Apple might announce an AI App Store in June alongside iOS 18

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2023 was the year we started seeing a big push into mobile AI, with phones like the Google Pixel 8, but it looks like this is the year when AI in phones will really take off. Following the launch of the AI-packed Samsung Galaxy S24 series, we’re now expecting Apple to embrace AI, and according to the latest leak the company might even launch an AI App Store.

This is according to Ben Reitzes, head of technology research at Melius Research, who claimed in an interview with CNBC (via Android Authority) that Apple is working on an AI App Store, saying the company is “talking to Google, but they’re talking about Google being one of the many models you have access to, so that this new kind of App Store can take advantage of AI.”

Reitzes followed that by saying “in June we should start to see them lay the groundwork for this new App Store, for how it’s going to work with AI, for how you can buy AI apps through the App Store.”

There’s a little to unpack here. First up, an announcement in June almost certainly means this AI App Store would be announced at WWDC 2024, as that’s likely to be held in June and is the obvious venue for a big software announcement – it’s where we’re also expecting to hear about iOS 18, which this new App Store may well be a part of.

The suggestion that Apple might launch this entirely new App Store just for AI apps though seems slightly odd, as surely it could just add the apps to the existing App Store, perhaps in a dedicated AI section. Indeed, we’ve already seen some AI apps, such as ChatGPT, on the existing App Store.

AI from everyone

The mention of Google being one of the many models you’d have access to is also interesting. We recently heard that Apple was considering using Google Gemini to power some of its AI features, but this comment suggests that Apple might instead (or as well) push for multiple companies to offer apps powered by their own AI models on iPhone.

Again, though, we’ve already seen some AI apps on the App Store, so it’s not clear how this would differ.

In any case, Reitzes adds that while Apple’s big AI push will likely begin this year, the chipsets and software might not be fully optimized for on-device AI until the iPhone 17 series in 2025, at which point Reitzes suggests we might see far more iPhone owners upgrading than in a typical year.

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