It's official, everybody. Apple has confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next generation of Siri and Apple intelligence this year. So much to talk about. So you know what time it is. Let's get to the show. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the show. It's the Apple Bits XL. Brian Tonk here, your host, doing the most for everything good and bad inside the world of Apple. It is episode 367, and we keep on going. We keep on rolling. And this is the spot where you find all the latest news about Apple and then the stuff that happens around the greater tech world as a whole. Now, just a couple orders of business. if you want to be a part of this show hey you can always write or call in to record a voice memo to applebitsshow at gmail.com that's applebits with a z show at gmail.com also this show is brought to you by you patreon.com slash brian tong is how you support all of my content it's also how you support this podcast what do you get with a membership that starts at two dollars per month five dollars which is like a cup of coffee. You got the 10, the 25 and the $100 platinum Apple level. You get early access to my content, rewards at different levels and a completely ad free version of this podcast. No ads whatsoever. And it's your way of supporting me being independent. And you've allowed me to keep on doing this. We are almost, I guess what, about half a year or so away from getting to 400 freaking episodes, which is crazy. All right, so let's get right into it. And the big news, obviously, it happened today. It was a perfect time to do the podcast. Apple has officially confirmed in a statement that they shared with CNBC on Monday. We just got back from CES. I've been using the past two days to recover, and I thought I'd maybe have another day or so. My wife is about to deliver our baby girl that we're expecting on the 15th. So Apple's like, hey, let me slide this one in. Apple sent the statement to CNBC, and this is what it said. After a careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation models, and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users. So the report from CNBC explicitly says that Google Gemini will be powering Siri. And this is something that we expected. We've got to give big shout out to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who initially put this report out, I believe, in August of last year, way ahead of time. This is at the point in time where Apple Intelligence, we didn't hear a peep. Remember, at the September fall event, I think Apple said the word Apple intelligence only once, and then it never existed. It was like as if the feature completely did not exist. There are rumblings about a lot of the staff in their artificial intelligence group being hired away and poached by different companies, specifically Meta. And so that was a sign that, okay, if they're not investing in this, clearly it looks like they're going to go for another partner. There were rumors of them partnering with everyone from OpenAI to Perplexity to Google. I had always felt that Google made the most sense from a standpoint of they already had an existing relationship with the browser, Chrome browser, Google search deal. It's really a Google search deal. Excuse me for that. Also, look, they've been partners over time. Even we've seen an evolution of how Apple and Google phones with late recent updates have allowed you to now airdrop directly from phone to phone. Now, that was really pushed more from the European Union's rules and laws that forced that to happen. But that's in place. So these devices and platforms are working together more than ever. But the reality is, let's put that aside. Apple is trailing behind so much in AI. It actually, from a business standpoint, didn't make sense for them to invest the billions of dollars required to build their own llms to require to build that server storage space right that server space that would then support it and instead it does make sense because they're so behind to partner with someone like google and that's exactly what they did and i think there's a lot of benefits to this based on their current position we know the story siri is pretty terrible Siri is pretty basic. Let's call Siri just basic, okay? And Apple has not been able to escape that reputation. I'm kind of surprised in a way that Apple still calls it Siri because it has such a bad stain. This launched in 2011 with the iPhone 4S. It was groundbreaking at the time. The whole idea of a personal assistant on your phone was groundbreaking, was a new idea. But for years, Apple just kind of let it hang out. It didn't develop. We had heard where the actual foundational framework of the original Siri was very simplified and it could not deal with multiple queries at once, just one single query. It's also why it took forever until just a couple of years ago to even get multiple timers. Multiple timers only happened like a couple of years ago. That's how bad it was. They hired John G. and Andrea from Google to attempt to fix Siri. And I remember year after year saying this is the year that Siri needs to step up at WWDC, and it didn't. So after all this time, after Apple intelligence falling flat on its