iOS 19 will be just as staggered as iOS 18

Apple didn’t have a particularly great year: from one bad software update after another to the fact that profits only increased because of more efficient manufacturing rather than demand. Then there’s also the matter of the Apple Vision Pro which might soon be ending production. Now Bloomberg’s industry insider Mark Gurman reveals that iOS 19 will see a staggered launch just like iOS 18.iOS 18 — which has been coasting off of promises about Apple Intelligence — is being rolled out in phases because the announced features weren’t actually ready in time. We first got wind of this when Gurman, who had gotten his hands on Apple’s AI earlier than most, found it underwhelming compared to Gemini. According to him Apple still had a long way to go to catch up.

Then we actually saw it all happen in front of us as Apple told us that its AI features would be released to the public in phases. In fact, the iPhone 16 launch was so underwhelming that Apple stock began dropping when it was announced. This was likely heavily influenced by the fact that Apple Intelligence was not available on the iPhone 16 at launch and not available in the EU or China period.

As it stands we’ll still only be getting very basic features this December — ChatGPT integration and Genmoji to name a couple — and won’t see other additions till next year. Even worse, Apple has delayed the Siri revamp till 2026, long after the iPhone 17 would have been out. And it doesn’t stop here.