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Apple WWDC Impressions - Siri AI is....Interesting. They can't harm you, if they can't find you! Use code BOSS at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/boss
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00:00Apple has just wrapped up possibly the most important WWDC they've ever had.
00:04It's Tim Cook's last dance before stepping down as CEO, so we got our final...
00:08Good morning!
00:09And even more importantly, after two years of Apple convincing us that their phones are about to become supercharged with
00:15AI,
00:15and then a $250 million lawsuit for under-delivering,
00:19today was the event where they had to prove that actually Apple Intelligence and their next-gen Siri,
00:25called Siri AI, is the real deal.
00:27And they've definitely got the design right.
00:29It all looks beautiful.
00:30But there's also some question marks around functionality,
00:33and a couple of bits that just felt straight-up tone-deaf to me.
00:36We'll get to that.
00:37So, given the absolutely enormous stakes of this event,
00:40I found it pretty hilarious that Apple kicked things off by talking about the corner radius on their windows within
00:46your Mac.
00:47Every window on macOS now has the same tighter corner radius.
00:50Finally, they answered my prayers!
00:52The big picture, though, aside from all the AI stuff, is this year's software is all about optimization across all
00:58of their products.
00:59Seems like Apple realized, after a year of squinting at their icons, that the transparency of liquid glass was probably
01:06set a bit high by default, so they've toned it down.
01:08And since no one seems to agree on what the correct amount of transparency actually is, they've gone,
01:13fine, we'll do it yourselves, and given us a slider.
01:16So, depending on how brave you're feeling, you can decide to either dial it up from there or down.
01:21This is very clearly the year of Apple fixing their back-end.
01:24They do this every now and again, and these are often the less exciting updates, but the ones that actually
01:29end up mattering more.
01:30Like, for example, they're saying that now, everything is just going to be faster.
01:35They threw out a whole load of numbers.
01:37Like, for example, iPhone apps now load up to 30% faster.
01:41After shooting photos, those photos appear in your gallery, up to 70% faster.
01:45Airdrops are up to 80% faster.
01:47And because your devices are also about to get much better at properly indexing files, you'll also be able to
01:52search through them quicker.
01:53Bear in mind those up tos, though.
01:55Nothing they've announced is actually going to feel as transformative as they're making it sound.
01:59But I do like the idea of things getting faster.
02:02There are also a ton of other smaller changes.
02:04You could just pause here if you fancy a very long read.
02:07And then, just before the big new Apple Intelligence and Siri,
02:10Apple took a surprise segue into child protection features,
02:14which I now have extra reason to care about now.
02:17The idea is really to give parents complete control over what their kids can see and do.
02:22So anytime your kid wants to download a new app, you get a ping.
02:25You can see it and you can decide to approve it.
02:27Anytime they visit a new website for the first time or even talk to a new contact,
02:31you can see it and approve it.
02:33Which I guess is kind of a double-edged blade.
02:35Because it's got the safety benefits, making sure that they're not talking to people they shouldn't be.
02:39But also partly just the overstimulation stuff.
02:42It means that you can start your kids off with just a tiny number of apps when they're young
02:46and then let them unlock more as they get older.
02:48Or you can just let them use school-related apps during the school day
02:52and then schedule the entertainment apps to only unlock in the evening.
02:56Now whether or not this is in response to governments demanding better child protection,
03:00or just Apple seeing the massive potential upside in getting kids locked into their ecosystem
03:05before they're old enough to even make a choice,
03:07these are really good features that, it's kind of sad to say,
03:10but they're needed now, given how capable and open the tech has become.
03:15But now it's time to address the elephant.
03:17Siri AI.
03:18They opened this whole thing up by saying,
03:20We know there are times when you expect more from Siri.
03:23Yeah, I think that's quite the understatement.
03:26The first time Apple announced a new Siri in 2024 with this brand new Disco Lights animation,
03:31which ended up as the main feature,
03:33Siri was so half-baked that if you bought an iPhone because of it,
03:38Apple literally owes you up to $95.