face, Apple, you know, they sucked it up. And they said, well, we've got to go to Google. The basic, look, whether you care about what happens behind the scenes, that's going to be on you. because I do think that there are people that I've heard them tell me, hey, hey, I like Apple's platform because of Apple's promise and commitment to data privacy for users. And Google's exactly the opposite of that. But I also think that Apple will most likely just use Google's language models and features and either they will be protected or siloed off or there'll be a layer between them which prevents Google from seeing any of the data. My assumption is that none of this will actually even touch a Google server. That's my assumption. And it needs to pretty much be that way in order for Apple to maintain its credibility in its ability to say, hey, we keep things private. Now, it's going to be interesting to see because remember, Apple had promised all this connective tissue, the ability for apps to understand each other, for the phone to essentially almost be an extension of what's in your brain, but more detail because it knows where everything is. And we know where a lot of things are, but sometimes we forget. I only look at Magic Q on Google Gemini, on the current Pixel 10 phones, to really give you an idea of what could be possible and be more polished on an Apple iPhone This is what we wanted The ability for it to when you texting a friend and asking about a dinner for the actual dinner reservation from your calendar that you put in there to just pop up so you know exactly what to do or the ability to change that dinner reservation on the fly because it has the phone number, it shows it up for you. You can just instantly call it maybe while you're chatting with your friend to make those adjustments. The ability to see your email and really take on my whole goal with this is that let's not get too crazy, but let's have these phones act like agents for specific tasks. Let's have my phone be able to look through my email. And when I say, I want to return this package from Amazon for shampoo that I got last week, and instantly you get an email sent to you with the label that you can then take this product and drop it off at a pickup station or a mailing location. like let's find or let's really master the art of open table and dinner reservations just by a voice prompt to my phone and then getting a window of time and just making it easy right or we saw with magic cue with gemini the ability to need to change something with a flight and the flight information shows up on screen while you're on a call with a flight representative all right so these are things that I would like to see to make our lives easier in small but powerful ways. They don't have to do everything, but just do some of that stuff. And what Apple had showed us when Apple Intelligence first debuted, everyone was surprised. Everyone was excited. Everyone thought this was the next level of what we could do with our phone. And then it completely fell flat on its face because essentially Apple showed us stuff that was not even remotely ready to go to market and still a year and a half later is not available. So then all those problems with Apple intelligence, look, Apple intelligence, that's a bad Apple. We know it's horrible. It is, in my opinion, the biggest failure that we have seen that has actually done real damage to Apple, a combination of both Siri and Apple intelligence has really hurt Apple, but maybe it's hurt them more from a perception standpoint because they're still getting record sales quarter after quarter of iPhones. The revenue isn't dropping. In fact, it's increasing. So from the tech world perspective, they've let us down. But from, I would say the general consumer who has become so numb to Siri, who has become like Apple intelligence, I don't use any of that stuff. They don't care. Their phone still works. It has a great camera. It's familiar. They don't want to change. People are creatures of habit. The iPhone will most likely be their next phone. All right. So we can complain about this. We can be mad about the lack of innovation. And I think it's fair and it's warranted. But for the outside general consumer, I don't think they're nearly as affected or nearly as up in arms as we are. And the general consensus that I get from people when I talk to them is this general statement of, oh, Apple isn't exciting anymore. Apple isn't doing cool things anymore. And they're not necessarily wrong there. They're not doing anything groundbreaking. And at the same time, when I ask them, so does that mean you're going to change your phone? They're like, no, I'm going to get the next one I'm going to get is an iPhone. So Apple has that security there. Ultimately, I think this is a good move for people that are worried about privacy. I think they're going to easily address that and that won't be an issue. If you do have an issue with Google services, period, and you just don't trust them, I think that might be an issue for them. But Apple officially has confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next generation of Siri. And not only that, Google then later on came out to say that it's not only Siri that will