This test shows how bad Apple Intelligence is—and how much better it’s going to get

Macworld

It’s no secret that Apple Intelligence lags behind the likes of Google Gemini and ChatGPT when it comes to things like image creation and conversational chatting. Apple’s suite of AI tools has been underwhelming to say the least, and even seemingly rudimentary features pale in comparison to other engines.

So while we’re still waiting for Apple to launch its new Siri, its competitors are perfecting their own AI tools and running circles around Apple Intelligence. Take this test by custom_adventurist on Instagram. It test three photo editing tools—Clean Up in Apple intelligence, Galaxy AI’s Generative Edit, and Google Gemini. And the results aren’t just one-sided; they’re completely embarrassing for Apple Intelligence.

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The video above uses the same photo of Nick Fury in The Avengers movie to use each phone’s built-in AI to remove his trademark eyepatch. Apple did the worst of the trio, creating a crudely edited image that made it very obvious that something had been removed without even attempting to understand the context of an eyepatch. Samsung AI was much better, cleanly removing the eye patch and generating an eye to match the other one.

But  Google Gemini truly takes it to the next level. Not only does it seamlessly remove the patch with nary a trace that it was ever there, it also understands that Fury is wearing the patch for a reason and gave him a glass eye.

But while Apple got completely schooled here, there’s reason to be optimistic. For one, Apple Intelligence is set to get a significant upgrade in 2026, starting with the new Siri and continuing with iOS 27. For another, Apple is partnering with Google to supply a custom version of the Gemini LLM (large language model) as the foundation for the new Siri. If it’s anywhere near as good as this test is, Apple Intelligence is set to get a massive upgrade in just a few months.