Samsung has submitted, Apple has followed suit – and now Google is launching a frontal attack. With new AI smartphones functions, smartphones will soon be more clearly different from each other again. Apple in particular, however, is lagging behind in the race for artificial intelligence. Could this change the market?
Hanover. Everything at Google AI smartphones is screaming for a frontal attack these days: the way it’s presenting on stage, the ever-increasing little barbs against its competitor Apple. And then there are the products themselves: Anyone who surfs the Google website today to find out about the new Pixel smartphones should know one thing under all circumstances: everything, absolutely everything here is premium.
The metal frames of the new devices shine, the sample photos from the camera are bright, bright and incredibly sharp. The design of the devices with its angular frames and high-quality colors is strongly reminiscent of Apple’s current iPhone models. And Google has long since come closer to the price: If you want to buy a Pro model from the Pixel series today, you have to pay at least 1099 euros.
The target group is clear: Google clearly aims to persuade long-time iPhone users to switch. And the Mountain View company’s arguments for this are getting better and better: Aside from new, well-made premium smartphones, the company also presented a whole range of new AI smartphones functions last week – while Apple is still struggling with some problems in this area. Could the new developments in artificial intelligence pose a threat to the iPhone company? And could they transform the market in the long term?
Google smartphones only have a small market share
Admittedly, the smartphone market has so far been relatively clearly defined – probably also because there have been no overly revolutionary innovations in recent years. Many users had gotten used to their smartphone model – and no matter which manufacturer they chose, the functions in the premium segment were almost identical. Sometimes one company came forward with a better camera, then the other followed suit – but it often stayed that way.
Google always played a subordinate role with its Pixel phones. In the USA, Apple clearly dominates with its iPhone. Around 55 percent of all cell phone users own a device from the company , followed by 23 percent who own a Samsung cell phone. Only around three percent of Americans had a device from Google’s Pixel series last year.
In Europe, Google dominates with its Android operating system – only 34 percent of all smartphone users in Germany owned an iPhone last year . However, among Android smartphones, Samsung is also the leader with 36 percent, followed by Xiaomi (8 percent) and Huawei (7 percent). For a long time, Google’s own Pixel devices only had a market share of one percent – in 2023 this tripled to three percent.
Samsung AI smartphones are becoming intelligent
There could now be greater movement in the market – because when it comes to artificial intelligence, all of the manufacturers mentioned are outdoing each other these days with exciting functions. Market leader Samsung had already made a start at the beginning of the year: The new smartphones in the S24 series can use the in-house “Galaxy AI” to translate phone calls in foreign languages live or rephrase entered texts so that they sound better. Even websites with long texts can be summarized briefly and concisely by the AI.
Together with Google, Samsung also introduced the “Circle to Search” function, which is now integrated into the Android operating system for other smartphones. Any imaginable object on the screen can be circled with your finger – and Google’s search engine will spit out results for it. Samsung’s voice recording app can transcribe recordings and even recognize different speakers.
And Samsung has also presented the camera: Photos can be enhanced using AI, and disruptive objects can easily be cut out of a photo. The new Samsung S24 model can be used to generate slow-motion recordings from conventional videos, which normally only works with recordings at high frame rates. The artificial intelligence, however, simply includes missing frames in the recording, so that the final product looks extremely fluid in slow motion.
Apple is following suit with AI smartphones functions
The Apple company, which has so far been rather cautious when it comes to AI, finally followed suit in June with the first functions at its world developer conference WWDC. New iPhones are said to have intelligent writing tools with the help of Apple Intelligence. Entered texts can be improved by AI smartphones or created entirely by AI – for example, an “intelligent response” can be generated with the mail app. Texts can also be summarized. As examples of use, Apple cites long lectures during studies or group threads that can be summarized in a matter of seconds.
In the future, notifications and email inboxes can be intelligently sorted using AI smartphones– so that really important emails and notifications are always at the top. There will also be a new focus mode that intelligently mutes unimportant notifications but lets important ones through. As an example, Apple cites a message that the child needs to be picked up from daycare.
