The entire landscape of phone owners is bifurcated into those with access to on-device generative AI and those without. My iPhone 14 Pro And I’m on the wrong end of that dividing line. My device is two years out of the latest features, only 2GB of RAM, and the device’s smaller neural processor. Now that the Samsung Galaxy S25 alignment is on the horizon, and the $ 1,300 S25 Ultra Looking so much like an iPhone, I’m reminded of how much owners of older devices will be missing out, not just on newfangled AI, but everything else.
In my job, I use more of the latest phones than most people, but those devices are all siled to my work. My life and schedule depend on my iPhone 14 Pro. Two years ago, I Switched from Android to the iPhone, Apple’s flagship. Since then the mobile landscape has changed dramatically. The difference is seen not so much in flagship devices but in software. The iPhone 15 Pro Was the first device supposed to receive promised support for AI functions, and now the iphone 16 lineup everyone should get access to Apple Intelligence. According to Bloomberg’s prolific apple Mark Gurman, Most of Apple’s AI features are due to arrive by April.
Apple fans will have to wait months for promised AI features, but Samsung beat Apple to on-device AI assistants with its Galaxy S25 series. The AI encompasses a A confusing mix of both on- and off-device AI features. Like an applethe Korean tech giant also promised that users’ data would remain safe on its SOC behind its own Knox security, while all data sent to the cloud would end up being encrypted.
It’s clear that Samsung wants the iPhone crowd to consider the switch. The Galaxy S25 lineup looks like iPhones with flat, titanium sides and sloping corners. I’ll admit the phone had me by the throat when holding the new device with its lightweight frame and intriguing on-device AI features. It was completely familiar, not only because I used the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra for work There was a panel of betrayal plus a mixture of envy and anger. I felt like Gollum sticking the one ring for the first time as I watched tech reporters pass by with wild, unhappy eyes.
But then I had to remind myself that AI has yet to live up to its promise. I only experienced a short demo with Gemini’s “actionable” cross-app AI. I will have to trust the AI to take my information from email and accurately transcribe it into a calendar event. Even if it works nine times out of 10, how can I really trust it if the AI turns around and shakes up my schedule? If I spend most of my time supervising the AI’s work, then there is time I could just spend doing the work myself.
So, what am I really missing? I find the android vs. iOS debate mostly nebulous, however, overall, Android already has features iOS is still catching up. None of those missing capabilities make or break my enjoyment of my phone, anyway. To enter the feelings of me and a lot of past gen iPhone buyers, the thought that we spent $1,000 on a new phone only to be left behind spikes.
It’s worse because Apple is usually better than most at providing software support for older devices. According to Apple, all MACs sporting an M-Series processor will get AI. That means a four-year-old MacBook will connect to get Apple intelligence features It’s different for phones, despite most of Apple’s excuses centering around the latest A16 and A17 bionic CPUs and their AI processing capabilities. The iPhone 15 Pro had 8 GB of RAM. The iPhone 14 Pro had 6 GB. Because of that limited memory, every generation of iPhone will leave me and many other iPhone buyers further behind unless we upgrade.
Every operator would prefer that we buy a new phone every year, but I don’t believe in changing my technology like a pair of pants. And the weird thing is, we still don’t know if they’re features we want. Generative AI is so unreliable that Apple has already pulled its beta for notification summaries. So why should we care? While older devices may get new UI improvements and Few Crumb propertiesApple’s new focus is to provide AI that can run across apps.
Samsung’s recent galaxy unpacked is an example of what to expect. Apple’s next software will be entirely centered on AI. We’ll need to wait at least a month for a full release of Apple Intelligence, improved Siri Beta, and more. Do we expect Apple’s next WWDC to be anything but an AI extravaganza?
Samsung has been better at providing some AI capabilities to older devices, but the Galaxy S23 lineup and even the S24 will be limited compared to the S25. There’s a reason Samsung gave the S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra 12 GB of RAM. It is clear that actionable AI is a memory, and we have yet to see it in full glory with the devices of Samsung or Apple.
Even if you don’t care or want AI, you still lose. The theonic-feudalism of today’s Android vs. iOS debate isn’t helped by owners who are further divided between the AI haves and the AI have-nots.
