MacRumors

Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines this week, adding stricter language around low-quality apps.

The 4.3 Spam rule already barred overly simple apps in saturated categories, but Apple now includes language saying low-effort apps could be pulled from the App Store. Apps in oversaturated categories that are not updated, improved, or do not attract customers may be removed, according to Apple.

App Guideline 4.3(b) New Language:

Don't submit apps that are indistinguishable from what's already widely available. Opportunistically creating variants of existing app categories or popular apps degrades App Store discovery, reduces overall app quality, and harms both users and developers. Certain kinds of apps, such as dating, flashlight, sound effects, wallpaper, simple timers, and fortune telling, are well established on the App Store and we will not accept new submissions unless they offer a meaningfully different or improved experience. We may remove these apps from the App Store going forward if they are not updated, improved, or do not attract customers. Other kinds of apps, such as drinking games, Kama Sutra, fart, and burp apps, are mediocre, low-quality, or low-effort and do not add value to the App Store. Repeated submissions of this kind may lead to removal from the Apple Developer Program.

App Guideline 4.3(b) Old Language:

Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, fortune telling, dating, drinking games, and Kama Sutra apps, etc. already. We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Apple Developer Program.

Apple says it won't approve dating, flashlight, sound effect, wallpaper, simple timer, and fortune telling apps unless they are meaningfully different from existing apps. Apple says fart, burp, Kama Sutra, and drinking game apps are "mediocre, low-quality, or low-effort" and add no value to the ‌App Store‌. Repeated app submissions of this type could lead to removal from the Developer Program.

Wording on spam apps is clearer than before, and it sounds like Apple will approve fewer apps in saturated categories and may even clean up some clutter apps that get no interest.

Apple also added new detail to its 1.2 rule on apps with user-generated content, which is a guideline that has seen Apple threaten to remove apps like Grok from the ‌App Store‌. Apple now makes it clear that app developers are responsible for removing content that violates ‌App Store‌ guidelines, such as pornographic content.

It is your responsibility to remove content that violates this guideline, your terms of service, or your community standards. If we find such content, we will ask you to remove it, and provide a plan to improve your compliance with this guideline. Based on your response, your app may be removed from the App Store until you can demonstrate improvements that bring your app into compliance. Egregious or repeated behavior is grounds for immediate removal of your app from the App Store, and from the Apple Developer Program.

Apps that do not have a compliance plan for addressing content violations could be removed from the ‌App Store‌.

Apple's final guideline change (4.5.3) bars app developers from using Live Activities to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages to customers.

The full ‌App Store‌ Review Guidelines are available on Apple's website.

Anthropic today announced the launch of Claude Fable 5, a Mythos-class model that it says is safe for general use.

According to Anthropic, Fable 5's capabilities exceed those of any model it has made generally available, and Fable has demonstrated "exceptional performance" for software engineering, knowledge work, vision, scientific research, and more. It outperforms Opus models on longer, more complex tasks. Fable 5 can work autonomously for longer than any prior Claude model.

Fable 5 is being released with conservative safeguards to prevent it from being misused in areas like cybersecurity. Questions about some topics will instead be answered by Opus 4.8, with safeguards expected to trigger in less than five percent of sessions on average. Most queries related to cybersecurity, chemistry, and biology will get responses from Opus 4.8 instead of Fable 5.

Anthropic is also releasing Claude Mythos 5 for a small group of cyberdefenders and infrastructure providers. It uses the same underlying model as Fable 5, but with some of the safeguards lifted. Mythos 5 is being deployed through Project Glasswing as an upgrade to the Claude Mythos Preview. Anthropic says Mythos 5 has the strongest cybersecurity capabilities of any model in the world, with access set to expand through a broader trusted access program.

Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are available at $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens, which is less than half the price of the Claude Mythos Preview. Mythos 5 is available to those who have access to the Mythos Preview, and that includes Apple. Apple is one of Anthropic's Project Glasswing partners.

