Short answer: no, Apple will never catch up if their focus is chatbots.
Both MS and OpenAI are moving to SLMs, Agents, and embedded "AI" in desktop/server apps.
Chatbots are entry-level demos of the tech. The real value (and cash) is in the enterprise, embedded systems (military, especially), and software development. Gaming in particular for the latter. And Apple has essentially zero presence in those sectors.
Just like with ebooks, smart TVS and cars, Apple's MO of being close followers is leaving them on the outside looking in at a new tech industry sector.
People castigate MS for its minimal footprint in consumer products but Apple gets a free pass for being *limited* to the mass market. And only part of it at that as ebooks and video streaming have proved.
And even in phones they've plateaued and are at risk of degradation from their reliance on China. Much like Ballmer's MS the obsession with one market is blinding them to the newly emergent sectors.
Close followers can't cut it anymore; lead or get out of the way.