Apple Intelligence delayed + more

Apple Intelligence delayed.

Apple announced that features showcased during the 2024 WWDC enhancing Siri would be delayed. Apple Intelligence delayed represents a serious breach of trust for Apple’s early adopters and the developer community. On its own whilst that’s rare from Apple, it’s survivable.

Apple has made other FUBARs: the Newton, some of the Performa model Macintosh computers in the 1990s, the Apple Pippin, Apple QuickTake cameras and the Apple Cube computer from 2000.

The most recent game-changing product has been the AirPod series of headphones which have become ubiquitous on the tube and client video calls. But there has been a definite vibe shift around perceptions at Apple.

• Recent product upgrades to the MacBook Air were given a muted welcome. Personally I think Apple came out with a banger of a product: the M4 processor in the MacBook Air M1 form-factor at the Intel MacBook Air price of $999.
• The Vision Pro goggles are at best a spoiler on the high-end market for Meta’s VR efforts, and an interesting experiment once lens technology catches up with their concept. At worst they are a vanity project for Tim Cook that have a very limited audience.
• Conceptually Apple Intelligence told a deceptively good story. Let others develop the underlying LLMs that would power Apple Intelligence. This solution is partially forced on Apple due to the mutually exclusive needs between China and its other markets. But it also meant that Apple had a smaller AI challenge than other vendors. On-device intelligence that would work out the best way to solve a problem and handle easier problems without the latency of consulting a cloud service. More complex problems would then be doled out to off-device services with privacy being a key consideration. The reality is that Apple Intelligence delayed until 2027 because of technical challenges.

Key commentary on the Apple Intelligence delay:

• Hardware Dreams, AI Nightmares: Apple’s Crisis of Imagination | Ian Betteridge

• Daring Fireball: Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino

• Daring Fireball: Apple Is Delaying the ‘More Personalized Siri’ Apple Intelligence Features

• Apple Newsroom: Introducing Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that puts powerful generative models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac

• 9to5Mac: What went wrong with Apple Intelligence Siri development?

• Leaked Apple meeting shows how dire the Siri situation really is | The Verge

Chungking Express.

One of my most loved films is Chungking Express directed by Wong Ka wai. It was one of the reasons that I decided to take up the opportunity to live and work in Hong Kong. This YouTube documentary cuts together some of the oral history about the making of the film. The story of the production is nuts.

Drone deliveries

Interesting documentary by Marques Brownlee on the limited use cases and massive leaps in innovation going into drone delivery systems.

Effective Marketing for Financial Services

Les Binet presents a financial services-specific view on marketing effectiveness. It has some interesting nuances, in particular how brand building is MORE important in subscription services.

Tony Touch set

Tony Touch did a set for Aimé Leon Dore. It’s an impeccably programmed set.

LUCID Air focus on efficiency

It’s rare to hear the spokesperson for an American car company quoting Colin Chapman’s design philosophy – which he shared with Norman Foster.