Update - April 23, 12pm: We have clarified language about the National Advertising Division's relationship with the Better Business Bureau.
Apple Intelligence has been around for several months, but with some features missing or released late, Apple's advertising language has drawn the attention of one national regulator.
The National Advertising Division, an independent ad standards body and one of the Better Business Bureau's National Programs, has "recommended that Apple Inc. modify or discontinue advertising claims regarding the availability of certain features associated with the launch of its AI-powered Apple Intelligence tool in the U.S." as explained in a press release.
Specifically, the NAD points to AI features listed on the page that have yet to arrive, and others were launched at different times than claimed, such as in a later iOS version.
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
Apple
While Apple does mention some of these technicalities in the page's footnotes, the NAD claimed this was not obvious enough. And we can already see the results of this.
The phrase "Available now" was used to be displayed prominently at the top of Apple's main Apple Intelligence page. But that's been quietly removed, seemingly at some point on March 31st, going by the snapshots found on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
That's a while before this announcement was made, suggesting Apple knew this NAD recommendation was coming, or that its changing launch timetable was going to cause issues going forward.
Apple, in its own response section of the announcement, disputes the claims of the NAD, but still promises to follow the recommended changes.
Here is Apple's statement: “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.”
Apple Intelligence is taking its time
A run-in with advertising standards was perhaps inevitable for Apple Intelligence. While Apple warned during the initial announcement at WWDC last year that not everything would be available at launch, some features have been slower to appear than initially promised.
Abilities like ChatGPT integration appeared after iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia launched, but before the end of 2024 as planned. Yet others like Personal Context (the ability to control apps based on what's on screen) and further powers for Siri have yet to emerge.
It's hoped that iOS 19, expected to be revealed at WWDC 2025, will finally bring these missing abilities to Apple devices, but given the struggles Apple's apparently having behind the scenes, it's still possible we won't have all of Apple's initially promised AI features a full year later.
However, with Apple reassigning leaders within the company to try to address the problems with Siri, hopefully Apple Intelligence will be fully available soon.
