Apple stopped more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent App Store transactions last year and rejected over 2 million problematic app submissions, the company reported Wednesday. It’s all part of what it said is a sustained, multilayered effort to keep the App Store safe for both users and developers.
Apple might be planning to make Genmoji much more useful in iOS 27. The feature, which currently lets users create custom emoji, could soon suggest AI-generated emoji based on your personal photo library and the phrases you type most often.
That would solve one of the biggest problems with Genmoji: Most iPhone users forget it exists. Despite being genuinely fun and useful, Genmoji remains one of the most overlooked Apple Intelligence features.
But Apple might change that with iOS 27.
iOS 27 will offer additional AI-powered grammar assistance, according to an unconfirmed report Monday. This will go beyond the writing tools already available through Apple Intelligence and will work in macOS and iPadOS, too.
In addition, Apple will also use AI to generate wallpapers for their devices and also make shortcuts easier to create in the Shortcuts app.
All signs point to Apple reinventing Siri as a conversational AI chatbot in iOS 27, complete with a standalone Siri app. With privacy in mind, the app will reportedly contain an option to automatically delete your Siri chats every 30 days.
This privacy-first approach should give Apple’s AI chatbot an edge over its competitors.
AI is changing the kind of apps you can run on a Mac. From voice-first writing tools to meeting assistants and smarter file management, these new AI apps can save hours every week.
After months of testing, these are the AI apps that earned a permanent spot in my workflow.
With the ChatOn all-in-one AI assistant, you can access multiple top AI models, image-creation tools and real-time search, all in one app — and all for one low price.
For a limited time, get five years of ChatOn for just $98 with code CHAT30.
Netflix is testing a powerful new AI voice search that shows just how badly the Apple TV 4K needs an upgrade. Currently limited to a handful of users, Netflix’s new AI-powered tool lets users search for content conversationally. And instead of searching for something simple like a movie genre or specific title, they can ask Netflix for entertainment that fits their current mood.
For example, users can ask for something like “find me something that’s emotional but not too long” or “a romantic comedy with a few episodes.”
It’s a real game changer, according to a beta tester who gained early access. When Apple’s long-delayed Siri upgrade finally arrives, it could provide a similar — or even better — experience on Apple TV 4K.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: We’ve been complaining about just how stupid Siri can be for years, but Apple’s failure to deliver a promised AI upgrade just cost the company a cool $250 million.
We discuss how you can get your sliver of that payout, whether a stupid Siri is a deal-breaker (obviously not, since we all swear by our iPhones), and how Apple can really make things right.
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
Perplexity’s new Mac app brings its Personal Computer AI agent to a much wider audience, expanding access beyond the group of high-level subscribers who first gained entry to the service in April, the company said Thursday.
Apple will let iPhone and Mac users choose between multiple AI models for different tasks, according to a report published Tuesday. The strategy would allow users to select whichever third-party AI system they prefer to generate and edit text and images for them.
It’s a brilliant solution to the ongoing battle between companies to develop the best AI models. It won’t matter whether OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, etc., wins that fight — because Apple also wins.
Apple is reportedly prepping a significant upgrade to the photo-editing capabilities of the iPhone, iPad and Mac. The company will turn to artificial intelligence to let users enhance their images, including using generative AI to extend images beyond their current borders, according to information leaking out of Cupertino on Tuesday.
The news should raise the excitement level for iOS 27, macOS 27 and iPadOS 27, which should arrive this fall.
Pansophy is a secure personal AI assistant that runs on your Mac (or other computer). Once installed, Pansophy acts like a constant companion that can help with writing, coding, research, planning and everyday problem-solving.
You can ask it to draft emails, clean up text, brainstorm marketing ideas, outline projects or walk through tricky concepts. It feels similar to chatting with a cloud-based model, only everything happens on your CPU. It’s a fully local AI assistant that runs without accounts, subscriptions or cloud processing. And right now, you can get a lifetime subscription to Pansophy for just $79 (regularly $199).
Update: Perplexity said in March it would unleash Personal Computer software to work as an artificial intelligence manager for Mac, and now it’s available.
Today we're releasing Personal Computer.
Personal Computer integrates with the Perplexity Mac App for secure orchestration across your local files, native apps, and browser.
