Apple (AAPL) officially launched Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 bringing artificial intelligence (AI) features to newer devices. Identity.com executive director and founding director of the Apple App Store, Phillip Shoemaker, sits down with Seana Smith and Josh Schafer on Catalysts to discuss the expectations around Apple Intelligence and whether the iPhone maker can deliver on the hype with iOS 18.1 or if users will have to wait for iOS 18.2.

Shoemaker says Apple underdelivering on AI expectations is “a big risk.” He says, “We saw this many, many years ago with Apple Maps. [When] Apple dives into a direction that is unfamiliar to them and sometimes they stub their toe. In this case, I'm hoping that's not going to happen because Apple Intelligence [has] a lot of hype around it. And it's really exciting to have this type of technology directly in your hands. And so I think that that there's a good chance they're going to do well,” Shoemaker says, noting that the delay between the iPhone 16 and the launch of Apple Intelligence may hurt the company. “The fact that they're shipping iOS just 18.1 that's missing a lot of the critical features for Apple Intelligence might be a flub on their part.”

"The concern is that they overpromised and underdelivered, which is something that Apple rarely does. But in this case, they just need to really ensure that [iOS 18] is rock-solid and lives up to the hype that they announced back in September," Shoemaker says, adding, "It's going to be hard to live up to the hype, and there will continue to be naysayers until Apple releases the whole shebang."

Shoemaker says, “I think we're focusing more on 18.2, which is going to be next year, and when that launches, I think people are going to see why you need a new device, why you need to have the new chipset, and to access this functionality, and it's going to skyrocket at that point.”

Apple is set to report quarterly results on Thursday, which will likely provide additional insight into the Apple Intelligence rollout and how it affects iPhone demand.

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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.