03:41So I'm relieved to say that the new Siri AI is a huge jump.
03:46So it's got a fresh look.
03:48It's got this subtler, toned-down, more liquid-glassy aesthetic.
03:52Potentially a little personality-less, but premium for sure.
03:55And it now lives inside your dynamic island.
03:58So in terms of capability, this is not breaking any new ground.
04:03It's not a secret that Apple's paying Google a billion dollars a year to use Gemini as its foundation.
04:09So it's not a surprise that pretty much everything this new Siri can do
04:13is something we've already seen Gemini do.
04:16But that still makes it a mahusive leap over the old Siri.
04:19So they gave a bunch of real-time examples in their keynote,
04:22like how you can have continued conversations with it.
04:25You can ask when a band is performing, and then ask how you can get tickets.
04:28They showed how Siri now has screen awareness,
04:31so you can just be looking at a photo and then ask,
04:33where is this exactly, without needing to spell out what you're looking at.
04:37It has personal context.
04:39So Siri has access to all your past messages, your photos,
04:42and because your files are now indexed more thoroughly,
04:45they're saying that Siri is really good at pulling those things up
04:48at just the right times when you ask Siri about things related to them.
04:52Bear in mind though, this isn't a live event.
04:55So while they are showing what appear to be real-time examples,
04:58how many times did they test those real-time examples
05:01till they worked out just perfectly?
05:03I would guess more than once.
05:05Here's the good news though.
05:06While the capability of Siri AI is, I would say, not surprising,
05:10I think the implementation kind of is.
05:13Best moment of the entire keynote was watching this guy
05:16having a full-on eargasm listening to Siri's improved voice quality.
05:20Why has no one told me?
05:21I'm telling you, man, I've been changed.
05:23Clear the fridge.
05:25No, clear all the fridges.
05:28On it, Jaws.
05:30Which is also actually configurable now.
05:32This is a seriously cool user interface
05:34to be able to change the pace and expressivity of your assistant
05:38to your exact preferences.
05:40I love how they've made this software actually feel like part of the hardware.
05:45The way that all of these Siri pop-ups blend seamlessly
05:47into the physical camera cutout you have on your phone.
05:50Put it this way, I can't think of an assistant
05:52that looks as smoothly integrated as this.
05:55And I guess with all the time that Apple saved
05:57not having to worry about what it does,
05:59because that's kind of Google's problem now,
06:01they've instead spent it optimizing
06:03how to make it as intuitive as possible.
06:06It just makes sense how Siri lives at the top
06:08and then you pull down to talk to it
06:10and then pull down again
06:11to just fluidly enter the new dedicated Siri app.
06:15This is where you can full screen your current conversation,
06:17but also where the rest of your chats are stored
06:19and synced across all of your other Apple devices.
06:22But maybe the highlight of this entire section was shortcuts.
06:25You can now use your natural voice
06:27to describe a shortcut that you want to create.
06:30The example they gave was,
06:31let my partner know automatically every time I leave work
06:34and give them an ETA based on real-time map data.
06:38And that's it.
06:39All of the clunkiness and complexity
06:41of actually having to build the shortcut yourself is gone,
06:44which is such a good use of AI
06:46because it takes one of the best possible features
06:49of the iPhone
06:50and changes it from something
06:51that 10% of people at most will even dare to fiddle with
06:55to all of a sudden something
06:56that my grandma would happily use.
06:58Now, as part of this overhaul,
06:59Apple's also upgraded that weird visual intelligence feature
07:03that I'm sure all of you used
07:05because now it's powered by the new Siri AI
07:08and integrated into the camera app itself.
07:11There's some good ideas here.
07:13Like you can scan a plate to food
07:14to get nutritional insights
07:16or scan a bill
07:17and then your phone can automatically split that bill up
07:20and send people money requests using Apple Cash.
07:23Way to make your Android friends feel even more out of it.
07:26I like the integration.
07:26It makes sense to fuse visual intelligence
07:29with the camera app that everyone's already using.
07:31And it's great that each scan you do
07:33automatically saves to your Siri app
07:35so that you can come back to it.