be more personalized, but they will also be adding additional future Apple intelligence features. Now, for me, this could be everything from their superior AI fill for photo editing. It could be things like that. They've got some really cool audio editing and separation features that just don't exist for us. I think their photo editing directly on phone is really, really good from that standpoint, but the Google models are going to help them. Google said these models from Google Gemini will help power future Apple intelligence features, including more personalized Siri coming this year. So now both Apple and Google have come out to comment on this. So I don't really see, look, I think at the end of the day, if someone just wants a better, more capable Siri, at the very least, at the very least, they're definitely going to get that with Google Gemini. And I think they're going to get something more. And I'm really curious how polished this experience will be, right? Apple tends to take their time with this stuff. So Apple's not just going to throw it out there. I also wonder, will some of these features be called like, I don't know, Magic Eraser powered by Google Gemini, or will it just be called Magic Eraser and we just don't know who makes it? Because part of me thinks that if Google's releasing all these innovations across their devices, thanks to Gemini, that they'll want some credit for it. But again, I don't know how that deal works. We see in the products world where a company makes a superior chip for something like a TV, but the agreement is that that TV doesn't even mention the fact that this chip is made by this company. So that happens all the time. I'm just curious to see how that all plays out. I think generally from the comments that I've seen on my YouTube video, the general consensus, at least let's say more people are happy about this development. There are people that are unhappy with it. But I would say at this point in time, more people are happy with it. Now, we're going to have to see how they execute because this is the biggest thing. I had done a video, I think, last week about what happened to Apple TV. And the reality is that I think and I believe and I think now it all really lines up that Apple TV and the new HomePod Mini, which were rumored for so long, again, a rumor is a rumor. Nothing is official until it's actually official. But those two products did not come out by the end of the year where multiple outlets said they would come out by the end of the year. And I think what is clear is that if Apple's really looking to build a new smart home platform, they need a cohesive and capable Siri for that. And that means a HomePod mini, an Apple TV, and this rumored smart home hub. If they're going to release that, it needs to have a new brain. It cannot have the Siri that is in there today. So I feel like, or I believe at least, and I don't know this for sure, but all signs point to this being true, is that the revamped Siri and Apple intelligence with this Google partnership has been in the works, is still in the works is still getting polished and is the reason why we didn see Apple launch a new Apple TV or HomePod mini in 2025 Now I think also we need to look beyond just the iPhone when it comes to this new agreement with Google, because I think Apple is looking beyond just the phone. In fact, I think this partnership with Google is even more important if you're talking about Apple getting into the wearable and wearable, specifically wearable glasses race. Now we know they're behind meta has come out with the Ray-Bans, the meta displays. I was at CES. There were at least seven or eight legitimate AR glass type products. And many of them had different disciplines or what they were trying to achieve. We know X-Rails basically put the biggest screen for entertainment, whether it's gaming or movies on a pair of glasses, right? That is their promise, the highest fidelity available, great image quality. That's what they do. There's another company called Leon that makes glasses specifically for translation. Rayneo, which is, parent's company is TCL, their X3 Pro. They're trying to really create a true augmented reality glasses experience. But I feel like the processor, it's really a combination of software and hardware is what's holding them back. It's a little slower. It does do some interesting things and actually some quite clever, good things. But whenever I use them, I feel like, ooh, this just needs a better processor, a better chip. And guess who has that? Apple does. Meta Ray-Bans, those are finally starting to get popular or understood by the general consumer. Meta released their Meta Ray-Ban displays that has that wrist band that you wear that senses the finite motions, the motor skills, and that's how you use the glasses to navigate them. Or you can do touch on the glasses, but really it's made for that. That is unique. It's different. I like what I'm seeing. All of these glasses are showing me nuggets of what could be, but there's not one that has nailed down the killer solution. I think right now, personally, they all do different things, but at least from a company that is focused and doing what they have set out to do really well. I