Claude Fable 5 is included in Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise plans from today until June 22. On June 23, the model will be removed from those plans and using it will require usage credits. When Fable 5 capacity is sufficient, Anthropic plans to re-add it to subscription plans.

Messaging app Telegram now has a native Apple Watch app. The app supports viewing and responding to Telegram messages from the wrist.

Features like stickers, voice messages, and location information can be shared from the Apple Watch app.

Telegram had an Apple Watch app back in 2015, but it was discontinued and removed from the App Store a few years back. There have been third-party Telegram apps for the Apple Watch, but now Telegram users can once again use a first-party solution.

When Liquid Glass launched in macOS Tahoe, Apple faced criticism over how the design looked on the Mac. Some people felt that Liquid Glass in ‌macOS Tahoe‌ was an afterthought with little impact from the design update, while others had issues with contrast, readability, rounded corners, and design consistency. There were long complaint threads on the MacRumors forums and on Reddit, and some people refused to update.

Apple is making several changes to Liquid Glass and the overall macOS Golden Gate design, and while subtle, some of the changes could make Liquid Glass on Mac easier to digest.

Transparency and Diffusion

Apple added a full Liquid Glass slider under System Settings > Appearance. It changes the translucency of Liquid Glass elements, and users can choose a clear version of Liquid Glass that allows some of the background to show through, select a more opaque, tinted version that improves the legibility of text, or choose something in between.

Unfortunately, there is no ultra-clear version of Liquid Glass available with the slider. Even the setting that's as clear as possible does not match the original version of Liquid Glass that Apple showed off at WWDC 2025.

Apple changed the overall Liquid Glass opacity, and it now diffuses complex content more effectively. Apple says a darkened edge and brighter specular highlights establish more depth and separation for the UI.

Toolbars and Window Shapes

Apps have uniform toolbars to make text headings and groups of controls more legible. Windows also all have the same corner radius for more consistency between apps.

Corners of apps are not as dramatically rounded in ‌macOS Golden Gate‌, and the difference is noticeable.

It's easier to tell when a window is active because of the sidebar design, the opacity update, and changes to window shadows.

Sidebars

Sidebars are no longer floating and are instead edge-to-edge. It's a design that's less distracting and more uniform because there's no unnecessary sidebar shadowing that just takes up space.

Sidebar icons have color again, which is something Apple removed in ‌macOS Tahoe‌.

Icons

Apple didn't budge on requiring squircle Mac icons, but it did change icon design. Icons have more layers of Liquid Glass to improve detail and sharpness in light, dark, tinted, and clear icon modes.

Apple is also using icons for some menu bar items to make it easier to find commonly used actions.

HDR

Apple is using HDR for depth and dimension in the ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ interface.

Launch Date

‌macOS Golden Gate‌ also includes all of the new Siri AI features coming in iOS 27, along with performance improvements that make the Mac feel faster.

The update is limited to developers right now, but Apple plans to release a public beta in July. ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ will launch this fall.

Apple today released new beta firmware for the AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods Pro 3. The firmware is limited to developers at the current time, and it has a build number of 9A5292e.

In iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate, Apple is adding a new AirPods interface and support for custom EQ. AirPods are also compatible with the new Siri AI.

With iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe, Apple added a beta firmware update installation option that's available from the AirPods settings interface when the AirPods are connected to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, which facilitates beta testing.

Developers can use the beta option to turn on beta downloads.

iOS 27's key new feature is a more intelligent and personal version of Siri, but the changes go well beyond that. In a press release today, Apple outlined additional enhancements coming across Apple Maps, Find My, Apple Wallet, Apple Music, and more.

Apple Maps has gained an enhanced Flyover experience powered by AI, enabling you to view aerial imagery in "stunning detail" for select cities.

In the U.S., Apple Maps has also received a new Local Lists feature, which surfaces things such as trending restaurants and kid-friendly places to visit.