07:37But whether or not I actually use this
07:38is going to rest entirely on how reliable it is.
07:42Like if I'm on holiday
07:43and I'm trying to translate the ingredients
07:45on a trail mix to check if it contains peanuts,
07:47which I am deathly allergic to,
07:49I'm not going to use this over Google Lens
07:52just because it has prettier animations.
07:54It's all about the result.
07:56Now, bear in mind,
07:57this whole upgraded Siri AI,
07:59it's not just a phone thing.
08:00It's coming to all Apple product lines.
08:03So the Apple Watch gets it,
08:04which is really useful
08:05because that's an even faster way
08:06to get to it than the phone.
08:08The Vision Pro gets it
08:09in the form of this floating 3D blob,
08:11which you can just look at and start speaking.
08:14And what I thought was pretty impressive
08:15is that it can understand
08:16not just the Safari tabs
08:18and the windows that you have open,
08:20but also the real objects
08:21in the real room in front of you
08:23at the same time.
08:24And the Mac gets it.
08:25But to me, at least,
08:26that's the least useful one.
08:28They showed a bunch of things
08:29that you can do with this new Siri,
08:31like how it's integrated
08:32into the Mac's normal spotlight search,
08:34how you can highlight files
08:35and then ask Siri questions about them.
08:37Like, can you compare the contents of them?
08:40Or how you can highlight text
08:41or even images
08:42and it can extract the data from them
08:44to add to your calendar really quickly.
08:47But honestly,
08:47nothing they showed for the Mac
08:49really excited me.
08:50I think the difference is,
08:51unlike an Apple Watch,
08:52when I'm on my Mac,
08:53I already have access
08:55to all of the best tools that exist.
08:57And in that environment,
08:58I can't imagine using a lot of Siri,
09:00which feels caught up
09:02to some of the competition,
09:03but certainly not a bleeding edge tool.
09:06And then finally for this event,
09:07Apple introduced the next generation
09:09of Apple Intelligence.
09:11I feel like this contained
09:12both the highlights of the entire event,
09:14as well as the low points.
09:16So Safari can now automatically
09:18organize your tabs into topics
09:19based on what it sees,
09:20which is an interesting idea,
09:22but personally to me,
09:23looks just as confusing to navigate
09:25as leaving it as is
09:26and having a ton of tabs.
09:28But being able to describe
09:29an extension to Safari
09:31and just let it build it,
09:33that's cool.
09:34Like for example,
09:35a tool that lets you save recipes easily.
09:37Your iPhone can now automatically
09:39upgrade your weak passwords.
09:42And that's wild.
09:43Because that's not your phone
09:44just telling you they're weak.
09:45It's essentially your phone
09:46logging into these sites
09:48on your behalf,
09:49deciding what that password should be,
09:51and then executing that entire process.
09:53It also strikes me as an extremely good way
09:55of locking people further into Apple.
09:58Like what's my password for Spotify?
10:00I have no idea.
10:02But my iPhone knows.
10:03Apple's now got a very similar feature
10:05to Google's Magic Q,
10:07where the AI is kind of trying to
10:09anticipate your needs.
10:10So if someone messages you
10:11about your recent trip together,
10:13it can pull up all the photos
10:15related to that trip.
10:16Or if someone emails
10:17about an upcoming dinner reservation,
10:19you can get this little option
10:20to add it immediately to your calendar.
10:22If you're on a phone call
10:22to say an airline,
10:24your phone can retrieve
10:25any relevant confirmation codes
10:27from your mail app.
10:28And I do trust that Apple
10:29is going to integrate this seamlessly.
10:31But what isn't as clear
10:33is if it's all then going to fall apart
10:35if you use Gmail or Google Calendar.
10:38One of the standouts
10:39was in the Apple Home app.
10:41They're saying that
10:41if you use a compatible
10:43home security camera,
10:44then your phone can use
10:45its new AI to scan through
10:47the live feeds
10:47and summarize all the notable events
10:50while breaking up the clips
10:51into separated segments.
