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Has Apple really lost the AI race?
Many mainstream commentators seem to think so, but it’s clearly nonsense.
With Siri AI coming to the public in the fall, the real battle for dominance will just be getting started.
A lot of companies are betting on hyperscaling AI with unimaginably huge and powerful data centers that — they hope — will usher in artificial general intelligence, aka AGI, or something close to it.
Apple is taking a hybrid approach. Local AI for many tasks, but the cloud for more computationally intensive requests.
Of course, AI is a very fast-moving new technology, and the hyperscalers could be right. It might take the enormous computing power of the cloud to deliver truly intelligent AI.
It’s likely that local AI will always trail cloud AI — but Apple, and others, are betting that local will be good enough for many, or perhaps most, tasks.
Now one of the best Apple developers out there, Ukraine’s MacPaw, is jumping into the ring with its own local AI.
MacPaw’s approach is very much like Apple’s, and it hopes to tie its AI into the hundreds of apps available in the company’s app subscription service, Setapp.
Apart from competing head-to-head with Siri AI, it looks like an interesting plan.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Apple’s raising prices again! But this time, you’ll be glad.
Apple Intelligence claims another victim — the entry-level iPad. Everyone’s holding out for the next model, but where the heck is it?
I used Incogni’s data-scrubbing service to protect an elderly relative from being scammed. And hot diggity damn, it worked!
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: GoPro’s insane 8K action cam, the Mission 1 Pro, gets its first discount. #affiliate
Factor has advertised on our podcast many times — and we've truly enjoyed the company’s delicious ready-to-heat meals. Now the company’s advertising in Cult of Mac Today. Try them yourself and get a huge discount.
Apple introduced several battery-saving features in recent years, inadvertently scaring some people into not fully juicing their devices. It begs the question: Does charging to 100% really hurt your iPhone battery?
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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Today’s poll
Is MacPaw crazy for competing directly with Siri AI?
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