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- We're not talking about Siri: Russians won't get access to Apple's new AI model
We're not talking about Siri: Russians won't get access to Apple's new AI model
A large-scale update of the Apple Intelligence ecosystem, the development of the Siri voice assistant into a more powerful Siri AI, and new artificial intelligence capabilities were the main announcements at the Apple presentation, which took place on the evening of June 8. These developments will gradually begin to appear on the company's devices in the fall. However, Russian users of Apple products will not have access to the new Siri AI features — it is not supported in Russia and in Russian. In general, the presentation was without high-profile premieres: neither the folding iPhone Ultra, nor new Mac models or other devices were presented, and experts pointed out Apple's systematic unwillingness to present its new flagships.
Cook's Last Big Conference
On June 8, Apple introduced the next stage of Apple Intelligence development — a new version of the Siri AI voice assistant. For its work, the company uses Google Gemini technologies as part of a long-term partnership with Google. As you know, Google does not officially provide Gemini features in Russia, access to the service for users from the Russian Federation is limited. Izvestia found out that Russians will not be able to access Siri AI if they are physically located in the Russian Federation, and the service itself will still work in 16 languages, but there is no Russian among them.
"Changing the language and region can help users get the desired access to Siri AI beta testing, but out of the box in the Russian Federation, these functions will be unavailable for obvious reasons," said Sergey Pomortsev, an IT expert.
The information was confirmed by Ilya Sklyuyev, editor of the projects "Non-artificial Intelligence" and "Non-digital Economy". The expert noted that US law explicitly prohibits the provision of advanced AI services in some countries, including Russia. This also applies to embedded AI assistants in mobile devices.
— Simple and stupid Siri is one thing. Another thing is the advanced Gemini—based assistant. It's all about access to cutting-edge technology. None of the chatbots of foreign companies, except perhaps Chinese ones, has so far been available without means of circumventing restrictions," the expert stated.
At the same time, the company devoted the main timing of the ceremony to the AI aspects. Apple Intelligence and Siri AI should help Apple close the gap with competitors in the field of generative artificial intelligence. According to the developers, the updated AI agent is capable of advanced computing and tasks on par with the flagship ChatGPT and Grok models. Since Siri now uses Google's advanced Gemini technology, it has learned new tricks: for example, ordering food from multiple locations, combining it into a single receipt and shared delivery using conventional voice control.
According to Artem Funtikov, editor of the iGuides portal, the Apple WWDC26 developer conference, which opened on June 8, was Apple's attempt to restart its AI strategy after the controversial launch of Apple Intelligence a year earlier.
— WWDC 26 was not as bright as it used to be, but rather pragmatic. The company has been criticized for its "catching up" position in the AI field for several years now, and it is not surprising that instead of a show, we were shown a strategically verified event for investors as proof of the existence of a mature ecosystem," the expert noted.
One of the central announcements was the new version of Siri AI. The voice assistant received a more natural conversational mode, learned to take into account the user's personal context based on mail, messages and calendar data, as well as perform chains of related actions on a single command. In addition, Apple has given developers access to third-party AI models, including OpenAI and Google solutions, which will expand the capabilities of applications within the company's ecosystem. In addition, users will now be able to create complex action scenarios in natural language without having to manually configure commands.
The Image Playground service has also received a major update. Apple has focused on better image generation and expanding the creative capabilities of its built-in AI tools. In addition, the company has introduced new features for automatic subtitle creation, improved accessibility tools, and introduced a number of intelligent features for working with text and multimedia content.
Betting on productivity and ecosystem
In iOS 27, the company has retained the concept of a "liquid glass"-style interface, while improving the user-friendliness of the system. The camera application has received significant changes: users will be able to independently adjust the location of the main controls, forming their own shooting interface.
Apple has placed a special emphasis on optimizing operating systems. The company continues to get rid of outdated code components, which should have a positive impact on device performance and battery life.
Parents have been given the opportunity to limit the screen time of children's accounts in the new iOS 27, and all data used by the AI system is now stored locally and not sent to Apple servers.
There were no significant exclusive innovations for the iPad. Tablets have received almost the same set of AI functions as the iPhone. watchOS has new watch faces and interface improvements, but the expected AI trainer based on data from the Health app was not included in the final version of the system.
In macOS 27, one of the most notable news was the final end of support for computers running on Intel processors. From now on, the operating system will focus exclusively on devices with Apple's proprietary Silicon chips.
This decision is of strategic importance for the company, believes Sergey Pomortsev.
— Dropping Intel support allows Apple to focus resources on a single hardware architecture. This simplifies development, accelerates the implementation of new artificial intelligence features, and opens up additional opportunities to optimize energy consumption and performance. For users of M-series devices, the benefits will become more noticeable with each update," he stressed.
What awaits Apple after the leadership change
Despite the large number of software innovations, the conference did not have any high-profile hardware premieres. Neither the folding iPhone Ultra, nor the new Mac models or other devices that previously appeared in the leaks were presented. Industry experts pointed out Apple's unwillingness to present its foldable flagship and noted that its systematic postponements have been taking place since September 2024.
According to the analysts interviewed, this approach may indicate the preparation of a separate large-scale announcement in the fall. That's when the company traditionally introduces a new generation of smartphones and other key products.
— The last two years have been stormy for Apple: stagnating iPhone sales in China, regulatory pressure in the EU, antitrust lawsuits in the United States, and, most importantly, the feeling that the company has missed the AI revolution, mired in hardware self-replays and problems in creating Siri. Now everything depends on the success of AI as the main marketing engine of our time. In this vein, Apple will have to try hard to jump on the departing train, despite the fact that its competitors have already sat in the first cars," added Artem Funtikov.
At the same time, Apple's new mascot, the blue—and-white Little Finder Guy, has gained sudden fame, in fact, a tiny anthropomorphic version of the classic Mac Finder icon. Users rushed to create memes with this character, and he was also included in the WWDC26 gift set.
The Apple Summer Forum will surely go down in history as the last major presentation of the company led by Tim Cook. In the fall, the company will not only launch new devices, but also begin a new management era under the leadership of John Ternus, who will determine the further development of the largest technology corporation in the United States. Izvestia previously wrote about what it might be like.
At the same time, the bookmakers' bets that Cook would publicly and officially hand over the CEO's baton to Ternus did not materialize. As a farewell, he only said that it was an honor for him to "help Apple stay ahead of everyone else."
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
