I recently bought an 11” iPad Air M2 model, after using it just for a week I decided to return it. I just couldn’t justify the price for the use case. Not that my use case is too much for a tablet, but specifically for iPad, other than drawing on it and browsing the web, I couldn’t find any other use case that I apply for my daily drive. The device itself with 128GB memory costs ~700 Euros. Without a keyboard iPad is just a gaming and drawing, and a little bit of reader device. So in order to be able to write long texts on it, I had to buy a Magic Keyboard. Which is another ~400 Euros. So, I had to pay ~1100 Euros for a device which is tightly coupled into Apple’s ecosystem. So, this device is designed around iCloud and App Store. Since it’s very closed I have the least control over it. In order to use the device you first have to log in to your iCloud account. I mean it’s great toy, it’s extremely fast, the display is amazing, especially with new Apple Pencil Pro, I love how it feels when I draw on it, but there is one thing that really bothers me, it’s not the hardware - in fact I think iPad is already exceeded its limit in terms of hardware - it’s how Apple is trying hard to limit its iPad line on OS level. I felt just like a guest on iPad, not the owner. Since I knew from my experience how Apple is able to make its devices slower and more power hungry with every OS update, I felt less welcome. If I pay 1100 Euros for a device, I expect to have some kind of control over it, not an international multi-billionaire company.

Imagine a very powerful machine, with M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, but you can’t even install any desktop app on it. We can safely assume that iPadOS is a protection line for Apple to keep its Mac line alive. Okay I get it, greed over everything. But then what makes iPad so special, when I can do most stuff on my Macbook Air? Apple could make iPad, so that it runs MacOS and iPadOS depending on how you use it. For instance, you attached Magic Keyboard, it boots MacOS and vice versa. But no, for them profit is more important than user experience. I don’t get the point of having an M4 chip in iPad Pro, if an average user will only use half of its power. M1 is already an overkill for iPad. But Apple is marketing every new M chip as if it makes your iPad more useful. In essence, they just get more expensive and excessively more powerful.

Okay, let’s return back to AI. Excuse me, “Apple Intelligence”. After watching WWDC 2024 opening keynote yesterday, I realized that Apple is already running out of new ideas. Apple love to pretend that they are always creating new category, as if they are not actually competing with other companies. This was especially seen and was ridiculous in the context of AI. It’s simply AI dear Apple - however you want to call it - you didn’t reinvent anything here. I mean, I get it Apple don’t want to be the first, they want to be the best in what they create. But AI? Not even close to this principle. It’s also understandable, they don’t want to miss the train. Investors are craving for it, because it’s the hottest thing right now. And we the people until AI didn’t know how to live properly. And somehow trillion-dollar company decides to follow the trend. And they are not even good at it. As a consumer I have to own at least iPhone 15 Pro. This is hilarious. I don’t know the minimum hardware requirements for Apple Intelligence, but I hardly believe that hardware here is the reason for this decision. But I am not expert in this area. I can’t really judge. However, I don’t believe that, iPhone 16 (make no mistake, without Pro, Max) will support AI. We will see.

Here is an honest question: since when AI became a privilege? Or why do management at Apple think that people need to generate phony images on their devices? Like we are not already fed up with fake images popping up here and there? And people at Apple think that people will prefer more expensive devices just because of AI? I am seriously tired of seeing “AI” every day in every corner of my life. Especially when they announced that they will partner with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to their devices. Again “Privacy” is their killer selling point.

Speaking of Privacy, Apple claims AI will be on-device, so that your data will be safe. Until it doesn’t… When it’s too complex to run on-device, it will be computed on Apple’s servers named “Private Cloud Compute”. This is joke right? How is that different from say from OpenAI’s servers? Oh yes, my bad, it uses custom designed Apple Silicon. So it should be safe. People at Apple probably think that we are too stupid, what privacy has got to do with processor architecture? Apple Silicon is safer than Intel’s? If so, how come? Data is processed on OS level, not on CPU level. If privacy is real concern here, then partnering with 3rd parties such as OpenAI is effectively putting cart before the horse. Moreover, Apple is not a security company. Hope we don’t have to remind them about iCloud hack.

Then they showed how they are getting more serious about gaming with 14 video games. Yes 14. FOURTEEN Titles! And since Apple sponsor them, they can be bought only on Apple Store. Seriously Apple? “Bioshock” from my Steam library is playable, whereas “Resident Evil Village” not, in spite of being in my Steam library - since you are sponsoring them? This is what you think about gaming on Mac? With just a few games only available through App Store? And you think people will buy Mac for gaming?

Okay, it didn’t end there, they announced one more another killer thing. Guess what? A “Calculator” app on iPad. Come on Apple, you waited 14 years to bring a stock calculator app to iPad? And you think because of that people will buy iPad more? A device that’s bigger than any calculator? Will it make iPad more loveable? I don’t think so.

Additionally, I didn’t hear anything about how Apple will ensure its users’ privacy while interacting with ChatGPT. I hope they are not passing any traceable data to OpenAI. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any documentation about it so far.

I could never imagine one day a company like OpenAI will save Apple’s AI assistant Siri from being a nearly useless service. People at Apple smart enough to create such an amazing ecosystem, but not smart enough to have decent AI? I don’t think so, they are smart enough to understand that AI bubble will burst one day. Why would they invest so much in it?

Dear Apple, please stop pushing AI to every corner of your ecosystem. We - the consumers don’t need this kind of trendy feature. We need to utilize the power of our devices.