By Dan Gallagher
Apple is staying in the game with AI. But there are some realities that even a company valued at $4.5 trillion can't distort.
Apple used its annual developers conference on Monday to unveil an AI-superpowered version of its Siri digital assistant. The chatbot will use on-device AI processing to offer highly personalized capabilities without sending private data to a public cloud. The new Siri is part of the company's Apple Intelligence family of features and will be available to users in beta form later this year.
But not all are able to partake. For iPhone users, the latest Apple Intelligence will only be available on devices running the last two generations of the company's A-series chips. And Siri AI will be even more exclusive, with the most powerful features limited to three of the iPhone models that Apple launched last year, along with some of the more recent versions of the Mac and iPad.
That might look like Apple trying to drive more sales to its latest products. But the reality is that on-device AI requires a fair amount of computing horsepower that involves system memory, or DRAM. And Apple only has a small amount of devices on the market with the 12 gigabytes of DRAM that analysts believe is the minimum required to offer robust AI capabilities. In the iPhone family, only the two 17 Pro models plus the poor-selling iPhone Air have that level of memory, as 8GB of DRAM has been the more standard configuration for iPhone models over the past couple of years.
Apple's fleet of devices with 12GB of memory will likely grow with future launches. But supply of memory chips is also running short due to booming demand from AI systems in data centers. So prices for DRAM chips for products like phones and PCs have been soaring. That puts more pressure on device makers like Apple to either raise their own prices or take a hit on profit margins.
Apple has managed to avoid both so far. In the company's last earnings call in April, CEO Tim Cook said the company has so far been able to offset the pricing pressure with memory inventory it already had on hand. But that tactic has just about run its course. Cook said that memory costs "will drive an increasing impact on our business" beyond the quarter that ends later this month.
Apple's hardware-centric business model means any significant AI boost has to come through its devices. But getting more AI-capable products into the market will be tricky given the severe memory crunch. In a report last week, analysts from Counterpoint Research projected that the memory shortage will drive global smartphone sales down nearly 14% this year to their lowest level in more than a decade.
Apple has the financial muscle to procure most if not all of the memory it needs. But getting its latest AI into more hands will come at a cost.
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The Number
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What the Humans Are Saying
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Longer-term, though, rocket launches may have much more to do with AI. Efforts to get AI chips into space are at a nascent stage, but there is at least a reasonable chance they take off in the years ahead. That would give another lift to SpaceX and competitors like Rocket Lab -- one they may need if they want to grow into their cosmic valuations.
AI in the Wild
Democrats in Congress are giving AI leaders a taste of what may be to come if the political winds shift. A flurry of new legislative proposals include requiring human input on the use of AI on weapons, forcing the disclosure of copyrighted data used in training AI models and new taxes on AI companies. The proposals come as opposition to data-center construction grows across the U.S.
Other Highlights From the Week in AI
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About Us
WSJ AI & Business is a weekly look at AI's transformation of the business world. This newsletter was curated and edited by Dan Gallagher and Asa Fitch. Reach them at dan.gallagher@wsj.com and asa.fitch@wsj.com (if you're reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply). Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.
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June 09, 2026 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)
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