think Xreal is that company right now, only from a standpoint of mobile gaming and viewing content on the go, they have the best product. And that's the most useful right now, where maybe the UI and interface of some of these other products are kind of a little too slow and not there yet. But the biggest thing, if we get back on target, is that this partnership with Apple and Google is to power their next generation wearable products. That's Vision Pro. That's whatever these Apple glasses are called. It's all about an improved, smart, contextual Siri based on Google Gemini that will allow them to control, allow them to be understood. and really the UI and user experience needs to be on something significantly better than Siri that is voice-based. And that is going to be a Google Gemini-powered version of Siri. The other thing about Google Gemini is that it's a multimodal AI. And what that means is that it can take in, understand, and interpret different modalities or different types of media in order to understand it and then interpret it and then spit out results or give you the proper information. So that is text, speech, images, and video, right? Apple has nothing like that right now. Google, Gemini is multimodal and can interpret those four things. Now, OpenAI, they also do have a multimodal platform, but the biggest thing is they don't really have a product that exists in the consumer space that they can, at least not yet, that they can use and test and refine how it performs, right? Right. OpenAI ChatGPT is typically in a prompt box. That's what you see it the most. Right. Or you can use your voice to talk into it. But that's really it from in general. It's not linked to any, you know, from what I gather, at least the last time I used it, you can submit photos to get edited, but it's not linked to any current real time live stream. Right. so google gemini is important because apple knows that it's in this next generation this next battle for tech eyeballs and really let's talk about glasses open ai has said that they have created and they have discovered the third fundamental product to take with you so they're basically saying that a laptop and a phone are the first two and they have the third and what's interesting and intriguing is we know OpenAI and Sam Altman are very bullish, but the most intriguing part about it is that Johnny Ive, former lead design for Apple and his Loveform studio, Loveform studio, has partnered with OpenAI to create this new product and a new generation of products that I would argue are some type of a physical AI product for this next generation. Now, We don't know exactly what it is. There were rumors that it might be something like a brooch or a pin, but we saw what happened to Humane AI's pin that really just fell off a cliff, poor battery life, functionality was weak. And that company is completely, I believe, was it HP or someone acquired them for their IP and that company is completely dissolved. so is open ai working on like some sort of pen or brooch or necklace you wear that is connected to the internet that uses the open ai platform and specifically voice that that's kind of interesting but that doesn't seem crucial to me to me glasses with multi-modality for text images voice and videos seems to be like maybe would be more intriguing for a consumer, right? Either way, Apple needs Google Gemini in order for them to make the next generation leap into whatever the next frontier products are that use voice to control them because Siri is not good enough and hasn't been for years. And that's what it comes down to, right? That's what it comes down to. So this is for the here, it's for the now, it's for current phones, it's for current iPads, It's for their current smart home, but it's also for their current or their next jump into wearables. And I think it's gonna be really interesting to see how this all plays out. So that's what I really wanted to jump in about is to talk about really quickly the big story of this is honestly the biggest tech story of 2026 right now. CES had so much Robotics were huge You know robotics robots and robotics are robotics you could argue are a physical AI I think the biggest thing with robots is that these companies do have the hardware but it comes down to a software platform to really make these things function properly. I saw a lot of demos where maybe the robots collapsed or fell or didn't perform or shut down at a point. So we're really at its infancy. Robots are not taking over anytime soon, but I would say the robot that is the most effective right now is a robot vacuum in your living room, in your home. But these humanoid robots that do things demo-wise at CS, anything from playing ping pong, to boxing, to folding your clothes, to dancing, to taking a picture with finer motor skills. We're seeing little examples and demos of what is possible, but nothing that's going to make me say, okay, this is happening. Will it happen? I completely, 100% believe that we will in the future, but that's what CES is for. It's showing us a peek into the future. And I think what's interesting is remember a while back when this idea of wearable mixed reality glasses seems so far away and then qualcomm slid in and