Apple CEO Tim Cook recently made an appearance on a popular American talk show, joining host Jimmy Fallon to promote the iPhone 16 series. During the show's recording, Cook and Fallon started from the Apple flagship store in New York, passed through Central Park, and eventually arrived at another Apple retail store, all while using the front camera of the iPhone 16 Pro Max for recording.
Cook revealed on the show that he always visits the Fifth Avenue flagship store to feel the enthusiasm of consumers whenever a new phone is launched. He humbly stated that people love Apple Inc., and he is just fortunate to be in that position.
While promoting the popularity of the new iPhone, Cook also introduced the upcoming "Apple Intelligence" feature. He disclosed that this new functionality will be rolled out in the U.S. market next month, helping users summarize emails and increase efficiency. Cook emphasized that this is very important to him personally, as he deals with hundreds of emails daily, and the new feature will greatly simplify this process.
However, Cook seemed to stumble a bit when discussing "Apple Intelligence," mentioning features like generating emojis among other daily operations, but without providing more details, which sparked some curiosity and laughter among the audience.
Despite Cook's humorous performance on the talk show, netizens expressed concerns about Apple's future. On the well-known Apple news site 9to5MAC, some questioned why Cook needed to use a talk show for marketing, wondering if it indicates poor sales of the iPhone 16.
Data from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shows that the initial sales of the iPhone 16 series are uneven. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have seen robust pre-orders, but sales of the Pro series are relatively lukewarm. Many users are opting to continue using their current phones, waiting for the official release of the "Apple Intelligence" feature. It is reported that the entire "Apple Intelligence" feature will be rolled out in phases, culminating in the iOS 18.4 update next March.
It is certain that Apple will introduce the "Apple Intelligence" feature for the first time in the iOS 18.1 update in October, with English-speaking users in the U.S. being the first to experience it. The beta system indicates that email and messaging applications will offer AI notification summary features, and the photo app will introduce a new "clean-up" tool to help users remove unwanted elements from photos and fill in the blanks with AI. Additionally, the iPhone will introduce call recording and transcription features.
Subsequent updates with iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.3 will bring more feature enhancements, while the iOS 18.4 update will be a significant one, introducing deep control features for Siri. Apple also plans to launch "Apple Intelligence" supporting multiple languages including Chinese, Japanese, and French next year.
Despite Cook's light-hearted and humorous performance on the talk show, the outside world remains cautiously optimistic about Apple's future. The rapid changes in the tech industry mean that the next surprise could come at any moment.