Jin Daily Tech Trivia: What Apple Didn’t Tell You at WWDC 2026
Apple finally delivered what it promised back at WWDC 2024: An actual working AI-powered Siri.
And this time, it worked live on a real device, instead of another CG demo from 2024.
Yes, it is 2 years late. Yes, Apple reportedly paid Google $1 billion to use the Gemini model. But hey, it works now. And it seems to work pretty well, while still keeping privacy in mind.
#The_Big_Picture
One interesting thing to notice:
Apple no longer really separates iOS and macOS when talking about new features. Everything now works seamlessly across devices.(Intel chips support gone too)
#The_Real_AI_Gap_Is_Mac
The real gap is not just on the iPhone. It is on the Mac.
On phones, the new Siri may not feel that shocking compared with what Google Pixel and other china AI phones are already doing.
But once Apple brings the same agentic Siri AI to macOS, it becomes a much bigger threat to Windows PCs.
Windows 11 AI still feels fragmented and we got sloppy OEMs like ASUS/Lenovo build their own extra layer on top.
Since the whole Mac lineup is now on Apple Silicon, Apple can push the same AI experience across iPhone, iPad, and Mac seamlessly. And it work so damn well.
#Optimization
30% UI/UX performance improvement, with support all the way back to iPhone 11
70-80% improvement in Spotlight search and AirDrop transfer speed
More UI fixes and customization options for Liquid Glass
AirPods now support Custom EQ
Apple Notes finally supports Markdown import and export
Apple Alarm now supports a holiday snooze feature
#Trust_And_Safety
Full suite of parental controls and Screen Time features
#Siri_AI
Only 12GB RAM models support the most powerful AI model, which mainly about the custom Siri voice adjustment and updated system-wide dictation (auto formatting)
Older models will still get most of the new Siri features
Siri AI now has a standalone app where you can browse Siri history across devices
Siri AI is agentic, meaning it can control your phone/mac and use your data as context to perform tasks automatically
Safari now supports AI-powered tab arrangement, and you can generate custom extensions using AI
Safari also supports a notification feature where you can ask Siri AI to monitor a website for changes and notify you (camp for concert tix!!)
Password Manager now can access compromised-password websites and update your passwords securely
Photos now has better object removal, image expansion, and spatial reframing
#Developer_Updates
Developers get free access to Apple’s on-device foundation model
Developers can add App Intents to their apps, allowing Siri AI to deep link into their third-party apps and access app features or data
Small developers with fewer than 2 million downloads can use Private Cloud Compute for free, with no cloud API cost
AI features will not be available in Europe or China at launch
The features only support English for now, with more languages coming later
