“Today, Apple appears to be less than a month away from unveiling the results of this partnership. The company has been planning an announcement of the new Siri in the second half of February, when it will give demonstrations of the functionality.”
“Whether that takes the form of a major event or a smaller, tightly controlled briefing — perhaps at Apple’s New York media loft — remains unclear. Either way, Apple is just weeks away from finally delivering on the Siri promises made at its Worldwide Developers Conference back in June 2024. At long last, the assistant should be able to tap into personal data and on-screen content to fulfill tasks.”
“To introduce those features in iOS 26.4 — scheduled to enter beta testing next month and roll out publicly in March or early April — Apple needed Gemini. Internally, the company has labeled the technology Apple Foundation Models version 10, making it seem entirely homegrown. It runs at roughly 1.2 trillion parameters — a measure of AI complexity — and is hosted on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers.”
“But that’s only the first phase. As I reported last week, Apple plans to unveil a fully reimagined Siri at this year’s WWDC. Code-named Campos, the new system is a fresh architecture and interface designed from the ground up for the chatbot era. It will debut in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, which arrive in beta form this summer.”
“This Siri will be conversational, aware of relevant context and capable of sustained back-and-forth dialogue. Essentially, it matches what users already expect from ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Corp.’s Copilot. It, too, will rely on Gemini, but a far more advanced version internally known as Apple Foundation Models version 11. The model is expected to be competitive with Gemini 3 and significantly more capable than one supporting the iOS 26.4 Siri.”
“To improve accuracy and responsiveness, the two companies are discussing running this version of Siri directly on Google’s cloud infrastructure and its high-powered tensor processing units, or TPUs, rather than Apple’s own servers.”
“The shift to Gemini represents a fundamental reset of Apple’s AI strategy under Federighi, who effectively assumed control of the company’s AI direction early last year — around the time I reported that Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook had lost confidence in Giannandrea. Federighi concluded that, at least for now, Apple would be better served partnering with Google than relying solely on its internal models. It wasn’t an ideal outcome, but it was the only viable one.”
“One major 2026 priority had been a fully revamped Safari browser built for the AI era, designed to counter new offerings from Perplexity and OpenAI. Planned features included assessing the trustworthiness of documents and data, and cross-referencing information across multiple sources.”
“Some of the Safari work is now paused, though there’s still time before WWDC in June for a revival. The company’s ambitious World Knowledge Answers project — a direct competitor to ChatGPT and Perplexity that’s based on internal models — has been scaled back as well. Giannandrea-era technologies have been replaced by Gemini in the upcoming Siri updates.”
Apple of course plans on AI embedded bottoms up across is applications used by billions across its various hardware and software platforms:
“Apple had also envisioned standalone chatbot-style experiences embedded in apps such as Safari, TV, Health, Music and Podcasts. And it’s been developing an AI-driven overhaul of the Calendar app.”
“But much is now in flux. The company has returned to the drawing board on Health-related AI features and now plans to integrate the new Siri deeply across its core apps — rather than delivering a patchwork of separate chatbots.”
“The personnel at Apple’s AI models teams remains in place — for now. But talent continues to drain from the group, as engineers depart for higher pay and more stable environments elsewhere.”
“Apple came close to acquiring an external model developer a few months ago to bolster its ranks, but the deal collapsed late in the process. With Federighi and Apple now increasingly reliant on third-party models — and focused more on user interfaces and implementation — that setback may not matter, at least in the near term.”
“The company’s AI research organization, which concentrates on longer-term technologies and academic papers, also still exists. Yet it, too, has recently lost talent as the strategic direction becomes clearer. The bigger question is whether Apple ever returns to prioritizing its own large-scale AI models or sticks with partners for the foreseeable future. The latter approach means effectively treating AI models as a commodity, akin to storage, rather than as a core capability like modems or processors.”
“For now, the models running directly on Apple’s devices will continue to be developed in-house. But the company increasingly views the more powerful cloud-based models — those that will underpin the future of Siri — as the real priority. To that end, Apple plans to deploy higher-performance, in-house servers next year to support those efforts.”
“Apple’s next slate of Mac laptops and desktops is ready to go. There are a lot of updated Macs coming in 2026, bringing major new features, designs and sales strategies. The lineup will include MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs; a revamped MacBook Pro with an OLED screen and touch support; a Mac mini and Mac Studio; an entirely new low-cost MacBook running an iPhone-grade chip; and even the first update to the Apple Studio Display in several years. The flurry of releases should make 2026 the most exciting year for Apple’s computer line in quite a while.”
“We’re going to see things kicking off here in the not-too-distant future. Versions of the MacBook Pros, MacBook Air and Mac Studio with bumped-up specifications — as well as the new display — are planned for the first half of the year. The revamped MacBook Pro should be hitting toward the end of 2026.”
“One wrinkle: I think the M6 chip is potentially coming sooner than people anticipate. Not necessarily in these next laptops, but still in the near future in some configurations. Apple released the M5 processor in October in three devices. Though it might seem soon for an M6, there was only a five-month gap between the M3 and M4.”
Some dates to mark on the calendar:
“Jan. 29 — Apple’s Q1 earnings report. Believe it or not, it’s already time for Apple’s holiday quarter earnings report later this week — and it’s sure to be a blockbuster. The company has given estimates that suggest revenue will at least approach $140 billion in the period, a record level. Strong sales of the well-received iPhone 17 Pro line and other new products, like the AirPods Pro 3, have helped fuel the gains. But investors will want to see that Apple is making improvements in China, a shaky market of late.”
“Feb. 24 — Apple’s 2026 shareholder meeting. The annual meeting is taking place next month, giving further insights into the state of the company. We’ll probably get an update from CEO Tim Cook, but there’s unlikely to be much in the way of fireworks. Shareholders generally approve the board slate and compensation plans without issue. One milestone: It should be the last shareholder event to be led by General Counsel Kate Adams, who’s stepping down from that role in March. Meta Platforms Inc. veteran Jennifer Newstead is poised to take the job.”
The whole piece is worth a full read for more background on how all his came to pass.
But the Apple aircraft carrier under CEO Tim Cook, is turning into this AI Tech Wave for AI optimized opportunities. With the coming weeks and months full of AI initiatives just like Apple’s big tech peers.
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