Written by | Wild goose autumn
Edit | Lee Shin Ma
题图 | IC Photo
"Your next computer, why bother." On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs described an epoch-making product at the launch of the original iPad.
Now, the iPad has been given a new vision: the AI iPad. This is some of Apple's efforts under the wave of AI, but at present, the public response is not even as good as the "semi-cool" Vision Pro.
Apple's immediate situation is indeed unclear. At the beginning of the month, Apple disclosed its latest financial results, revenue and profit both declined, sales of iPhone, iPad and other businesses fell again, and revenue in Greater China fell by 8% year-on-year, and even Buffett announced a reduction in holdings.
However, Apple is very confident, not only raising dividends and generously giving back to existing shareholders, but also "sacrificing" the largest share buyback of $110 billion in history. Apple's chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, gave the reason in the earnings report: because of "very high" customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Where does Apple's sense of confidence come from? What kind of "medicine" is in the gourd?
Source: Live broadcast of Apple's press conference
01. The new iPad makes up for the shortcomings of AI?
After an 18-month "window period", the new iPad series is finally back.
This time, Apple brought the thinnest and lightest tablet in history, and the screen is also very hardcore, especially with the M4 chip, a productivity tool that focuses on professional creation.
Source: Apple
I couldn't fault anything overall, but there were no surprises. If anything's unexpected, it's that in less than 40 minutes of the conference, Apple mentioned "AI" several times.
After more than ten years of dividends on the iPhone, Apple's imagination about smartphones has long been exhausted. What's even more unfortunate is that under the current wave of hot AI, Apple's speed is also a little sluggish: it hasn't caught up with AI phones, and it hasn't caught up with AI PCs - fortunately, there is an "AI iPad" worth rushing.
This time, Apple released a total of several products:
- 新款iPad Pro、 iPad Air 6，搭载首发全新M4
- Apple Pencil，六年来首次大更新
- Magic Keyboard makes your iPad more like a notebook
Surprisingly, Apple jumped directly from M2 to M4 — a chip that even a MacBook doesn't even have on it, with a CPU that's 50% faster than M2 and a GPU that's 4 times stronger than M2.
This is also a chip dedicated to artificial intelligence software. The M4 chip's neural network engine has a 16-core design and is capable of performing 38 trillion calculations per second, which is 60 times faster than the A11.
In other words, some AI tasks that were previously only available on desktops or laptops can now be easily completed on this tablet.
Source: Apple
Apple's meaning is clear, to make this iPad Pro achieve productivity comparable to that of MacBook, but also to compare it with the hot AI PC at the moment.
However, does the iPad Pro really save Apple's weak performance? Although this product reflects Apple's "All in AI" attitude, it is disappointing that the so-called AI function is far from the image of "everything can be AI" from other manufacturers.
Taking the iPad Air equipped with the M2 chip as an example, Apple said that with the addition of AI, real-time text, photo subject extraction and other functions are faster, and in Pixelmator, you can retouch photos with one click more efficiently; The focus is on the iPad Pro with the M4 chip, which can complete 38 trillion calculations per second, and in Final Cut Pro, the subject can be separated from the 4K video with a single tap.
The new iPad Pro is equipped with the M4 chip, which can be said to be an important layout of Apple's AI strategy. However, judging from the reactions of netizens, not everyone is optimistic about it. Even if it enters the AI, it will be a little ripple at most.
Source: Weibo
In order not to be eliminated in the AI race, Apple is also making active efforts.
Recently, it was reported that Apple executives decided to carry out a "brain transplant" for Siri, the new Siri will have stronger conversational and versatile, and its underlying technology will use a new generative artificial intelligence system to enable Siri to chat fluently, thus getting rid of the traditional question-and-answer model.
In addition, Apple is also exploring partnerships with several companies, including Google, Cohere, and OpenAI, considering licensing complementary AI models developed by these companies.
Some analysts believe that the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) could be an important turning point in market sentiment in the next quarter, and the AI mentioned by Cook will undoubtedly be the highlight. How AI technology is integrated into its next-generation iOS system, and how third-party AI is introduced into core hardware products such as iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro in innovative forms, will have a profound impact on Apple's future development.
02、高开低走的Vision Pro
In Apple's view, the same productivity change that AI can bring about is spatial computing. They designed a product that people talk about, the Vision Pro.