In the Find My app, you will have the ability to share your location with others for a custom duration, such as four days and six hours. Or, you can set a set an exact date and time for your location sharing to expire. In addition, you can now pause your location sharing with specific people until the end of the day.

On iOS 26 and earlier, there are only three preset timeframes available: indefinitely, until end of day, and one hour.

In the U.S., iOS 27 allows you to split bills with a new feature powered by Apple Cash and Apple Intelligence. This capability is available in the Messages and Apple Wallet apps, or by using the new Siri mode in the Camera app.

"When users point their iPhone at a receipt using Siri mode, it can surface the relevant action to split a bill with Apple Cash and identify the items on the receipt," said Apple. "As users select their items, their total payment is calculated, including their share of tax and tip, so they can pay back exactly what they owe with Apple Cash."

You can now create custom passes in Apple Wallet from physical cards, like loyalty or membership cards. With the Siri mode in the Camera app, you can simply point your iPhone at any physical card with a barcode and save it to Apple Wallet. Once added, passes are ready to present as a barcode or QR code right from the iPhone.

iOS 27 provides an enhanced Apple Wallet key experience for participating hotels and resorts. You can view more details about your trips, receive updates about booked activities, access services available during your stay, and more.

Apple Pay's checkout flow on the web and in apps is getting an updated design that allows you to swipe to switch payment cards. And if you have an eligible card in Apple Wallet, it will be accompanied by more information, including rewards balances, debit account balances, pay later options, and more.

As part of the Tap to Pay on iPhone feature, new Tap to Share functionality allows you to connect to a participating small business owner's iPhone and securely share shipping information, email addresses, loyalty rewards, and more.

In the Apple Podcasts app, there is a new "search within show" feature.

In the Photos app, iCloud Shared Albums now support cross-platform, full-resolution sharing, more file types, and more. Even people without an Apple device can now join and contribute photos to these shared albums on the web.

In the Apple Music app, Apple said the AutoMix feature has "even better transitions" that feel "more immersive and engaging for listeners." Introduced in iOS 26, AutoMix adds seamless, DJ-like transitions between songs.

Apple Music's Lyrics Translation feature is expanding to seven additional language pairings: English to French, English to German, English to Italian, English to Korean, English to Spanish, French to English, and Japanese to English.

A summary of the 12 new features:

• Apple Maps: Flyover gets AI-enhanced aerial imagery in select cities
• Apple Maps: Local Lists with trending restaurants and places
• Find My: When sharing your location, you can set a custom duration
• Find My: Pause your location sharing with select people until the end of the day
• Apple Wallet: Create custom passes from physical cards
• Apple Wallet: Enhanced digital keys with more info at participating hotels
• Apple Cash: Bill splitting feature powered by Apple Intelligence
• Apple Pay: A redesigned checkout flow on the web and in apps
• Tap to Share: Easily share your personal details with a small business owner's iPhone
• Apple Podcasts: Search within individual podcast episodes
• Photos: iCloud Shared Albums get cross-platform, full-resolution photo sharing
• Apple Music: AutoMix enhancements and more Lyrics Translation languages

Apple's press release provides more details about these features and a few others.

iOS 27 is currently available in developer beta, with a public beta to follow in July. The update is expected to be released in September.

Apple has added direct touch input to Sidecar with macOS 27 Golden Gate and iPadOS 27, allowing users to tap and interact with macOS interface elements using a finger on their iPad for the first time.

Previously, ‌Sidecar‌ was deliberately limited as a touch interface. While multi-touch gestures like two-finger scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and three-finger editing gestures for copy, cut, paste, and undo have been supported for years, directly tapping to click links, open apps, or interact with macOS UI elements was not possible with a finger. Those interactions required either the Mac's connected mouse or trackpad, or an Apple Pencil.

