After the iPhone 17 launch, it almost feels as though Apple has forgotten about AI. The conference was missing any serious mention of AI. While iOS 26 is set to add some upgraded AI features to all phones running Apple Intelligence, there's nothing unique or special coming to iPhone 17. And that's a really serious problem for Apple.
Earlier this year, I wrote that WWDC 2025 would be a break for Apple Intelligence, because it was Apple's chance to show it was serious about AI. As it turned out, the switch to iOS 26 does come with a bunch of AI-powered features, though they are primarily upgrades to stuff we have already — like writing tools or translation.