We’re rolling this out to all Perplexity Max subscribers and everyone on the waitlist starting today. pic.twitter.com/kxgFQFo7BB
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) April 16, 2026
Original post:
Artificial intelligence search engine company Perplexity just unveiled what it calls Personal Computer. It’s not a new piece of hardware, but a layer of software that transforms a Mac — specifically an M4 Mac mini in the company’s promotions — into a tireless AI employee.
It works around the clock, coordinates other artificial intelligence systems, accesses your local files and can be controlled from anywhere in the world. Mac users might be intrigued. Privacy advocates may not be so sure.
Apple will reportedly send a sizable share of its Siri development team to an intensive, multi-week bootcamp to improve their AI coding skills. To be clear, the employees won’t be learning how to make an AI, but how to use AI to develop.
It’s part of a push to finally complete the revamp of Apple’s voice assistant that the company promised years ago.
Google brought its Gemini AI assistant directly to Mac, launching a new native macOS app on Wednesday. The app makes it easy to share what’s on your computer’s screen with the AI.
It’s designed to be more tightly integrated with the user’s workflow than the web version.
A new AI voice recorder promises to solve one of the most persistent frustrations for professionals who live on calls — capturing both sides of a conversation via Bluetooth even when you wear headphones, and without requring bots, subscriptions or complicated setup. It’s the new HiDock P1 AI Voice Recorder.
Apple is working to upgrade Siri so the voice assistant can handle multiple requests at once, according to an unconfirmed report from Bloomberg. The feature would let users combine several commands into a single query instead of issuing them one at a time.
It’s apparently part of a much larger project to inject some real intelligence into Siri. Artificial intelligence.
Apple is planning a major shift for Siri in iOS 27, opening the voice assistant up to multiple third-party AI services, not just ChatGPT, according to a report published Thursday.
If true, this means iPhone users will be able to route Siri requests to different AI models, such as Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude, depending on their preference.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: The surprise release of AirPods Max 2 gives us plenty to talk about (including all the things Apple didn’t fix about the high-end headphones).
Plus, special guest Christina Warren (developer advocate at GitHub and co-host of the MacBreak Weekly podcast) joins us for a deep dive into one of Leander’s favorite topics — OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent that’s got everyone snapping up Mac minis, and the rise of agentic coding.
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
Over the past few years, the artificial intelligence race looked like a story about infrastructure. Which company can build the biggest, most power-hungry data center, stock it with the most Nvidia GPUs and spend the most money? OpenAI, Amazon, Google, xAI — they’re all in a competition to build industrial-scale computing factories just to run the most powerful AI models. But it looks like developer Dan Woods just upended that story by running a data-center AI model on MacBook.
And that could mean Apple wins the AI race after all.
AI prompt generator VibeFarm gives you a new way to write, revise and reuse AI prompts so you achieve the best results in the shortest time. Just use this simple but sophisticated tool to create the perfect prompt, then feed it to your AI of choice.
After you achieve your goal, you can use VibeFarm to easily tweak your prompt and reproduce similarly stellar results time and time again. And right now, a lifetime subscription to VibeFarm costs just $99.99 (regularly $539).
CareerSprinter Pro gives you lifetime access to AI-powered resume, interview and salary tools that help you job hunt smarter and move your career forward with confidence — for a one-time payment of $49.99.
It’s easy to lose track of your projects when all your ideas and notes are scattered across different apps. If you want a simpler way to get organized, try Hive AI. This browser-based workspace pulls documents, visual boards and structured data into one place — and adds AI tools to help you clean things up faster.
It’s part workspace, part AI-integrated project manager, and it’s great for working alone or collaborating with others. Right now, you can get a lifetime subscription to Hive AI for just $79 (regularly $619).
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: The “special Apple Experience” planned for March 4 doesn’t sound like a typical Apple event. What could it be? And what new hardware will we see?
It definitely doesn’t look like Apple CEO Tim Cook will be hitting us with his standard “good mooooorning” … we go over the possibilities.
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
The courses in the 2026 Complete Generative AI Mastery Bundle will teach you how to use AI for automation, advanced content production, project management and more. We’re talking real-world workflows that will help you get more done every day.
And right now, you can get these seven generative AI courses, with 43.5 hours of instruction, for just $29.99 (MSRP $140).