The new Direct Touch capability closes that gap. In macOS 27, users can can now tap, swipe, and interact with macOS apps on their ‌iPad‌ screen using a finger, bringing ‌Sidecar‌ closer to how third-party tools like Luna Display have worked for some time. ‌Apple Pencil‌ support continues alongside the new touch capabilities.

The expanded ‌Sidecar‌ functionality requires an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate and a compatible ‌iPad‌ running iPadOS 27. As with previous versions of the feature, both devices must be signed into the same Apple ID, connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and have Bluetooth enabled, with the two devices within 10 meters of each other.

The feature is likely another indication of impending touch support on the Mac, along with other features like pull-to-refresh. Apple is said to be planning to launch a "MacBook Ultra" as a new top-tier laptop with a touchscreen OLED display, an M6-series chip, the Dynamic Island, and a thinner design. Reports suggest that the device is scheduled to launch in early 2027.

Nomad today introduced two new products in its Stellar Orange colorway, expanding the number of accessories it offers in the unique shade. Stellar Orange matches the Cosmic Orange color that Apple used for the iPhone 17 Pro and ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max.

The Stellar Orange Stand One is a 2-in–1 charging stand that's priced at $135. It was previously available in silver and carbide, but it now comes in bright orange. It is a Qi2 charger that charges a MagSafe iPhone at up to 25W.

The upright charger supports charging an iPhone in portrait or landscape orientation for Stand By, and it has a quality glass and metal build. A second Qi charger at the bottom of the stand allows AirPods to be charged at 5W.

The stand charges over USB-C, and you'll need to supply a 40W or better power adapter, but it does come with a braided nylon USB-C cable. An anti-slip base keeps it in place, as does the weight of the charger.

Nomad's Stellar Orange Tracking Card Pro is $39, and it is made to slip into a wallet to add Find My tracking capabilities. It connects to the ‌Find My‌ network so it is locatable in the ‌Find My‌ app's Items tab, and it can use nearby Apple devices to report its location if lost or stolen.

The Tracking Card Pro can charge using any Qi or ‌MagSafe‌ charger, and the battery lasts for up to 16 months. It is 2.5mm thin, which makes it three times thinner than an AirTag and better suited for use in a wallet. It does not support Precision Finding because Apple doesn't make the iPhone's Ultra Wideband chip available to third-party trackers.

Nomad's $135 Stellar Orange Stand One and $39 Stellar Orange Tracking Card Pro are available from the Nomad website as of today.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner Nomad. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple's WWDC 2026 keynote may have seemed relatively quiet on the Vision Pro front, but the visionOS 27 beta contains a decent amount of new features and quality of life improvements that are likely to be welcomed by the headset's user base.

As you'd expect, visionOS 27 is getting the new Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features that Apple has brought to iOS 27 and macOS 27, but this time they feel more seamlessly integrated into the platform compared to previous efforts. For example, Vision Pro users can ask ‌Siri‌ about anything in their surroundings, and using Visual Intelligence, the assistant will see and interpret it in real time, identifying the content, answering questions about it, and providing contextual information to boot.

Interacting with Apple's ‌Siri‌ is achieved via a new 3D orb that users can place anywhere in their virtual space, and just looking at the widget is enough to start a conversation – no "Hey ‌Siri‌" needed. A new ‌Siri‌ app also makes it easier to revisit previous interactions and continue conversations.