In the future, you should be able to communicate with the previously mediocrely practical voice assistant Siri like with a typical AI smartphones chatbot. The function should become more intelligent, understand context and be able to solve complex tasks. The assistant intervenes deeply in the operating system and can carry out all sorts of tasks. For general questions, Apple forwards the request to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s AI can also transcribe and summarize phone calls.
Google shows intelligent photo functions
Google is now the third major player in the group that wants to win the race with its own AI smartphones functions. The group has had intelligent functions for a long time. Now the Gemini service will be deeply integrated into the operating system and, according to Google, will function as a personal assistant. If you press the power button on your smartphone, you can talk to Gemini and ask the AI the most complex questions. It is also possible to type the questions or upload images.
In addition to functions that Samsung and Apple have also presented, Google is planning a whole range of AI smartphones functions for the camera app on its Pixel devices. For example, there is the “Add me” function: someone takes a photo – then a person who was not originally in the photo can be added to the image. Photos can also be edited and supplemented: If someone is sitting on a dreary meadow, a few pretty flowers or a balloon can simply be added to the background using AI, and the recording can also be expanded.
Even the weather app will run with AI smartphones in the future – this should make even more precise forecasts and a custom weather report possible. A new app called Screenshots can use AI to search through screen recordings if you don’t remember them yourself. The Call Notes function transcribes telephone calls and summarizes them, very similar to Apple.
IPhone 15 without AI
It is not yet clear who will be ahead when it comes to intelligent AI smartphones in the long term. But one thing is apparent: Apple in particular, which is known for its expensive premium smartphones, currently seems to be falling behind in its efforts.
It starts with compatibility: Even the current iPhone 15 is excluded from the new AI smartphones functions – Apple Intelligence will only work on the more expensive Pro models. Industry magazines speculate that the device’s slightly lower RAM could be responsible for this.
Google also reserves some new AI smartphones functions for its new Generation 9 Pixel flagships. In contrast to Apple, the company also made some functions of its “Gemini Nano” model available for its smaller smartphone models, the Pixel 8 and 8a, in the summer. Samsung has also long since equipped older models with AI. Further AI functions will also be integrated into the Android operating system – smartphones from other manufacturers will then also have access to them.
In the long term, this could mean that even older Android models may be more intelligent in the future than the comparatively new iPhone 15, which has to do without Apple Intelligence entirely. This would be more than annoying for the group’s customers who only bought such a device a few months ago.
Apple without its own chatbot
Google is also currently far ahead when it comes to AI smartphones. Apple itself does not have its own chatbot at all and will forward requests that have nothing to do with the operating system to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google, on the other hand, has had its own Gemini model for a long time and presented the new live mode for it on Tuesday. Users can have conversations with the model without any delay, as if they were talking to a real person. Apple has not yet presented a comparable service.
The new foldable phones from Google and Samsung also offer intelligent interpreting functions. This makes it possible to communicate with strangers abroad, for example, while spoken words are translated directly on the folding screen for the other person. Apple’s translation app currently only covers a few languages - and the company doesn’t have foldable cell phones in its range anyway. This also applies to other AI smartphones functions: While Apple Intelligence can only be operated in English, Google’s Gemini already speaks 45 languages.
And then there are the intelligent photo functions, with which Apple is also still cautious. There are no functions like Google’s “Add me”. At least Apple should now be able to erase distracting objects from photos. With the Image Playground app it should also be possible to generate completely new images, similar to Google.
Apple’s AI functions initially without the EU
However, Apple’s biggest problem is currently: EU. The company’s intelligent AI smartphones functions will not appear here at all for the time being.
“Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe we will be able to bring three of these [new] features – iPhone Mirroring, Shareplay Screen Sharing and Apple Intelligence – to our EU this year -Users to introduce,” the company announced in the summer. The Digital Markets Act, or DMA, heavily regulates large tech companies and their platforms.
Here too, Google and Samsung are likely to be ahead once again. The AI smartphones functions on Samsung devices have long been running in the EU, and Google also stated last Tuesday that the regulations in this country were not a problem for the company. Only a few functions will not be coming to Europe for the time being – these include the screenshots app and the phone call transcription function.