Many readers are now enjoying some of the quirkier responses coming from Siri, Apple's intelligent assistant built into the iPhone 4S. The Wall Street Journal spoke with one of the co-founders of the original Siri and how they approached instilling Siri with personality:
"There were many conversations within the team about whether it should be gender neutral" or "should have an 'attitude,' " said Mr. Winarsky, who didn't go to Apple, and still works at SRI. The result, before the software was bought by Apple, was "occasionally a light attitude," he said.
According to a different person who actually worked at Apple on the Siri project, Apple focused on keeping Siri's personality "friendly and humble -- but also with an edge". According to their source, they were thinking "How would we want a person to respond?" while developing the software.
The Siri group is said to be one of the largest software teams at Apple and the crafted responses are to try to forge an emotional tie to customers. MacRumors forum readers are posting their favorite responses in this discussion thread.
Siri launched as an exclusive feature for the iPhone 4S and allows users to speak questions and requests directly to their iPhone.
Tuesday January 6, 2026 3:04 am PST by Tim Hardwick
CES 2026 has just provided a first glimpse of the folding display technology that Apple is expected to use in its upcoming foldable iPhone. At the event, Samsung Display briefly showcased its new crease-less foldable OLED panel beside a Galaxy Z Fold 7, and according to SamMobile, which saw the test booth before it was abruptly removed, the new panel "has no crease at all" in comparison.
The ...
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle.
Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
Wednesday January 7, 2026 12:57 pm PST by Eric Slivka
JPMorgan Chase has reached a deal to take over operation of the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. Barring any "last minute hiccups," the deal should be announced shortly after over a year of negotiations.
Reports began circulating over two years ago that current Apple Card issuer Goldman Sachs was looking to end its partnership with Apple as part of an effort to scale back on...
Monday January 5, 2026 11:28 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple has designed a limited edition version of the AirPods Pro 3 to celebrate Lunar New Year, and customers in select countries can purchase them starting today. The Year of the Horse Special Edition AirPods Pro 3 feature a unique horse emoji character that's otherwise unavailable.
Customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore are able to buy the AirPods, and they'll be...
Wednesday January 7, 2026 5:27 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Logitech users on macOS found themselves locked out of their mouse customizations yesterday after the company let a security certificate expire, breaking both its Logi Options+ and G HUB configuration apps.
Logitech devices like its MX Master series mice and MX Keys keyboards stopped working properly as a result of the oversight, with users unable to access their custom scrolling setup,...
Wednesday January 7, 2026 11:27 am PST by Eric Slivka
OpenAI today announced the launch of ChatGPT Health, a dedicated section of ChatGPT where users can ask health-related questions completely separated from their main ChatGPT experience.
For more personalized responses, users can connect various health data services such as Apple Health, Function, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, AllTrails, Instacart, and Peloton. Last month, MacRumors discovere...
With the release of iPadOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2, Apple has improved the Wi-Fi speeds for select Macs and iPads that support Wi-Fi 6E. Updated Wi-Fi connectivity specifications are listed in Apple's platform deployment guide.
The M4 iPad Pro models, M3 iPad Air models, A17 Pro iPad mini, M2 to M5 MacBook Pro models, M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models, and other Wi-Fi 6E Macs and iPads now ...
Anker announced a new series of products at CES this week, and most of them will begin rolling out to customers later in January. A few of these devices, including the Nano Docking Station and 45W Nano Charger, have pre-order discounts on Anker's website, and we're also tracking big discounts in Anker's New Year's sale.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
I have been really impressed with Siri. Last night Siri blew me away when I said "Add oatmeal to my groceries note". I felt certain Siri wouldn't have any idea what I meant. A second later Siri says okay and pops up my already existing grocery list in notes and adds Oatmeal on a new line at the end of the list ... I was stunned.
Yes, but it's not what they use to contact the ship. That would be a communicator (TOS) or combadge (TNG). Tricorders are used to scan things.
Yeah, but tricorders don't have "airplane mode" either. It was a joke. If siri said "your communicator is in airplane mode" that would be way too generic a tech term and some people would actually get confused and think siri was actually telling them an error message. When you're making a joke for *extremely* broad audiences in a technical context then you have to make sure that your joke can't possibly be misinterpreted.