Below is a summary of what else is new in visionOS 27:

• Panoramas as environments: Panorama photos can now be turned into immersive spatial environments. Rather than viewing panoramas as flat images, users can step into them and experience added depth and realism, making photos and landscapes feel more lifelike.
• Curved app windows: Apps such as Safari, Freeform, and Apple TV now take advantage of new curved window layouts that wrap content around a user's field of view. The feature is designed to create a more immersive workspace and make better use of Vision Pro's virtual display area.
• Faster Wi-Fi: Apple says visionOS 27 significantly improves wireless performance, with supported networks delivering speeds up to three times faster than before.
• Safari 3D environments: A new Web Environments feature means developers can now use a new immersive API to launch users into a full 360-degree environment from within Safari. Apple says these environments can completely surround a user's physical space, making browsing feel more like a native Vision Pro experience.
• Redesigned Control Center: Control Center has been reorganized with dedicated sections for notifications and media playback, system controls, and immersive environments. The redesign aims to make common controls easier to find and reduce the number of steps required to access frequently used settings.
• Smaller widgets: A new extra-small widget size allows users to place more widgets throughout their physical space without overwhelming their environment. The additional size option gives users greater flexibility when placing clocks, weather widgets, photos, and other persistent spatial content.
• Glance-to-expand notifications: Notifications will now automatically expand when a user looks at them, thereby reducing the need for hand gestures or manual interaction. The feature means quicker access to information, while remaining in line with visionOS's eyes-first interaction model.
• Spatially preview your Mac: Mac owners can now preview and edit 3D models from their laptop directly in visionOS, while Quick Look enhancements allow for annotations to be added directly to 3D models.
• New Environment: Apple has added a new immersive environment based on Thórsmörk, a nature reserve in Iceland known for its dramatic mountains, valleys, and glaciers. Users can select the environment as a virtual backdrop for work and entertainment, just like the existing environments.
• Developer enhancements: Apple is introducing new frameworks, APIs, and tools to help developers build more advanced spatial experiences. The updates include RealityKit improvements, Environment Occlusion for more realistic blending of virtual and physical objects, enhanced asset rendering technologies, updates to Reality Composer Pro 3, and improvements for popular game engines.

The visionOS 27 developer beta is available now, ahead of the software's full release this fall. Apple says ‌Siri‌ AI will begin rolling out later this year as a beta feature and will initially support English only. However, unlike on iPhone and iPad, where ‌Siri‌ AI will not be available at launch in the European Union, Vision Pro users in the EU will have access to the feature from day one.

Last year, singer Justin Bieber turned to social media to complain about the placement of the dictation button in the Messages app's text field on the iPhone. Specifically, he said he kept accidentally pressing the dictation button after sending a text, given it shows up in the same spot as the send button.

Apple has seemingly listened to this feedback, as iOS 27 lets you turn off the dictation button in the Settings app under Apps → Messages → Show in Text Field.

macOS 27 Golden Gate adds pull-to-refresh support to the Mac, adopting one of iPhone and iPad's most familiar gestures for the first time.

The feature, which Apple calls "Swipe down to refresh," lets users swipe down within apps to fetch the latest content, rather than relying on a keyboard shortcut or menu item. Apple confirmed that Safari, Mail, News, Podcasts, and Calendar are among the apps that support the gesture at launch.

Pull-to-refresh has been a staple of iOS and iPadOS for many years, offering an intuitive, gesture-driven way to update app content. Its arrival on macOS suggests Apple is continuing to blur the interaction patterns between its platforms.

Apple is reportedly planning to launch a "MacBook Ultra", a new top-tier laptop expected to feature a touchscreen OLED display with an M6-series chip, the Dynamic Island, and a thinner design. Reports suggest early 2027 is the most likely launch window, following delays attributed to the global memory chip shortage. Touch-friendly interface updates to macOS are almost certainly related to that future product.

Apple has published a five-minute recap video summarizing the key announcements from its WWDC26 Platforms State of the Union, covering rebuilt intelligence frameworks, platform design changes, and major developer tools updates.

Apple said its Foundation Models have been rebuilt from the ground up in collaboration with Google, leveraging technology from the Gemini family of models. The Foundation Models framework now supports image input and cloud model integration, allowing developers to connect to any cloud model provider for more complex tasks.

New dynamic profiles are also included to simplify building AI agents and skills by swapping tools in and out and updating instructions on the fly. Core AI, an entirely new framework for running on-device models, is built into the OS and designed to take full advantage of Apple Silicon.