10:53There's a couple of instances
10:54where this feature alone
10:55would have saved me hours.
10:57And possibly the most important announcement
10:59of the entire event,
11:01a major boost in accuracy
11:03of spelling, punctuation, and dictation.
11:06So Apple's saying that
11:06anything you now type
11:08or speak into your Apple devices
11:10when they get the new updates
11:11will be a lot more accurate.
11:13This is a billion times more useful
11:15than like AI features
11:16that try to write for you.
11:18I just want to write like me,
11:19but correct.
11:21It means Siri's going to better understand you.
11:23Your reminders will actually
11:25pick up what you mean.
11:26You can actually send
11:28intelligible messages
11:28when hands-free on CarPlay.
11:31But then they showed the new
11:32image editing tools
11:33and it just got very uncomfortable.
11:36So Image Playground
11:37got a big update too.
11:38You know,
11:39that image generation tool
11:40that everyone used all the time
11:41to make...
11:42to make...
11:44I don't really know,
11:45to be honest.
11:46But it generates slop
11:46in higher quality now.
11:48They gave an example
11:48of how you can now
11:49use someone's face
11:50to make an invite for an event.
11:52But I was just so surprised
11:53for a company
11:54that's usually so deliberate
11:56that no one questioned
11:57how horrifying and soulless
12:00this end result was.
12:01Apple Intelligence can generate
12:02contact posters
12:03and lock screen wallpapers,
12:05but it still has that
12:06mid-tier AI,
12:08creepy,
12:09not quite photorealistic
12:10feel to it.
12:11They've updated
12:11the photo cleanup
12:12to be able to better
12:14scrub out photobombers
12:15from your images
12:16and I will not
12:17complain about that.
12:18I mean,
12:18for the last two years,
12:20ironically for a feature
12:21called Cleanup,
12:22it sure has been
12:23quite the mess.
12:24There's an extend tool
12:25so you can expand images
12:27beyond their original frame
12:28and it'll use AI
12:30to fill in the blanks
12:31and even spatial reframing
12:33where using AI
12:34you can touch
12:35and drag an image
12:36to change the angle
12:38that the photo
12:38was taken from.
12:40And on one hand,
12:41this was absolutely
12:41an impressive tech demo
12:43of what's possible,
12:44but on the other hand,
12:45I just kind of hate
12:46this whole idea of
12:47you've already got
12:48a perfectly fine photo there
12:49of your two real children.
12:52Why would you turn that
12:53into a fake AI image
12:54that never happened
12:55just to make the angle
12:57more aesthetic?
12:58Overall,
12:59I feel like Apple's AI
13:00has gone from
13:00very behind
13:01to good enough.
13:03This isn't class leading,
13:04but it will feel like
13:06a big jump
13:06in your experience
13:07if all you use
13:08is Apple products
13:09and you were happy
13:10before anyway.
13:11There's just a couple
13:12of important caveats.
13:14First,
13:14that while it's great
13:15that they're updating
13:16even phones as old
13:17as the iPhone 11
13:18to the new iOS 27,
13:19they're also saying
13:20that the most powerful
13:21version of Siri
13:22that they showed us
13:23and that's kind of
13:24the main upgrade
13:25they talked about,
13:25that's only coming
13:27to the very latest products.
13:28So for iPhone,
13:29that's literally
13:30only the Air
13:31and the 17 Pros,
13:33not even the base
13:34iPhone 17.
13:35And with the iPad and Macs,
13:36you get a little more leeway,
13:38but not a lot.
13:39And then also the fact
13:40that Apple's being
13:41a bit cagey here
13:41about what you actually
13:43get for free.
13:44They've said
13:44that some Apple
13:45intelligence features,
13:46including image generation,
13:47have daily usage limits
13:49because they rely
13:50on powerful server models.
13:51Increased access
13:52is available
13:52with most iCloud Plus
13:54subscription plans.
13:55Feels a bit like
13:56trying to sweep
13:56the biggest question mark
13:57people have under the rug
13:59as if it's some sort
14:00of footnote,
14:00but time will tell.
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