Apple Intelligence No More 'Available Now': iPhone Maker Pulls Down Misleading Ad Banner
The National Advertising Division recommended Apple avoid conveying the message that features are available when they are not.
Although Apple Intelligence has been available for a few months now, it looks like the absence and delay of many of its features has drawn attention of regulators, forcing Apple to silently drop the "Available Now" banner from its page.
Apple has ceased describing its Apple Intelligence services as "available now" following an inquiry from the National Advertising Division in the US. It appears that Apple took the claim down from the top of its Apple Intelligence website in late March, according to an archived webpage.
As a division of the nonprofit BBB National Programs, the NAD examines national advertising campaigns to ensure they are true. It reportedly suggested that Apple "discontinue or modify" its "available now" claim, stating that Apple "reasonably conveyed the message" that the iPhone 16 would come with AI-powered features including Priority Notifications, Image Playground, Genmoji, and integration with ChatGPT.
The Apple Intelligence rollout has been staggered, and features have only slowly trickled down to users with fresh iOS updates. After the iPhone 16 was released in September, only a few Apple Intelligence features were available, such as AI-Powered Writing Tools (which helped in writing, editing, and paraphrasing) and Clean Up (which removed undesired objects from photos).
Later software updates kept on adding new functions, some with problems of their own. This was noticed by the NAD, which in a press note said: "While these features are now available, NAD recommended Apple avoid conveying the message that features are available when they are not."
The NAD also discovered that, despite the fact that Apple's AI-powered Siri has not arrived yet, the company listed it under the "available now" section. Apple has responded by stating that it has made changes to its disclosures and promotional materials to "adequately communicate their status". It has also reportedly cancelled its "More Personal Siri" video featuring actor Bella Ramsey, who uses Siri to retrieve the name of a person from a past meetup.
Apple has responded to the whole situation saying, "While we disagree with the NAD's findings related to features that are available to users now, we appreciate the opportunity to work with them and will follow their recommendations."
