This is fishy 🤨

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There’s something fishy about Apple’s explanation of exactly what hardware will — and will not — be able to run Apple Intelligence.

Previewed earlier this month at WWDC24, Apple Intelligence should roll out to beta testers in the coming weeks.

Apple says you’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max to run it (or a Mac or iPad with an M-series chip). No other iPhone will be supported — not even the regular iPhone 15, released at the same time as the high-end models.

Maybe it’s the main chip? The regular iPhone 15 runs on the A16 Bionic, rather than the A17 Pro in the two iPhone 15 Pro models.

OK, maybe the A16 Bionic chip isn’t up to it. Fair enough.

However, Apple Intelligence will run on an M1 MacBook Pro from 2020 and even the iPad Air from 2022 — two machines with lesser chips than the A16 Bionic.

Something’s not adding up. We looked at the machines that Apple Intelligence will support and those it won’t — and found no clear pattern in the hardware restrictions, whether it be RAM, the Neural Engine, memory bandwidth or other factors.

The lack of a clear through line gives ammo to those who claim Apple is running an upgrade scheme: The company will use Apple Intelligence to compel an iPhone upgrade cycle — something Apple denies.

But to be believable, Apple owes its users a clear and simple explanation of what hardware will support Apple Intelligence and why.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• Here are all the changes and tweaks in the latest iOS 18 beta, including support for iPhone mirroring, which social media is going nuts about.

• AnyGo is a highly rated Pokémon Go spoofer that will change your iPhone’s GPS location with just one click.

• Wow: Upcoming Apple TV+ psycho-thriller Disclaimer boasts a boatload of talent, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline and Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Gravity, Roma).

• Our sale on these Treblab X3 Pro true wireless earbuds for just $40 is ongoing. The sporty earbuds actually get pretty good reviews. They have a “purity and range you usually only expect from the most expensive brands,” says iMore.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

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