Let’s be real, how many of us actually use Siri for anything more than setting a timer? I’ve mostly given up on it. But I just stumbled upon a video from an AI professional who got early access to the new Apple Intelligence, and I had to see if they finally fixed it.
The creator has been testing the iOS 18 beta for a few days and shared what’s great and what’s… not so great.
✨ The AI Tools That Actually Work
This expert was blown away by some of the new on-device AI features that go beyond Siri. Here are the highlights he shared:
- 📌 Automatic Email Summaries: The Mail app now scans your emails and gives you a quick summary at the top. The creator showed how it pulls out the key info, which is a huge time-saver.
- ✍️ The Writing Tool: This looked awesome. In any app where you type, you can highlight text and use the new “Writing Tool.” The YouTuber demonstrated how it can instantly proofread, rewrite, or change the tone of your text. No more jumping over to another app for a quick edit!
- 📸 Photo Magic: The Photos app got a serious upgrade. The creator explains you can now use natural language to search your photos and videos (like “Katie with stickers on her face”). He also showed off the new “Cleanup” tool that lets you just brush over an object to remove it from a photo, and it worked surprisingly well.
- 🎙️ Voice Memo Transcription: If you use Voice Memos, you’re going to love this. The person who shared it revealed that the app now automatically transcribes your recordings, and you can even use the Writing Tool on the transcript.
🤔 So… What About Siri?
This is the part I was most excited to see. The YouTuber fired up the new Siri, and the results were a mixed bag.
The good news? The voice sounds incredibly human now: no more robot-speak. The expert also showed it can control some on-device settings, like switching to light mode, which is pretty cool.
But when it came to more complex tasks, it really struggled. The creator tried asking it to summarize news, interact with other apps, or even just list 10 things it could do, and it mostly failed or just defaulted to a web search. He basically concluded it’s the old Siri with a much better voice.
🚀 The Verdict (For Now)
The mind behind this video was pretty clear: the new on-device AI tools for writing, photos, and mail are impressive and genuinely useful. But Siri is, so far, “super disappointing” in this beta version.
He does point out that the promised ChatGPT integration isn’t live yet, and that could be the real game-changer. We’ll have to wait and see!
For the full hands-on demo and all the tests, you have to watch the original video from this innovator. Go check it out!