Apple has momentarily surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company. The company based in Cupertino is closely trailing Microsoft’s valuation, which stands at $3.28 trillion, with Apple closely behind at $3.27 trillion. The battle for the top position is expected to remain tight in the near future. NVIDIA is also in the race, nearing a $3 trillion market cap, especially after surpassing Apple just before the WWDC event.
Apple’s rapid ascent to the forefront, up from third place, is largely due to the innovations unveiled at WWDC 2024. A major highlight was the launch of AI (Apple Intelligence), a clever play on the term Artificial Intelligence. This new feature integrates AI capabilities directly into the device.
Apple Intelligence introduces several AI-based features across iOS 18, including advanced writing tools. Notably, it enhances Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, enabling it to perform tasks such as searching for specific photos or retrieving flight details from emails.
However, these new capabilities require the latest hardware and will not be available to all iPhone users. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will support Apple Intelligence features, owing to their A17 Pro chip. Other recent models, including the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, will miss out due to hardware constraints.
These innovations will also be accessible on iPads and MacBooks equipped with Apple’s M-series chips, expanding the reach of Apple Intelligence.
Previously lagging behind tech giants like Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and NVIDIA in AI advancements, Apple has significantly closed the gap with these announcements. Furthermore, Apple has partnered with OpenAI to handle more complex AI queries that exceed the on-device capabilities. Additionally, there are unconfirmed reports of an upcoming collaboration with Google on Gemini AI models.
