Tim Cook downplays AI threat to the iPhone

During today’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed growing speculation that advancements in AI, and the new hardware form factors enabled by them, could eventually sideline screen-based devices like the iPhone.

Complementary, not substitutes

Asked whether Apple sees a future where dependence on smartphones diminishes due to AI-driven shifts in how people interact with technology, Cook pushed back:

“When you think about all the things an iPhone can do, from connecting people to bringing app and game experiences to life, to taking photos and videos, to helping users explore the world and conduct their financial lives, and pay for things, and so much more, you know… it’s difficult to see a world where iPhone is not living in it.”

While the question didn’t directly mention OpenAI’s new partnership with Jony Ive’s company and the upcoming AI-centric io product, this was surely on everyone’s mind as it was asked and answered.

It’s also worth noting that not long ago, Apple’s Eddy Cue floated the idea that “you may not need” an iPhone in 2035. However, the context was much different: to downplay Apple’s partnership with Google, hoping to convince the court to leave it untouched in the ongoing antitrust case against Google.

Interestingly, Cook also dropped a subtle hint at future Apple products that may offer deeper AI integration, adding:

“That doesn’t mean that we are not thinking about other things as well, but I think that the devices are likely to be complementary devices, not substitution.”

While it obviously shouldn’t come as a surprise that Apple is looking beyond its current products as vehicles for AI, it is less common to hear Cook officially acknowledge potential future product directions.

One of these products could be the rumored screen-equipped HomePod, which reportedly had its launch delayed due to Apple’s struggles with the revamped Siri, and is now expected in spring 2026.

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