Apple’s Siri AI could spark a massive iPhone upgrade wave

Source Domain: macdailynews.com

Powered by Apple Intelligence, the new version of Siri is profoundly more capable and conversational, and deeply integrated across products.

At Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple finally unveiled its long-awaited overhaul of Siri, positioning the virtual assistant as a serious contender against ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and Claude. The new Siri AI promises deeper on-device intelligence, better context awareness, and advanced features that could redefine how we interact with our iPhones.

There’s just one catch: a huge chunk of Apple’s installed base simply can’t run it.

According to a Morgan Stanley research note released Tuesday, more than 850 million iPhones are incapable of handling basic Apple Intelligence queries, while over 1.3 billion devices won’t support the most advanced Siri capabilities.

The bottleneck? Hardware — specifically chip architecture and memory. Advanced features require 12 GB of unified memory to manage the heavy on-device processing Apple Intelligence demands.

For millions of users rocking older iPhones, the shiny new Siri will feel more like a tease than a transformation.

The Upgrade Incentive in Disguise

Morgan Stanley analysts point out a key tension: selling hardware on the strength of software has always been challenging. Yet they also note that AI accessibility ranks among the leading drivers of smartphone upgrades.

In other words, the very limitations that frustrate current owners could become powerful motivation for the next purchase. Apple is betting that the promise of a truly intelligent Siri — one that runs smoothly, privately, and powerfully on-device — will convince users it’s finally time to trade in their aging devices.This strategy isn’t new for Apple. The company has long used generational leaps in performance, camera quality, and now AI as catalysts for refresh cycles. With iPhone sales facing pressure from longer replacement cycles in recent years, a compelling AI experience could…

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