive cloud infrastructure, can provide.
A phone should first be good at being a phone
The trade-off for me—whether it’s sacrificing privacy or experiencing a slower phone—is not worth it. This is why I prefer the current iPhone and have come to value Apple’s slower pace in AI development.
Apple’s shortcomings in this area inadvertently preserve a principle that the rest of the industry seems to be moving away from: the idea that a phone should primarily function well as a phone. While the industry pushes AI integration, Apple maintains that these features remain optional.
Apple allows users to turn off Apple Intelligence across the iPhone, which is a stark contrast to Android devices. No matter which brand I use, it’s increasingly challenging to disable these AI features, with some being impossible to turn off completely. However, with an iPhone, you can navigate to settings, go to “Apple Intelligence & Siri,” and switch it off entirely.
Britta O’Boyle
It remains uncertain whether this will continue with the iPhone 18 models optimized for Siri AI. However, for most iPhone models, users have control over AI settings on their devices.
You can further customize by disabling individual features. Writing tools, image generation, notification summaries, and even third-party integrations like ChatGPT can all be restricted or removed. The advantage of doing this on my iPhone is a noticeable improvement in battery performance.
First of all, we need better hardware
Most consumers prioritize battery life, charging speed, thermal management, camera quality, storage, software updates, and long-term reliability over features like emoji generation from text or email rewrites in various tones. Yet, as AI marketing intensifies, hardware innovation has seen a slowdown.
Companies like Google and Samsung are allocating significant memory and processing resources to AI systems that many users are unlikely to use extensively after initial excitement. This is why I appreciate the current state of the iPhone.
What does Apple have in store with its upcoming iPhone 18 lineup? We’ve gathered up all the rumours.
