Name: Apples AI challenges in 2026
Uploaded: 2025-12-31T19:12:55.117Z
Duration: 3 min 23 s
Description: CNBC’s Steve Kovach reports on news regarding Apple and the challenges the company faces in 2026.

CNBC’s Steve Kovach reports on news regarding Apple and the challenges the company faces in 2026.

Apple is experiencing significant delays in launching its next-generation artificial intelligence features, including an updated Siri, which are now expected in 2026. The company initially announced Apple Intelligence in June 2024, but the rollout has been postponed nearly two years, an uncommon move for a company known for timely consumer technology releases.

Leadership changes, such as the departure of AI chief John Giannandrea, and Apple's decision to develop AI technology in-house rather than partner with external firms, have contributed to the delay. The company is also weighing whether to offer advanced AI features for free with new iPhones or introduce a subscription fee, which could influence consumer upgrade decisions.

Apple's AI challenges in 2026

Stakes are high going into twenty twenty six. Steve Kovac is following this and today's tech check. So how's it looking for twenty twenty six. It's going to be all about AI. So like you mentioned this year it was the tariff thing. That was the biggest drag on the stock. In fact if you look from August 6 when Tim Cook went to the Oval Office with President Trump and gave him that golden trophy and said we're going to invest six hundred billion dollars. Stock has been up about 35 percent since then. So it's up about nine percent on the year and the rest of it. The hangover here is artificial intelligence. Now as you alluded to they failed to deliver that Siri A.I. update that was supposed to happen in March. They said it's going to happen next year. Now a lot of people think that means March of twenty twenty six. And look we know what it's supposed to do. We know how it's supposed to work. But is it going to be good. And by the way what investors could really need to pay attention to. It has to be so good that it convinces people to upgrade their phones because unlike Chachi B.T. or Gemini and so many other chat bots Apple Intelligence and this new version version of Siri is going to be free with their iPhone. So Apple needs to make sure people are buying these new phones in order to enable those new features. That means anybody with a 15 or lower would have to go out there and buy it. So that's the one thing. The other thing they could possibly do is they could change your mind and say we're going to do a subscription fee for these new advanced features. Maybe they introduce some stuff that they didn't show us already. But it's been a long time coming. It was June two thousand and twenty four when they first announced Apple Intelligence. And here we are. It's by the time they actually get it out the door. It's going to be about two years later. The thing that I find baffling is that Apple has always led the way in new tech and getting especially consumer facing right technology. What is taking so long. It's not what led the way in the sense that they'll take something that's already there and just make it better. Right. I mean if you look at least if you want to look at BlackBerry lead exactly on smartphones. But you know what. They took that idea and made it so much better. Right. And so people were expecting them to do the same with artificial intelligence. What was the problem there. Part of it could be the team that they had in place. So John Giannandrea he was the head of A.I. He's out. He got pushed out most likely and he is going to be out of the company at the beginning of next year. There's a new head of A.I. who is not even reporting to Tim Cook yet. That could be part of it. The other thing is they decided to mostly build it themselves as opposed to what they're going to do next year. Partner with Google or Anthropic or chat to BT to do it. And they couldn't make that happen. The A.I. is a piece of that. Right. How much of a piece is the affordability of the Apple ecosystem. Because it's well if you've got people who are affordability focused that it's an easy choice to go with an Android over an Apple product. You also got to keep in mind that is true. But especially here in the United States there are so many deals. We see these commercials all the time. You try it in your old phone. You get it for free. The carriers give you these enticing deals in order to get you to subscribe to them. They pay Apple up front and you pay them back over time. So a lot of people are. And you know they end up getting their phone for basically zero down. Let's call it. And you kind of lease it over time. So the affordability of the phones becomes less of a problem. It's the subscription fees that they're laying on top of it that could affect kind of what you're talking about. Interesting.

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Breakdown