built uh an xr platform for ar for vr for mixed reality right a really defined software and hardware kit for then manufacturers to use as a reference and go and build products well look what happened now at cus we see i saw like eight to ten different eyeglass products all built off of that framework for the most part. So they're now building this platform called Dragon Wing, and that is what they believe will be that next platform for robotics and humanoid robots. And if they're the one, we've seen the success that they've had before. It seems like they might be that company that helps push this forward to happening sooner rather than later, instead of it being a fragmented software mess. And I think the robots thing is fascinating. I think the glasses thing is fascinating. And I really think the smart home, out of anything at CES, we saw significant improvements to robot vacuums, to pool cleaning vacuums, to food tech, to pet tech. everything around the home looks just by leaps and bounds smart lighting smart sensors everything you could think of from the smart home it really felt like it took off at ces this year and i feel like that's an indication of what is to come it's taken some time the matter platform helps at least make this a little bit more universal amongst different companies as a platform to attach to And we know that Apple is finally, after all this time, but I think they came in way too late for this. Apple is finally pursuing the smart home. And we're going to see what they do to make it compelling. Because I saw a lot of great stuff from companies like Acara, which has the first ultra-wideband doorbell. And what does that mean? will, because there's an ultra wide band chip inside things like your iPhone or your Apple watch, it can detect more accurately as you're walking up to your door and automatically unlock it. So you don't have to type in a code. You don't have to touch it or, you know, make contact. The door will be unlocked by the time you walk up to it, right? It was so smooth and seamless when I used it. I'm like, man, the smart home is exciting. so those are the three big things that i think are the big trends and obviously cars which showcase some technologies that see us but if i had to say the top three tech trends that we're looking at moving forward that are the next ones to explode and take off it will be wearable glasses it will be robot slash robotics and it will be the smart home and then the car which is there and has been there and continues to become a computer on wheels and just do incredible things, it's also there as well. And right now, Apple's car project failed. They're behind in the wearables glasses game. They're behind in the smart home game. And they're reportedly developing something in robotics. So we need to see what they're doing and what they're doing well. And at the same time, like I said they have record revenues quarter after quarter so although we say yeah Apple doesn't win the ready like Apple is a slow-moving ship right we've talked about this I talked about in the last episode with Rich DeMuro Apple doesn't need to do anything hastily they can take their time and they took their time with the Apple Vision Pro and it didn't pan out for them and mostly, I believe, because of price and the technology is incredible. Oh my gosh, we didn't even talk about this, but the live streaming NBA immersive games on Apple Vision Pro live, that blew my mind. That has ruined how I watch sports now, specifically basketball. But again, it's a niche thing. You had to live in LA to see it live. It's available for replay you later if any of you have an apple vision pro i really need to implore you i'm like pushing you go check out the live immersive games it's free to watch it just get the nba app and a free nba id and you can watch it and you've never seen anything like this and when it's live it's it's different man so but apple you know we'll see where they go with the wearables okay i'm jumping around to so many places and so many spots but i think the the way to wrap this all up in a bow is yes, Apple is partnering with Google Gemini to be the backbone, to be the foundation for their next generation of Siri and Apple intelligence. And the implications it has goes beyond just the phone, but really for the future of Apple and some of its future devices. All right, let's give a shout out to our Patreon supporters at the Platinum Apple $100 level, Brandon Ledford, Gil Cabrera, Wesley Freider, Jarrett Lewis, Michael Gigliotti Atari Koenigsegg and Gregory Ford thank you for all your support and thank you to all of you who continue to support this show at every level from $2 to $5 to $10 to $25 to $100 I am so grateful and I continue to put this out because you all allow me to keep on doing it so that's going to do it for this episode we will have more to go again I am basically having not basically my wife is expecting to deliver our baby girl on January the 15th. So you're going to have to forgive me. I'll try to get episodes done, but I'm going to guess I won't have a podcast episode for another two weeks or so. Just because. I think you all understand. So until next time, we'll talk to you soon. It's the Apple Bits XL, baby. Peace.
