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Comment by candiddevmike | Hacker News Reader

Stock didn't really move on this, but IMO this is a bearish signal for Apple--they're sitting on a ton of cash and can't catch up to OpenAI? Not even via acquisition? How far behind are their internal efforts?

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To be fair, launching their own ChatGPT wouldn't be that much more interesting than leveraging OpenAI. What would be amazing is if they get a high-quality GPT model running locally on the device and integrate that with their services.

> high-quality GPT model running locally on the device and integrate that with their services.

Unfortunately very few Macs would be able to run anything like that since 8GB is still the base config for consumer models and I wouldn't be too surprised if 80-90% of all Macs sold in the last couple of years only have 16 GB or less.

The good thing is if they choose a model that runs on a 8GB macbook it can run just as well on an iphone

I think the difference between 6GB and 8GB might be more significant than it seems when you subtract the OS and any other apps that are running.

15 Pro is 8GB

The new iPad has 12 GB, but 4 are mysteriously disabled.

> 8GB is still the base config for consumer models

Now.

So they are going to rises prices by $200 across the board? Or take a non-insignificant cut to their margins (RAM and storage upgrades are basically free money for them)?

No, they just raise the entry level to 16 gigs (or whatever) and charge the $200 to upgrade it to 32.

As you correctly point out, their margins on RAM are quite high.

Apple has never been about moving fast in response to hype. Think about 3G, VR, foldable screens (apparently coming to iPads in a few years). They do things in their own time and somehow it works.

They aren't interested in joining the same rat race.

Apple's strategy is edge based AI using their superior proprietary chips, particularly in mobile.

So it makes sense to partner with a centralized provider too.

But why when you can rent something good enough, and swap it for something in house later when you feel like it.

Look at Apple Maps.

Why exactly does Apple need to make their own AI? I would prefer if they focused their efforts on what they're already good at - making hardware and operating systems to run on top of it.

It's priced in.

I agree, but there will be a massive sell-off at WWDC. The announcements are going to be incredibly underwhelming to laypeople and market analysts.

Just wanted to update this to say: I was completely wrong. The announcements were more ambitious than expected, and the stock had a bump!

> but IMO this is a bearish signal for Apple--they're sitting on a ton of cash and can't catch up to OpenAI?

Nobody has caught up to OpenAI, it's absurd to expect Apple to have done it simply because they have the cash.

Especially when they can’t use that cash to buy Nvidia cards, due to an epic grudge

Google seems caught up, or very close: https://chat.lmsys.org/?leaderboard

Siri was released in 2011. What AI advances have they made since then despite showing early interest and having endless resources? They blew it.

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