Apple Is Choosing to Be Just Like Microsoft in the 1990s. It’s Good and Bad News

Apple may be late to the AI revolution, but the company is compensating for it by turning Apple Intelligence into an invisible but essential infrastructure.

During the WWDC 2025 keynote, a particularly telling moment occurred. While the tech world is witnessing its biggest transformation since the advent of the Internet, Apple spent just 52 seconds discussing Apple Intelligence. The rest of the presentation focused on features such as the new design of the Phone app and custom backgrounds for iMessage.

Apple dedicated more time to discussing Foundation Models and various integrations, but the most apparent applications of Apple Intelligence for users were overshadowed. It felt reminiscent of 1996 when, at the peak of the Internet boom, Microsoft highlighted improvements to Windows Paint and Solitaire instead of seizing the moment.

This comparison isn’t coincidental. Apple appears to be mirroring Microsoft’s strategy from the 1990s by entering significant technological shifts late and compensating for its lack of innovation with seamless integration.

When the Internet began transforming the world, Microsoft didn’t create the best browser, protocols, and web servers. Instead, it deeply integrated Internet Explorer into Windows, making it nearly impossible to avoid. The company may not have been at the forefront of that technology, but it made it indispensable within its ecosystem.

Apple is following a similar trend, but with a slight twist. The tech giant has developed its own models for Apple Intelligence, which are now being translated into specific new features, such as:

• Automatic translation
• Spam call filtering
• Personalized sports motivation

Foundational Models provide developers with direct access to local AI. However, for tasks requiring real conversation, complex reasoning, and advanced creativity, Apple turns to ChatGPT.

Currently, Siri without OpenAI remains unchanged. It excels at basic commands but struggles when users deviate from its predefined scripts. To make the conversational and productive leap that characterizes this era, Apple relies on external solutions.

Apple’s strategy is wise:

• It focuses on controlling everyday tasks and routines, where integration is more important than sheer power.
• It outsources more advanced capabilities where it’s not competitive yet.

Apple doesn’t sell AI as a standalone product. Instead, it seamlessly integrates it into everyday experiences. It’s like digital oxygen that you breathe in without even realizing it.

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Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic compete to develop the best chatbot and surround it with supportive features. In contrast, Apple focuses on integrating AI into every basic interaction on its devices.

• You don’t need to open ChatGPT to translate a message. It happens automatically.
• You don’t have to search for an app to filter spam calls. Your iPhone handles that for you.

Amazon adopted a similar strategy when it entered the conversational AI space later than its competitors. While it can’t compete with ChatGPT in terms of media attention, it’s making its AI the easiest option for companies already utilizing Amazon Web Services. Amazon may not define the future of AI, but it’s shaping it within the infrastructure it supports.

However, this defensive strategy has a limited lifespan. Microsoft experienced significant issues in the 1990s when it failed to transition from PCs to mobile phones. Its dominance, achieved through integration, declined when the leading platform changed.

Apple has successfully reinvented itself with the iPhone and wearables, but the pace of AI development is much faster than previous technological shifts. The transition from PC to mobile took a decade, but the AI revolution is unfolding in less than five years.

The development of Apple Silicon took the company another 10 years of internal work. To become a leader in conversational AI during this era, Apple would need to invest similarly in research. The pressing question is whether the company has that decade available.

The window of opportunity narrows every time OpenAI releases a more capable model, and every time Google integrates Gemini more seamlessly into Android. The time runs out with each moment Apple loses in defining what conversational AI means to end users.

Apple is currently playing the perfect short-term strategy. Its integration of hardware and software is superior, its commitment to privacy is credible, and its user experience is polished. The company controls the infrastructure and the overall experience, but it relies on external sources for the AI that distinguishes this era from previous ones.

It’s like perfectly managing the iPhone’s hardware while depending on Google for the apps that users want to use.

This is especially paradoxical for Apple, a company that has invested decades and billions into controlling fundamental technologies:

• It developed its own operating systems to eliminate reliance on Microsoft and Google.
• It created Apple Silicon to free itself from Intel’s cycles and limitations.

It’s developing its own modems to reduce dependence on Qualcomm, and the C1 chip has already debuted with the iPhone 16e.

Apple understands better than anyone that whoever controls the underlying technologies holds the keys to the future. However, with generative AI, it’s chosen to be the best integrator rather than compete directly to create the best models. This represents a conscious decision to avoid engaging in a fierce competition that typically defines technological eras.

Apple Intelligence functions effectively, especially when it’s less explicit. It excels in subtlety, operating behind the scenes. However, the history of technology demonstrates that defensive strategies have limitations. Microsoft dominated the 1990s with superior integration until a platform emerged where that integration became irrelevant.

The real question isn’t whether Apple can continue to be the best integrator of third-party AI. The question is whether, as AI completely reshapes our interaction with technology, being the perfect host for a revolution initiated by others will be enough.

Image | Apple

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