Apple has little interest in chasing the AI industry’s obsession with superintelligence. Instead, the company says it’s building Apple Intelligence for everyday people who simply want their devices to work better.
That’s the message from Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak, who described some of Silicon Valley’s most devoted AI enthusiasts as the “lunatic fringe” during a recent TIME interview.
“We love them, and they can use it too, but that’s not our target,” Joswiak said. “It’s how to make it better for everyday people.”
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Apple isn’t trying to win the AI arms race
Joswiak’s comments offer a glimpse into how Apple views its position against companies racing to develop increasingly powerful AI systems.
While competitors are investing heavily in advanced models and cloud-based assistants, Apple is emphasizing practical features built directly into the devices people already use.
The company also sees its control over hardware and software as an advantage that rivals cannot easily replicate.
“The fact that we can do the integration that we can means we can create just a better experience than anybody else,” Joswiak said.
Privacy remains central to that approach. Apple Intelligence handles many requests on-device, reducing the amount of personal information that needs to be sent to remote servers.
Joswiak dismissed concerns that Apple is falling behind, suggesting the company isn’t particularly worried about its competitors.
But not everyone wants Apple Intelligence
With macOS 27 Golden Gate, the company removed the system-wide switch that previously allowed Mac owners to turn off Apple Intelligence entirely.
AI models now download automatically on supported Macs, potentially occupying 30GB or more of storage. For users who don’t want the features, that’s a substantial amount of space devoted to software they may never use.
Meanwhile, Apple Intelligence is expanding beyond the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Code discovered in the tvOS 27.2 beta points to AI features arriving on Apple TV, while the new HomeView smart display will support Siri AI when it launches November 13.
Apple may be targeting everyday users rather than AI enthusiasts, but giving them more control over whether they want the technology could be just as important as making it useful.
