🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Apple’s new photo tools still trail rival editors

• Apple’s AI photo editing trails tools from Google and Samsung, with some assessments calling it a generation behind 1.
• In comparisons, Apple’s Clean Up tool ranked last. It had trouble selecting objects and often produced unrealistic fills in busy images 2.
• Apple’s support documents say using Clean Up on a person’s face can leave it blurred or pixelated 3.
• Samsung’s Generative Edit gets praise for accuracy. Google’s wider editing suite is often treated as the gold standard because it includes more features 2.

Free AI tools may set up future subscription sales

• The AI race can also push hardware upgrades. Clean Up needs newer Apple devices, including an iPhone 15 Pro or a Mac with an M1 chip or later 4.
• These features are free for now. Analysts expect Apple to add a paid tier later, with pricing around $10 to $20 a month 5.
• That approach could help cover Apple’s AI spending, including a reported $4.75 billion for servers in 2024, while adding to services revenue 5.