Apple briefly overtakes Microsoft to become the most valuable company in the world. The Cupertino-based iPhone maker is still just an arm’s distance from Microsoft’s valuation. Currently, Microsoft's market cap is at $3.28 trillion whereas Apple settled at $3.27 trillion. We can expect both companies to continue to compete for the top spot in the coming days. NVIDIA is another contender that is hovering around the $3 trillion market cap. The chip-maker had managed to overtake Apple ahead of the WWDC event.
Apple’s quick climb to the top spot from a distant third can be attributed to WWDC 2024. The biggest highlight was undoubtedly the introduction of AI (Apple Intelligence) which seems to be a wordplay on Artificial Intelligence. Apple introduced a host of new features that incorporate AI right on the device.
Apple Intelligence will enable some system-wide AI features on iOS 18 like writing tools. However, the biggest change will be seen in the virtual assistant Siri. The AI-powered assistant can take system-based actions such as looking for a specific photo and getting information from your emails about your upcoming flight.
However, not all existing iPhone users will get to use these features without a device upgrade. The Apple Intelligence features will only be available with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The rest of the devices, including the latest iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus won’t get the host of features due to hardware limitations. The features require Apple’s A17 Pro chip.
Apart from iPhones, the Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPads and MacBooks. Any iPad and MacBook that runs with Apple Silicon (M-series chips) will be able to use the new features.
Apple had been lagging behind Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and NVIDIA in terms of riding the AI-wave. However, the new announcements bring it back to the table. Apple has also tied up with OpenAI to provide assistance with more complicated AI queries that the on-device AI can’t help with. The company has also unofficially hinted at a future tie-up with Google for the Gemini AI models.