Siri

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: New details emerge about Apple’s smart glasses, including possible shapes, sizes and colors.

Now for the important question: Will we — or anybody else — actually want to wear a pair?

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• Apple reportedly plans a last-ditch effort to get its Siri team up to speed on AI-powered coding. Meanwhile, Siri’s worse than ever! Will Apple make the WWDC26 deadline for the Siri upgrade?
• The tech behind the first folding iPhone’s (supposedly) crease-free screen sounds insane.
• A MacBook Pro setup puts the weirdest hinged screens we’ve ever seen front and center.
• And finally, Griffin shows us how to walk back one of macOS Tahoe’s most divisive design decisions.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.

Apple will reportedly send a sizable share of its Siri development team to an intensive, multi-week bootcamp to improve their AI coding skills. To be clear, the employees won’t be learning how to make an AI, but how to use AI to develop.

It’s part of a push to finally complete the revamp of Apple’s voice assistant that the company promised years ago.

Apple’s CarPlay voice commands offer a safe way to handle dozens of tasks without lifting a finger or shifting your gaze away from the road. CarPlay’s Siri integration is one of the most underused safety tools in modern cars. However, it only works if you know what to say. 

Get to know the best CarPlay voice commands for every driver with Cult of Mac’s handy roundup. Commit them to memory now so you’ll know how to employ them once you hit the road.

Apple is working to upgrade Siri so the voice assistant can handle multiple requests at once, according to an unconfirmed report from Bloomberg. The feature would let users combine several commands into a single query instead of issuing them one at a time.

It’s apparently part of a much larger project to inject some real intelligence into Siri. Artificial intelligence.

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: New details emerge about a major upgrade that would transform Siri from a laughingstock to a legitimate AI assistant.

Unfortunately, these plans sound mighty familiar. Still, we’re guardedly optimistic that Apple can pull it off this time.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• Now we know when WWDC26 will happen — and it’s time to get excited. This is when we should get our first glimpse of the new, AI-powered Siri.
• Some of us are clearly not excited about Apple adding advertisements to the Maps app in the near future.
• And finally, Griffin runs us through all the exciting new features in iOS 26.4.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.

Apple is planning a major shift for Siri in iOS 27, opening the voice assistant up to multiple third-party AI services, not just ChatGPT, according to a report published Thursday.

If true, this means iPhone users will be able to route Siri requests to different AI models, such as Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude, depending on their preference.

Apple plans a top-to-bottom revamp of Siri in iOS 27 that turns the beleaguered voice assistant into an AI chatbot at the heart of iPhones, Macs and iPads, according to a new report.

Apple might even launch a standalone Siri app that, like competing apps from ChatGPT and Google Gemini, serves as a central hub for all the user’s interactions with the AI assistant.

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Apple once again delayed its long-awaited smart home hub with a display — casually known as the “HomePad” — until around September as the company continues struggling to get its revamped Siri voice assistant ready for prime time, according to a report Monday.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has a well-established habit of dropping subtle hints about where the company is headed. This time, the dropped breadcrumbs all point toward Visual Intelligence. And the impression they leave is of a company preparing to reshape how humans interact with the world around them.

For iOS 27, Apple reportedly has its priorities clear: deep AI integration and an under-the-hood cleanup for better performance and battery life. 

While iOS 26 was all about Liquid Glass design, it also came with a noticeable performance hit, especially on older iPhones. With iOS 27, Apple appears ready to make amends.

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: If you’ve been waiting with bated breath for Apple to finally deliver on its promise of a smarter Siri, it’s time to exhale. Then take a deep breath of disappointment.

Dashing our hopes, it sounds like Apple is delaying Siri’s AI-powered upgrade again! What does it mean? And will Apple ever get its Siri together? We discuss the latest rumors and ponder whether the delay might actually be a good thing.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• The smarter Siri isn’t the only AI-powered project sucking wind at Apple. Cupertino reportedly pulled the plug on the AI health coach it had been working on.
• A new rumor gives us a launch date for the high-end M5 MacBook Pros we’ve been waiting for.
• Next-gen AirPods Pro reportedly will pack built-in cameras. But what will they actually do?
• And finally, we discuss a multi-Mac setup with the most bizarre keyboard we’ve ever seen.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Amid reports that Apple might further delay the release of its AI-powered Siri, the company says it remains on track to launch the smarter voice assistant this year. That’s the same stance Apple maintained previously.

Multiple rumors suggested Apple would debut the smarter Siri with iOS 26.4 this spring. But a recent report suggests that won’t happen.

iOS 26.4 could turn out to be a dud. The long-delayed artificial intelligence enhancements for Apple’s Siri digital assistant that had been eagerly expected to launch in the next iPhone software update are reportedly not anywhere close to being ready.

The new capabilities, originally slated for a spring release, are now being spread across multiple future updates as engineers work to resolve persistent technical issues, according to sources familiar with the company’s internal plans.