On June 6, 2023, Apple released the Vision Pro at WWDC. At the beginning of the launch, only 5 minutes after the pre-sale opened, the servers of Apple's official website were crowded. Due to a lack of stock, Apple announced that the first Vision Pro was out of stock just 18 minutes after it went on sale.
However, from unstoppable to unpopular, the Vision Pro took only three months.
For the product experience, consumers can be said to be full of complaints. Many consumers on the Reddit forum in the United States said that the Vision Pro is very impractical in everyday life, and they cannot wear the headset in public. Others point out that using the Vision Pro can cause headaches, dark circles, and broken capillaries. Some users also said that the Vision Pro simply doesn't have a companion app, making the technology seem like an island.
According to related news, the demand for the demonstration experience of Vision Pro in Apple retail stores in the United States has gradually declined, and customers who have made appointments often miss appointments, and the sales of some stores have changed from a few units per day to a few units per week, and the fate of Vision Pro is obviously a bit bumpy.
图源：Apple Vision Pro
After a year's hiatus, the disadvantage of the Vision Pro can be attributed to the intertwining of multiple factors.
First, there's the pricing strategy. Vision's biggest label is expensive. Apple offers a total of three RAM versions: 256G, 512G, and 1TB. The corresponding selling prices are 3,499 US dollars (about 25,311 yuan), 3,699 US dollars (about 26,758 yuan) and 3,899 US dollars (about 28,206 yuan). Note that this is only the price of bare metal, and there are many places that need to "bleed" if you want to have a better experience.
Source: Little Red Book
Second, market positioning has limitations. The Vision Pro is a niche device that is primarily aimed at the enterprise market, rather than targeting a broad consumer base like the iPhone. Enterprise users tend to be more cautious in adopting emerging technologies and have longer decision-making cycles, which directly impacts the market penetration of products.
In addition, technical issues should not be overlooked. The Vision Pro is undoubtedly very innovative, but it does not show revolutionary advantages in terms of solving user pain points and improving entertainment and work efficiency. Among them, the lack of battery life and heaviness are the biggest shortcomings of Vision Pro, and without revolutionary innovations in the fields of batteries, semiconductors, and heat dissipation, these two shortcomings cannot be compensated.
It is very difficult to move from 2D to 3D, and ecological problems and experience problems are all mountains. Although the Vision Pro is cold, Apple is also actively looking for a coping strategy.
It is reported that the standard version of the Vision (the mass version of the Vision Pro) will be finalized in October this year. The product was originally scheduled to be released in the fall of 2025 (around September), and now Apple may bring it forward to June 2025. More information about the standard version of the Vision has not yet appeared, but judging from the comprehensive information, the new product is expected to be reduced on the basis of the Pro version, thereby reducing the price - this may also be Apple's helplessness and compromise.
Source: Apple
There are still opportunities, compared with other manufacturers on the track, Apple currently has two advantages, hardware and software ecology, of which the latter is the key.
As the core of Apple's XR ecosystem, Vision OS has strong compatibility and innovation capabilities since its inception, seamlessly compatible with hundreds of thousands of apps in the iPhone and iPad series, and is also embedded with a series of advanced technologies such as iOS, spatial computing framework, and spatial audio engine.
In fact, since the release of Vision Pro last year, the entire XR market has ushered in a new round of development, and XR has become the biggest bright spot in addition to AI. With the help of Vision Pro, more people will pay attention to AR and VR, which will also further promote XR products to break the circle.
Because of this, iResearch believes that the global shipment of AR/VR terminals may exceed 8.1 million units in 2024, and Apple's iterative products may detonate the market in 2027. IDC is more optimistic, believing that global shipments of AR/VR headsets may soar by 44.2% to 9.7 million units in 2024 and are expected to reach 24.7 million units by the end of 2028.
Epilogue:
At present, behind every hardware feast, the layout of the AI field is focused, and this is especially true for Apple.
For now, although AI iPad and Vision provide ideas for Apple, their technical maturity and scenario applications cannot make consumers buy them, and it is difficult for these two businesses to contribute more performance in a short period of time.
As the largest part of the revenue, the iPhone is undoubtedly a key part of Apple's determination to "all in AI", which is why Apple will choose to add AI to Siri, if successful, it may enhance the market competitiveness of the iPhone.
Everyone is waiting for the developer conference in June, which may be a new turning point for Apple.