App Intents have been updated to connect apps to Apple Intelligence, making content discoverable and actions available through Siri via natural language, with a new View Annotations API allowing users to act on what's on screen just by asking.

The refined Liquid Glass design system features prominently in the recap. Apple said the design is more consistent and personalizable, with better readability. On macOS, every window now shares a tighter corner radius. App icons receive sharper rendering automatically, with new refraction effects available through Icon Composer.

iOS apps are now resizable, allowing users to take advantage of larger displays when running them on iPads or Macs via iPhone mirroring, with a new resizable iOS Simulator to make testing across sizes easier.

SwiftUI received a range of updates, including drag-to-reorder and swipe actions in any container, nested layouts that resize up to twice as fast, and automatic async image caching. Toolbars now offer finer control over visibility as space shrinks, and a new Spatial Preview Framework for the Apple Vision Pro lets developers stream 3D models from a Mac into physical space.

In Xcode 27, projects load faster and the app is 30% smaller as it moves to Apple Silicon-only. Settings now sync via iCloud, the toolbar is fully customizable, and themes including Emerald, Neon Noir, and Coral Reef bring color throughout the app.

Xcode Cloud is easier to set up with builds up to twice as fast. A new Device Hub replaces Simulator, bringing virtual and physical devices together in one place with live resizing and full hardware control from the Mac.

Apple said it is working with Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google to bring their agents into Xcode. Agent conversations now behave like files and can be opened, split, and stacked in the Navigator. Agents can run tests, use Playgrounds, customize previews across light and dark mode and other configurations, and drive a running app end-to-end. Developers can extend Xcode further through plugins that bring skills, MCP tools, and agents via the agent-client protocol, with Figma and GitHub shipping their own plugins at launch.

The full Platforms State of the Union video is available on the Apple Developer app, website, and YouTube.

Apple yesterday announced several improvements to Apple Podcasts, including video podcast playback on macOS and a fully redesigned tvOS app.

Mac users will gain a new, enhanced video podcast experience in ‌Apple Podcasts‌, including Picture in Picture support for watching episodes while multitasking. The update brings the full mobile ‌Apple Podcasts‌ experience to the Mac, with audio and video content alongside transcripts, timed links, and chapters.

The ‌Apple Podcasts‌ app on tvOS is receiving a complete redesign with video podcast playback, a new sidebar navigation for easier browsing, and support for podcast creators' episode and show artwork. The update is aimed at making it simpler to discover and enjoy video content on the big screen.

Across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro, as well as on the web at podcasts.apple.com, Apple is also adding a new search within show feature. The tool allows users to search directly within a show from its See All Episodes view, making it easier to locate a specific episode without scrolling through an entire back catalog.

The updates will arrive this fall as part of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, visionOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and tvOS 27.

Apple has shared updated iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 adoption figures, revealing how many iPhones and iPads were running those software versions on the day before the start of WWDC 2026 and the release of the first iOS 27 developer beta.

These adoption numbers are based on iPhones and iPads that transacted on the App Store on Sunday, June 7, according to Apple.

The statistics are as follows:

• 86% of all iPhones introduced in the last four years were running iOS 26.
• 79% of all iPhones were running iOS 26.
• 79% of all iPads introduced in the last four years were running iPadOS 26.
• 68% of all iPads were running iPadOS 26.

Here is how that compares to the iOS 18 adoption figures that Apple shared based on iPhones and iPads that transacted on the App Store on Thursday, June 5, 2025:

• 88% of all iPhones introduced in the last four years were running iOS 18.
• 82% of all iPhones were running iOS 18.
• 81% of all iPads introduced in the last four years were running iPadOS 18.
• 71% of all iPads were running iPadOS 18.

iOS 27 beta testing is now underway, so this will be Apple's final update on iOS 26 adoption.

