One of the key selling points of the iPhone 16, according to Apple, is that it will be the first device to feature Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI tools designed for tasks like summarizing text and generating custom emojis. However, some of the more ambitious promises, such as an improved Siri, have yet to materialize. Following recommendations from the Truth in Advertising organization, Apple has removed the "now available" label from the Apple Intelligence landing page on its official website.
As part of the Better Business Bureau’s national program, the National Advertising Division (NAD) led an investigation into Apple's advertising claims around Apple Intelligence. The investigation found that while some of the features marketed by Apple were indeed available to certain users, the broad claim that all Apple Intelligence features are "currently available" was inaccurate.
Essentially, the issue raised by the NAD centers on the fact that Apple's marketing created confusion about which features were actually accessible. While the iPhone 16 lineup introduced features like Priority Notifications, Image Playground, and ChatGPT integration, the Apple Intelligence page also showcased other functionalities that weren’t immediately available. Apple did provide some disclosures in footnotes and fine print indicating these features would arrive in future updates, but the NAD stated that these distinctions were "neither clear nor prominent enough to offset the misleading claims."
In the end, the NAD recommended that Apple drop or modify any statements suggesting all features are "currently available," and Apple complied with the advice. Archived versions of Apple's Apple Intelligence landing page show the "Available Now" text, which has since been removed from the site. An Apple spokesperson stated: "While we disagree with the NAD’s findings regarding the functionality currently available to users, we appreciate the opportunity to work with them and will follow their recommendations."
Notably, Apple decided to pull the "Available Now" messaging rather than remove mention of promised features that aren’t yet available, likely because those features are still compelling enough to encourage people to buy and wait. But so far, Apple Intelligence has proven to be more of a headache than a functional sales hook. The available features have failed to excite or convert customers. In fact, functions like AI-generated summaries of texts and news articles have performed so poorly that many users have opted to disable them. Meanwhile, the much-hyped vision of an AI-enhanced Siri has hit one roadblock after another, with its release now potentially delayed until 2026. The situation has become so problematic that it has reportedly triggered changes at the executive level as the company scrambles to get back on track.
Apple might actually have the NAD to thank for recommending they tone down their advertising of Apple Intelligence. It seems that burying these features might serve the company better than keeping them front and center.
