Apple’s keynote presentation at its developers conference Monday made one thing clear: the AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle is still on hold. This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was one of the least-hyped Apple events in recent memory. Most investors and industry watchers were expecting incremental updates and little to get excited about regarding the company’s broader strategy on artificial intelligence, anchored by its suite of AI tools called Apple Intelligence. Unfortunately, those subdued expectations were on the money. Yes, Apple told us that its various operating systems are being refreshed to create a more uniform appearance across all devices, ranging from the iPhone to the Apple TV and everything in between. However, while the new design — based on what Apple is calling a “liquid glass” theme — looks more modern and fluid, it felt like a distraction. Apple’s embrace of incremental updates over the years has resulted in such a beautifully refined ecosystem and user experience. Without a doubt, these latest round of design updates continue that tradition and should provide for a smoother user experience when they are fully released in the fall of this year. However, in a world where AI is advancing rapidly and we’re seeing more capable models released monthly, the amount of time Monday that Apple spent discussing everything other than Apple Intelligence only seemed to make the lack of AI advancements that much more obvious. That’s not to say we didn’t get any updates that leverage AI and machine learning, but the ability to merge and customize different emojis — or better screen a spam call — isn’t going to get most folks off the couch to upgrade their phones earlier than they otherwise would have. Apple Intelligence was first teased at last year’s WWDC, and it fueled optimism among investors and analysts, including us at the Club, that a huge wave of people would go buy the newest iPhone to get access to all the AI features. It has proven to be a bust, in large part because some of the flashiest features have encountered problems or been delayed, most importantly an AI overhaul of voice assistant Siri . We’re still waiting on that — even after Monday’s presentation. One notable update on Monday that leverages Apple Intelligence is the ability to translate FaceTime calls in real time. However, this is unlikely to be useful on a daily basis for the majority of Apple’s user base. So, while it is cool, it’s not all that exciting from an investment perspective. For what it’s worth, rival tech giants have already rolled out some live translation capabilities, including fellow Club name Meta Platforms with its Ray-Ban smart glasses . Apple’s AI-powered feature known as Visual Intelligence is also getting an update by allowing users to ask about what they are seeing on their screen — when it rolled out last year, it gave the phone’s camera the ability to translate signs or identify objects. With the new update, if you have a question about something on the screen — like an image that you’re seeing on social media — your iPhone will be able to help you get the answers you’re looking for. You start the process by essentially taking a screenshot, and then it advances from there. Once again, as cool as it sounds, this isn’t some groundbreaking feature. We’ve been able to ask AI chatbots like ChatGPT about uploaded images for quite some time at this point. Arguably, Apple’s most important AI announcement was made in the first five minutes of Monday’s presentation, with executives calling out a new “foundation models framework.” What this means is that app developers will have access to large language models so that the apps they’re making for Apple devices can now harness the power of AI. Rather than having to rely on the cloud, those models will be able to run “on device,” which ensures users will be able to use whatever AI features are created even when they’re not connected to the internet. We didn’t get much in terms of how developers are working with this new framework. Nevertheless, it’s certainly a positive from the user perspective because it will allow third-party apps to be that much more advanced. With all of that said, one has to wonder whether the move is being made because Apple believes it is the best for way to enhance the user experience, or because management is starting to realize just how behind the ball they are when it comes to integrating Apple Intelligence through the Apple ecosystem. Bottom line Little was expected coming into this event and, as far as AI goes, little was delivered. While we are sticking with our position, we can’t deny that this event did little to assuage our concerns over Apple’s position in the AI race. To be sure, we are nowhere near counting them out. Given how mature the Apple ecosystem has become — and how disruptive it would be for someone who uses an iPhone and a Macbook to dump both and switch to an Android phone and Windows laptop — Apple is still in a prime position to win the consumer AI race. The simple fact is that the iPhone and other Apple products remain a key gateway through which people access their preferred AI chatbots. While we’ve been patient over the past year, it’s unclear how patient the market will remain if we don’t start seeing some AI advancements that truly harness the Apple ecosystem. Of course, Apple’s poor stock performance this year has to do with a variety of problems — among them tariffs and legal fights involving its lucrative services revenue stream — but its AI stumbles also weigh on sentiment to some degree. Shares of Apple were slightly positive when the keynote presentation began at 1 p.m. ET, but turned negative as the event got underway and it became clear there wouldn’t be any major surprises on the AI front. The stock finished the session down 1.2%, trailing the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which added 0.3%. Speaking personally, I have an iPhone 16 with Apple Intelligence; yet I still find myself jumping between various AI apps such as Meta AI, Perplexity and ChatGPT when I find myself with a true need for help from an AI chatbot. Apple’s goal should be for me to eventually remove those apps due to a lack of use. That day might one day arrive, but given what we heard Monday, it won’t be anytime soon. For that reason, we’re reiterating our hold-equivalent 2 rating — and still waiting for new AI features powerful enough to catalyze a faster-than-usual iPhone upgrade cycle. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL and META. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . 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