The European Commission has responded to Apple's announcement that Siri AI will not launch in the EU, saying the decision is entirely Apple's and that the company sought an exemption from its legal obligations rather than a compliant solution.

Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels (via Reuters) that Apple had failed to develop interoperability solutions meeting EU privacy and security standards, and instead asked to be let off the hook entirely.

The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple's and Apple's only. Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards. Instead of trying to find a suitable compliance solution, Apple simply made a request to the European Commission to be exempted from their interoperability obligations. That's not an option.

The statement appears to contradict Apple's characterization of events somewhat. Apple announced yesterday that Siri AI would not be available in the EU on iOS or iPadOS, blaming regulators for refusing to engage constructively on proposed solutions.

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, said the company was "deeply disappointed" and cited what it described as regulators' refusal to accept any of Apple's proposals, including a system called Trusted System Agent that would have allowed third-party virtual assistants to safely access the same device capabilities as ‌Siri‌ AI.

The Commission's account tells a different story. Rather than negotiating over Apple's proposed solutions, regulators say Apple simply requested a blanket exemption from its interoperability obligations under the Digital Markets Act, something the Commission says is not an available option. Apple's statement framed the DMA's requirements as demanding that any AI system be given "nearly unlimited access" to a user's device.

When iOS 27 and Apple's other major new software updates are released later this year, users in the EU will not have access to ‌Siri‌ AI or any of its new features, including the app for revisiting and starting new conversations. Apple said it hopes to eventually bring ‌Siri‌ AI to the EU and will continue to engage with regulators, but offered no timeline.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple executives have detailed the architecture of the company's new Apple Foundation Models (AFM) and clarified exactly how Google's technology factored into their development.

Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of Software Engineering, held a post-keynote tech talk (via 9to5Mac) with press on Monday alongside AI VP Amar Subramanya, Siri lead Mike Rockwell, and software VP Sebastien Marineau-Mes to walk through how the third-generation AFM family was built and how it powers Apple Intelligence.

"The amount of the Google Assistant we use is none," Federighi said, explaining that Apple uses none of the Gemini models deployed to Google's customers, none of Google's client-side code, and no Google Search infrastructure as the knowledge backbone.

Of course, we don't have the Gemini app as our app. In fact, none of that client code is part of how we run on iOS. For these models, we use none of the models that Google deploys to their customers, nor do we use the infrastructure and means by which they deploy models to their customers. And then, when it comes to the knowledge base, we of course don't use Google Search or anything like that as the foundation of our system.

Subramanya outlined the new AFM family, which spans two on-device models and three server-side models. The on-device tier consists of AFM Core, a next-generation dense architecture model, and AFM Core Advanced, which uses a sparse architecture and is natively multimodal.

Subramanya said AFM Core Advanced is "unlike any on-device model we've run before," enabling new features including invitation and expressive voices without any cloud requests. On the server side, AFM Cloud handles latency-optimized Private Cloud Compute requests, while AFM Cloud Image powers image generation and editing features including spatial reframing.

The key detail on the Google collaboration came in Subramanya's description of how these four models were trained. "All of these are custom built for Apple Silicon, trained using proprietary data with reinforcement learning and refined using outputs from Gemini frontier models," he said, making clear that Google's contribution was distillation-based, not a wholesale adoption of Gemini.

The fifth and most capable model, AFM Cloud Pro, is designed for agentic tool use and complex reasoning tasks, with quality that Subramanya said is "similar to Gemini frontier models." This model marks a departure from Apple's standard Private Cloud Compute setup.

To run it, Apple worked with both Google and Nvidia to extend its private cloud infrastructure to Nvidia GPUs hosted in Google's cloud. Marineau-Mes said Apple wanted to use Nvidia's latest chips but required them to be configured so they couldn't read the contents of Apple's servers. A recent Nvidia technology called "ambiguous confidential compute" provided the solution.

