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    The world of artificial intelligence on your smartphone

    There’s an increasing amount of AI and machine learning in today’s smartphones. AI is being used to deliver continuous improvements to the customer experience and enhance device performance. But what exactly is it all about? Let’s take a look at the key AI capabilities of Samsung and Apple and the different technological approaches they take.  

    Brunhilde Mauthe

    February 17, 2025 . 3 minutes read

    OpenAI with ChatGPT, Microsoft with Copilot, Google with Gemini – they all offer artificial intelligence (AI) that makes life simpler. With the smartphones they’re bringing to the market, Apple and Samsung are competing to provide the best AI capabilities and performance. But in my own non-representative survey, none of the users was able to explain to me what these AI features actually do and what experience they give users. In this first blog, we’ll take a look at the different technologies each provider uses and their impact. The second blog discusses current AI capabilities. It’s well worth mentioning that these can only be experienced with the latest smartphones and in some cases only in certain parts of the world. All the features presented with the new Samsung Galaxy 25 on 22 January 2025 are available to users in Switzerland. Apple also confirms that their iPhone 16’s AI features will also be available in three national languages in Switzerland over the course of this year. 


    Apple technology: Focus on the user experience and privacy 

    Apple relies on its own processors, namely A-series chips, which are equipped with the specially developed Neural Engine. As a smart and adaptive AI processor, it ensures that tasks like image recognition, machine learning and language processing are carried out more efficiently, faster and better with each new model.  


    Apple Intelligence is based on the philosophy of data protection and privacy with on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute. The latter is a new approach that extends the iPhone’s data protection and security to the cloud in order to protect the user's information. When Private Cloud Compute is used, user data is never stored or shared with Apple, but only used to address and fulfil a user's request. This is the first time in the industry that independent experts are able to review the code that runs on servers equipped with Apple chips to verify this data-protection promise on an ongoing basis – a major step forward for data protection in AI. 


    Samsung technology: Partnerships, adaptability and versatility 

    Samsung uses its own Exynos processors along with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, depending on the region. Both chips are equipped with a neural processing unit (NPU) that’s optimised for machine learning and AI tasks. Similarly to Apple, the NPU handles image processing, voice recognition and other AI-powered tasks very efficiently. 


    Unlike Apple though, Samsung has close partnerships with Google and uses the Android platform as the basis for many of its AI services. Google is a world leader in AI development and Samsung benefits from this collaboration. Features like Google Assistant and Google Lens are utilised fully on Samsung smartphones, which offer advanced AI capabilities such as automatic translation and text analytics with Google Lens, contextual voice commands through Google Assistant and AI-based photo editing with Google Photos.  


    Samsung Knox encrypts all personal data to ensure that nothing is shared with third parties (e.g., Google and Microsoft). This is how Samsung ensures anonymity for its users.  


    Verdict: If it’s data protection and privacy that you’re after, then choose Apple because it’s been focusing on these topics over the long term. If you want a wider range of functions, you’re better off choosing Samsung, because the user benefits from the well-established partnership with Google. Thanks to Samsung Knox, data can also be protected with the appropriate settings. 

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