Apple is about to report its earnings for the all-important holiday quarter, and many onlookers hope to see a big Apple Intelligence impact on iPhone sales. Heres why thats not going to happen now, but it absolutely will in due time.iPhone 16 is doing just fine, but the major AI impact is still to comeAfter Apple first introduced its set of AI features last June, analysts started predicting that an iPhone supercycle was coming.Essentially, they expected AI to bring a big boost to iPhone demand and motivate device upgrades sooner than might otherwise be expected.When Apple last reported its earnings, the iPhone 16 line had just barely been released, and the first Apple Intelligence features werent available yet. So it was unsurprising that sales were about average for a new iPhone launch. There was a 5% boost, but thats not exactly supercycle levels of growth.This weeks earnings will give a much better glimpse into any potential AI impact.And while Apple is generally expected to report a strong quarter, consensus points to iPhone sales being solid but nothing extraordinary.To be fair, the iPhones success itself is extraordinary. Nothing else in Apples very profitable portfolio comes even close to matching iPhone sales.But its not unusual for the iPhone to do great. Growth is what matters most to Wall Street, and a big AI impact looks like it may not arrive yet.Dont worry though, because that iPhone supercycle is almost certainly coming in the years aheadit may just be more prolonged than expected.Apple Intelligence is a set of software features, but its entirely dependent on Apple building powerful hardware.Weve already started to see the AI impact on Apples hardware choices:the full iPhone 16 lineup was bumped to 8GB of RAM, a spec formerly exclusive to Pro models, and even the upcoming iPhone SE 4 will boast AI-capable chip and RAMon the Mac, Apple recently bumped all new Macs to 16 GB of base RAM, which almost certainly wouldnt have happened otherwisein the next few months, Apples full iPad lineup will feature modern chips that support AIeven the budget modelRumors also suggest that Apple has some solid hardware advancements on the way.Later this year, the iPhone 17 Pro lineup will boast 12GB of RAM, and all iPhone 17 models are gaining improved cooling. Well undoubtedly see nice gains with the A19 chip series too, particularly with the Neural Engine.As someone who has followed Apple closely for many years, its rare to see such aggressive hardware advancements in such a short period of time.But Apple Intelligence demands itnot just for the current features, but also everything in the works for iOS 19, iOS 20, and beyond.In the next few years, iPhone hardware will have advanced significantly to power upcoming AI features.And the near-unprecedented hardware and software transformations will make pre-AI iPhone models feel dated fast.Apple Intelligence iPhone supercycle: Wrap-upRight now, the current Apple Intelligence features arent necessarily driving huge numbers of iPhone upgrades. Is AI making some impact? Sure, but not a ton.But in the next 2-3 years, I have no doubt that AI will become a huge upgrade motivator. The advantages offered by Apple Intelligence will be increasingly hard to deny. Its just going to take a little time for that supercycle to arrive.Do you think AI will drive an iPhone supercycle? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel