Top Stories: Apple Creator Studio, Google Gemini-Powered Siri, and More

[MacRumors]

We have our first Apple product announcement of 2026, and it's a software subscription known as Apple Creator Studio featuring Apple's video, audio, and image editing apps, as well as some AI-powered features and premium content for iWork apps and Freeform.

In other news this week, Apple made it official that next-generation Siri will leverage Google Gemini, while we got the second round of betas for iOS 26.3 and other updates, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

Top Stories

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Apple this week introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year.

Apps in the bundle include Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro for both Mac and iPad, plus Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac. It also includes some premium content and features for Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Freeform.

As noted, Pixelmator Pro for iPad is included in Apple Creator Studio, and that's a new app making its way from the Mac to a tablet-optimized experience. The existing basic Pixelmator app for iPhone and iPad will, however, no longer be updated.

Apple will continue to offer standalone versions of its pro apps alongside the Creator Studio subscription option, but some content and perhaps some new features may not come to the standalone versions, though they will continue to be updated and receive at least some new features.

Apple Confirms Google Gemini Will Power Next-Generation Siri This Year

Apple and Google this week confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri that is slated to launch later this year. "After 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," the statement said.

It appears the partnership, which is reportedly worth billions of dollars, will extend beyond next-generation Siri, with the companies noting the models will "help power future Apple Intelligence features" including Siri.

Apple Is Expected to Launch These Four MacBooks in 2026

2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop.

Check out our overview of everything we might see in the MacBook lineup this year, with some speculating we could see the first of the releases before the end of this month.

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Following a holiday break, Apple this week seeded a second round of betas for iOS 26.3 and related operating system updates. Among the most notable changes in the latest iOS 26.3 is new references to end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages.

Support for E2EE on RCS would seemingly be part of a larger upgrade to RCS messaging on Apple platforms that would bring the texting experience closer to that of iMessage with several new features.

Beyond potential RCS changes, be sure to check out our full list of everything new in iOS 26.3 so far. We're expecting a public release around the end of this month.

Verizon Goes Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage

Verizon experienced a major outage across the U.S. on Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There were also numerous complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms.

The outage lasted for many hours, with Verizon issuing an apology as service started to come back online. Affected customers can redeem a $20 credit as part of the apology.

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices.

In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Top Stories: Apple Creator Studio, Google Gemini-Powered Siri, and More

 

[Wx_Man]

Apple Intelligence and Siri are now powered by Google Gemini.

The new head of Apple Intelligence is one of Gemini’s creators when he worked at Google.

Apple is paid billions by Google for Google to be the default search engine in Safari which will now be powered by Google’s Gemini.

You’ll now only get “premium” features from Apple software which are powered by Google’s Gemini unless you subscribe to said software. Even once free software that came with your Apple computer or phone.

Yep….”This Week’s Apple News”

The week Apple was taken over by Google and became Microsoft.

 

[AnotherOpinion]

Apple Intelligence and Siri are now powered by Google Gemini.

The new head of Apple Intelligence is one of Gemini’s creators when he worked at Google.

Apple is paid billions by Google for Google to be the default search engine in Safari which will now be powered by Google’s Gemini.

You’ll now only get “premium” features from Apple software which are powered by Google’s Gemini unless you subscribe to said software. Even once free software that came with your Apple computer or phone.

Yep….”This Week’s Apple News”

The week Apple was taken over by Google and became Microsoft.

I agree… it's hugely disappointing that they have waited so long and failed at developing their own, courting other AI sources until finally settling on google's

 

[zoozx]

F Subscriptions of any kind.

 

[cSalmon]

wonder if this is just a future plan for the bean counters to justify killing off apple's software?

 

[bradman83]

I agree… it's hugely disappointing that they have waited so long and failed at developing their own, courting other AI sources until finally settling on google's

I've said this before but it bears repeating - Apple has never, ever been good at developing major software initiatives from scratch. Rather they take an existing product or open source technology and put their own spin on it.

macOS is a descendant of NeXTSTEP which is in turn based on FreeBSD.
iOS/iPadOS/visionOS/watchOS/tvOS all share the same Darwin foundation as macOS and in turn NeXTSTEP.
visionOS was based on acquired technology from Spaces.
Safari was based on KHTML.
iTunes was based on Sound Jam MP.
iDVD/DVD Studio Pro were acquisitions.
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro were acquisitions (and GarageBand was based on Logic Pro).
Siri was an acquisition.
Apple Weather was an acquisition (DarkSky)
Shortcuts was an acquisition (Workflow)

I could go on.

Apple made the right call by outsourcing LLM development to a third party and picking the best one as Apple Intelligence's foundation. It's important to note that Siri and Apple Intelligence are not powered by Gemini itself, rather the LLMs that underpin Gemini which will reportedly be run by Apple on their own servers. This is a bit like how FreeBSD underpins macOS but the Mac is a distinct and unique product.

 

[MacMan988]

If there is one person that does creative work in every possible domain, the creator studio subscription would be an awesome option (i.e a musician, a video editor, a writer, a photographer, and so on)

 

[Wx_Man]

I've said this before but it bears repeating - Apple has never, ever been good at developing major software initiatives from scratch. Rather they take an existing product or open source technology and put their own spin on it.

macOS is a descendant of NeXTSTEP which is in turn based on FreeBSD.
iOS/iPadOS/visionOS/watchOS/tvOS all share the same Darwin foundation as macOS and in turn NeXTSTEP.
visionOS was based on acquired technology from Spaces.
Safari was based on KHTML.
iTunes was based on Sound Jam MP.
iDVD/DVD Studio Pro were acquisitions.
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro were acquisitions (and GarageBand was based on Logic Pro).
Siri was an acquisition.
Apple Weather was an acquisition (DarkSky)
Shortcuts was an acquisition (Workflow)

I could go on.

Apple made the right call by outsourcing LLM development to a third party and picking the best one as Apple Intelligence's foundation. It's important to note that Siri and Apple Intelligence are not powered by Gemini itself, rather the LLMs that underpin Gemini which will reportedly be run by Apple on their own servers. This is a bit like how FreeBSD underpins macOS but the Mac is a distinct and unique product.

So with that excellent distillation of Apple history when can we expect Apple to acquire Google ?

Or more likely Apple become increasingly like Google with the A19 based MacBook….the Chromebook of Apple…the perfect cheap Apple gateway to run rented (ahem) subscription based software from Apple ?

This is a quasi-reverse takeover of Apple by Google. No wonder Sam Altman is ticked off about this. All he got from Apple was a shabbily dressed Jony Ive and some vaporware AI clip on thingie.

 

[Wx_Man]

If there is one person that does creative work in every possible domain, the creator studio subscription would be an awesome option (i.e a musician, a video editor, a writer, a photographer, and so on)

Great. Then let them have a cheaper option to subscribe per year than trying to roll your own individual app bundle by paying full price per app. But don’t hobble each app for people who are willing to pay full price per app but don’t need EVERY app or just dislike subscriptions on principle.

And never….NEVER….force loyal users of built in apps like Pages or Numbers into a subscription just to get additional features or “premium content”.

Or add them to a subscription with the word “Pro” in it.

 

[Wx_Man]

wonder if this is just a future plan for the bean counters to justify killing off apple's software?

Nope. It’s the bean counters’ way of showing Wall Street investors a steady cash flow from software month after month, quarter after quarter, year after year.

It’s a cash flow strategy by Apple to smooth out the ups and downs of their various hardware upgrade cycles which have been historically longer than the plastic crap-tastic world of Windows based tech or even the Chromebook / Android based world.

No…sadly….the paradigm has permanently shifted from ownership to rent. Like their AI efforts Apple was late to the subscription game. But Wall Street forced their hand concerning both paradigms.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

I’ve been using the Gemini app to ask fairly complicated deep and complicated questions and I am satisfied with the straightforward answers.

I’m not chatting. I’m not holding conversations. I’m not dating it and I’m not generating videos or images.

I’m asking it tough questions and reading the links to “sources” to make sense of the answers and I’m pretty impressed.

I’d be happy if Siri could be as smart because she’s not very smart at all.