Why does apple intelligence not work on most phones

Apple Intelligence requires a lot of RAM. Minimally, 8GB and the only phones Apple has sold with that much RAM are the iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and all iPhone 16 models. It is not a way for Apple to make more money. If your iPhone doesn't support Apple Intelligence, it still supports everything you got on your iPhone when you bought it. NO manufacturer of ANY product guarantees that previous generations of their devices will get all new features released on their newer or newest devices. NONE DO.

Software has always outpaced Hardware ever since the first computer and that will continue well into the future. Devices are stuck with the hardware they have when manufactured, but software can be loaded on the devices and some of those features will only work if the hardware is able to take advantage of it.

The same is true even if you bought a car and see that the next year model has Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Lane Detection, or Hands free operations. It is the Hardware that is the limiting factor and you are not going to get those features through a software update.

That is the way technology works, and if you just now are learning that with your phone be prepared, because the Hardware is never going to be as adaptive as the Software.