When Apple entered the artificial intelligence race, the company faced a fundamental challenge: how to deliver powerful AI capabilities while maintaining its long-standing commitment to user privacy. The result is Apple Intelligence, a system designed around a simple but revolutionary premise — your personal data should work for you without leaving your control. Basically, that’s how privacy shapes Apple Intelligence features on “the edge,” meaning the furthest reaches of a computer network, where user devices dwell. 

Apple might be slow to jump on the AI bandwagon, but internally, the company “runs on Anthropic at this point.” Apparently, the company was also ready to rebuild Siri around Claude, but the deal fell through at the last moment. 
“Anthropic is powering a lot of the stuff Apple’s doing internally in terms of product development and a lot of their internal tools,” revealed Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in the TBPN’s Technology’s daily show. 

Apple just paid $2 billion for Q.ai, an AI company with technology that could dramatically enhance the Siri voice assistant. It’s a stealth-mode Israeli artificial intelligence startup that develops advanced technologies to improve human/computer communication beyond basic speech recognition.
It’s the second largest acquisition in Apple history.

On the latest Cult of Mac podcast: Details emerge about Apple’s work on an AI pin, and we’re all wondering the same thing. What the heck will it do?

The AirTag-size device that Apple’s testing reportedly packs multiple cameras and microphones. And it will work with the new, chatbot-style Siri that’s also in the works.

We all saw how miserably Humane’s Ai Pin failed. What could possibly go wrong with Apple’s AI pin?

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• We might get our first look at (and first earful of) the new, super-chatty Siri at WWDC26 in June. Please, for the love of all that’s holy, let’s hope it works (and that it ships in a timely fashion).
• Uh-oh. It looks like price hikes for iPhones and Macs might be in the works. Who can you blame? AI, of course.
• Griffin walks us through the benefits of using Hot Corners on your Mac, including some masterful techniques that simplify his workflow.
• And we wrap up the show with a look at some cool setups that show the importance of lighting.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Apple could take the wraps off the Google Gemini-powered Siri update as early as the second half of February. It’s unclear if Apple will hold a major event or a small media briefing to unveil the next-gen assistant.

The public release likely will happen in late March or early April with iOS 26.4.

Forget the old, nearly useless Siri — Apple reportedly plans to upgrade the iPhone’s voice assistant into an AI-powered chatbot with iOS 27. Users will supposedly be able to converse with the new Siri, not just give it orders.

If true, this will let Apple compete directly against Android and Windows computers with built-in AI chatbots.

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: It’s finally official — Siri is getting a long-awaited AI brain transplant, courtesy of Google Gemini.

We discuss the pros and cons of the deal, but more importantly, we express our sincere hope that Siri will actually work in the future.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• The soon-to-launch Apple Creator Studio software bundle seems like an unbelievable deal — especially if you’re a student or teacher.
• OpenAI’s first piece of Jony Ive-designed hardware sounds like a legit head-scratcher. Can it really compete with AirPods? It’s anybody’s guess, but we’re not big fans of betting against the former Apple design god. Lots of unanswered questions remain, but hey, at least now we know what an egg stone is!
• And finally, Griffin wraps up the show with a hands-on demo of a 3D-printed mockup of the rumored folding iPhone. If the leaked specs prove true, this device is going to be a strange one. We’ve got plenty of questions (and not a few concerns).

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video stream, embedded below.

The fact that Google Gemini will power the revamped Siri is drawing criticism from people convinced that Apple should have developed its own AI in-house to bring the voice assistant up to speed.

Some of the critics seem to think Apple always made its own software before now. Therefore they regard the deal with Google as a major policy shift — and a sign of weakness that would horrify Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

No. Just … no. These critics will be shocked to learn that many Apple products are built on top of tech developed outside the company … and often, it was Steve Jobs who did it!

With Google’s Gemini AI working behind the scenes, the next-gen Siri will finally be able to deliver on some of Apple’s promises. The updated voice assistant will be able to answer questions it can’t currently handle, perform everyday tasks like booking travel, and even dabble in the dicey arena of providing emotional support to people during difficult moments.

A new report from The Information sheds additional light on how Apple will use Gemini to improve Siri.

Google’s Gemini AI is set to power the long-promised overhaul of Apple’s Siri voice assistant, turning months of speculation into confirmation after Apple made the partnership official in a statement released Monday.

Apple worked for years on its own large language models to provide Siri with a much-needed intelligence boost. But in the end, Cupertino had to outsource the AI technology to Google, another tech giant with which it both competes and cooperates.

The new Aqara Smart Lock U400 deadbolt uses ultra-wideband technology to unlock your door automatically as you approach, the company said at CES 2026 on Tuesday. No tapping or fumbling with your phone required. It makes Home Key use via iPhone or Apple Watch even more convenient.

“We are excited to be among the first manufacturers to deliver UWB technology in home locks to consumers,” said Cathy You, Aqara’s senior vice president of global business and strategy. “With the U400 lock, we’re redefining how consumers engage with their access control systems, providing instant, automated access without compromising privacy.”

A leaked iOS 26 internal build reveals several new features Apple plans to introduce in iOS 26.4. These include credit card autofill support for third-party apps, folders in whiteboarding app Freeform, and a Sports tier in Apple TV.

The company will supposedly also introduce additional security measures with the update.