We wanted to avail ourselves of the latest technology from Nvidia, and so we set out to extend private cloud compute to third-party cloud.

Federighi described the broader system architecture as being organized around a System Orchestrator, a piece of software he called "key to the privacy architecture of our entire system." The orchestrator routes any given query to the appropriate model, on-device or cloud, based on the complexity of the request and the personal context required.

It draws on an App Toolbox for in-app actions, a Spotlight Semantic Index for personal content, and on-screen context for real-time awareness. For queries involving current events, responses are found through Apple's own World Knowledge Service, which Federighi said the company has been building for several years.

Apple also maintains that all Private Cloud Compute infrastructure, including the extended Nvidia GPU capacity in Google's cloud, can be independently verified by third-party researchers to confirm that user data is never stored or accessed.

Certain Apple Intelligence features in iOS 27 will carry daily usage limits, with iCloud+ subscribers receiving higher allowances than free users.

The company reiterated the details in its press release accompanying yesterday's ‌Apple Intelligence‌ announcements. Apple said the limits apply to features that rely on "powerful server models," with image generation cited as the primary example. According to Apple, increased access will be available with most ‌iCloud‌+ subscription plans.

Some Apple Intelligence features, including image generation, have daily usage limits because they rely on powerful server models. Increased access is available with most iCloud+ subscription plans, which also include Apple Intelligence support for compatible Home cameras.

The phrase "most ‌iCloud‌+ plans" suggests the cheapest tier, priced at $0.99 per month, may not qualify for the higher limits. Subscribers on any higher ‌iCloud‌+ tier, or those with an Apple One bundle, appear to be in line for expanded access to advanced AI image generation and potentially other server-reliant features.

‌iCloud‌+ subscribers will also gain additional benefits in the Home app, including upgraded support for HomeKit Secure Video on compatible smart cameras.

Apple yesterday detailed several updates coming to Apple Music in iOS 27, including redesigned artist and album pages, an upgraded AutoMix feature, and a suite of performance improvements.

The most immediately visible change is a refreshed artist page, which now features a prominent shuffle play button, a new artist name display, and various other layout adjustments. Apple also says album pages have been updated, though no visible changes are apparent in the first ‌iOS 27‌ developer beta.

AutoMix, Apple's AI-powered feature that blends songs using matching key and tempo, has also been upgraded. Apple says it has improved the underlying algorithms to generate new transition types, making for more seamless blends between tracks. The standard Crossfade option remains available for users who prefer it.

Lyrics Translation is also expanding in ‌iOS 27‌, adding support for seven new language pairings: English to French, English to German, English to Italian, English to Korean, English to Spanish, French to English, and Japanese to English. Apple says the feature uses machine learning with fine-tuning from language experts to preserve the emotion, cultural nuance, and original intent of each song. Lyrics Pronunciation, which helps users sing along when lyrics are in another language, is gaining five new pairings as well, covering Arabic to Romanized Arabic, English to Hangul, English to Katakana, Japanese to Hangul, and Mandarin Chinese (simplified) to Katakana.

‌Apple Music‌ is also bringing Hi-Res Lossless Audio to tvOS in ‌iOS 27‌, in addition to standard Lossless Audio. Subscribers with compatible external speaker outputs will be able to enjoy music at studio quality directly through the Apple TV 4K.

Apple says ‌iOS 27‌ improves the "reliability of ‌Apple Music‌ streaming." Apple has additionally improved the speed at which the Now Playing view loads, as well as the time it takes for streaming playback to begin from a fresh launch, both of which should make the app feel more responsive overall. Users can also now swipe away the Now Playing widget on the Lock Screen to dismiss it.

‌Apple Music‌ gains deeper integration with the all-new Siri AI in ‌iOS 27‌. Users can ask ‌Siri‌ about an artist and then follow up with natural commands such as "play one of her new singles" mid-conversation to kick off a playback session without breaking the flow.