Linked List: October 27, 2026

Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Siri AI Expands to More Languages in OS 27.2 ★

Apple Newsroom yesterday:

With the 27.2 software updates released today, Siri AI — an entirely new version of Siri that is profoundly more capable, conversational, and personal — is expanding to more people around the world, with availability now in the French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish languages. [...]

Siri AI is currently unavailable in the EU in iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Apple is working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward.

Don’t hold your breath. (Or if you prefer, N’y comptez pas trop.)

Apple Creator Studio Updated With a Slew of AI Features, Along With a New Open JSON File Format for Keynote ★

Apple Newsroom, with software news for Apple’s “Pro and Tell” week:

Apple today introduced transformative updates to Apple Creator Studio, the powerful collection of creative apps designed to put studio-grade tools into the hands of modern creators across Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Final Cut Pro for Mac now includes built-in MotionVFX — an expansive collection of visual effects, plug-ins, transitions, templates, and motion graphics tools — as well as seamless editing in Pixelmator Pro. Apple’s curated Content Hub now includes video assets and is available in Final Cut Pro. Music creators using Logic Pro for Mac gain a new intelligent assistant in beta, an enhanced Stem Splitter that now separates drums, and a redesigned Browser that incorporates all sounds, with music understanding and even a Splice library. Pixelmator Pro introduces Generate Fill, which lets creators transform selected areas of an image using natural language. Keynote, Pages, and Numbers introduce new AI features in beta, including assistants that understand document context and new Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for workflow automation. They also add stock video in the Content Hub and new premium themes and templates.

Apple Creator Studio updates will be available on the App Store this November as a free update for existing subscribers.

That’s a lot. But this part at the end caught my eye:

Across Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, the Content Hub expands to include Apple-curated stock video footage, giving creators dynamic visuals to enhance presentations, reports, and spreadsheets. Subscribers also gain access to a fresh collection of professionally designed templates and themes. Keynote introduces support for Keynote Interchange Format (.keyx), an open JSON-based bundle file format designed to be readable and accessible to external tools, developer workflows, and AI agents.

Jesse Bunch, engineering manager for productivity apps at Apple, on X and LinkedIn:

Our new in-app assistants can help you get things done in record time. MCP allows you to bring your own agent if you want. And an open source format for Keynote (and Python library!) so you can create Keynote documents programmatically on any platform. Huge day for Creator Studio today.

I don’t think the Python library for the new Keynote Interchange Format is out yet, but neither are the updates to the Creator Studio apps. Very cool news, along the same lines as the new JSON-based format for Xcode projects that Apple announced last month.

What’s Left for ‘Pro and Tell’ Week: Touch-Enabled OLED MacBooks ★

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple on Wednesday will announce 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring touch-enabled OLED displays with thinner bezels, a Dynamic Island instead of a notch, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and a lighter and slightly thinner design, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports. Apple is hosting a private “Pro and tell” experience in Los Angeles starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time tomorrow.

I’m here in LA for the press shindig tomorrow. One thing I’ve been thinking about regarding these reported touch-enabled OLED MacBooks is that Gurman has reported for months that these new MacBooks will sport M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Here’s Gurman back on June 26:

The MacBook models, positioned at the top of Apple’s lineup, will arrive between late this year and early next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They’re planned to be powered by the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. [...]

The first touch-screen 14-inch and 16-inch models, code-named K114 and K116, will represent the biggest overhaul of Apple’s high-end laptops since the company began moving away from Intel Corp. chips in 2020. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s plans.

Apple’s decision to use the M5 line before jumping to a future M7 is part of a broader shift in its chip strategy. The company is skipping M6-generation Pro and Max chips altogether, breaking from its usual approach. Bloomberg News reported on this strategy earlier this week.

If that’s all true, it’s certainly unusual for Apple to skip the Pro and Max variants for the M6 chip generation. But there have been oddities with the higher-end Apple Silicon chips before. (There was no M4 Ultra chip, for example, and the M3 Ultra didn’t appear until the March 2025 Mac Studio update, 18 months after the M3 generation debuted.) But what I would find downright weird is the possibility of shipping a second generation of MacBook Pro models based on the exact same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that the current generation offers. They only came out in March. So what’s the idea here? That Apple replaces the current higher-end MacBook Pros with versions whose only upgrades are to the chassis and display, but the performance remains the same? That’s certainly possible, I guess, but it would be weird.

So I’m just wondering if tomorrow’s new touchscreen OLED MacBooks aren’t replacements for the current MacBook Pros, but instead are the start of a new MacBook family with another name. I don’t think they’d call them MacBook “Duos”, because they’re not two-in-one devices. MacBook “Ultras”, maybe — with the same specs as the MacBook Pros but more expensive displays? But “Ultra” seems like a wrong name for a MacBook because Apple’s M-series Ultra chips are (to date at least) desktop only. It’d be weird if the M5 Ultra is exclusive to the Mac Studio while the MacBook “Ultra” maxes out with the M5 Max. So maybe they just are the new MacBook Pros and this first OLED/touch generation uses the same chips as the ones from March?

That’s what I’m most curious about heading into tomorrow.

Apple Also Announces iMac With M6 ★

Just a speed bump, but speed bumps are good.

Pricing and configurations:

M6 with 2 Thunderbolt ports:
    Base price:    $1500

    RAM:   16 GB      +0
           24 GB    +200

    SSD:  256 GB      +0
          512 GB    +200
            1 TB    +500


M6 with 4 Thunderbolt ports:
    Base price:    $1700

    RAM:   16 GB      +0
           24 GB    +200

    SSD:  256 GB      +0
          512 GB    +200
            1 TB    +500
            2 TB   +1000


    Base price:    $2300

    RAM:   32 GB      +0

    SSD:  512 GB      +0
            1 TB    +300
            2 TB    +800

I list a separate base price for the 4-port, 32 GB RAM configuration in the table above because with 32 GB of RAM, the base storage goes from 256 to 512 GB. It’s effectively a $400 RAM upgrade and $200 SSD upgrade that are tied together, and that changes the upgrade prices to move up to 1 or 2 TB of SSD storage.

Nano-texture is a $200 upgrade, and the 2-Thunderbolt-port models have a $30 option for 2.5 gigabit Ethernet (by default it’s Wi-Fi only). The Ethernet port is on the power adapter. The 4-port models come with the Ethernet equipped power adapter.

Apple Introduces New Base MacBook Pro With M6, 14-Inch-Only ★

Apple Newsroom’s “Pro and Tell” announcement week continues:

Apple today announced the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, delivering even more performance, powerful on-device AI capabilities, and faster connectivity for college students, business users, creators, and more. M6 features an advanced 12-core CPU with the world’s fastest CPU core, so everything from productivity tasks to more demanding pro workflows feels incredibly fast and responsive. The 12-core GPU delivers up to 30 percent faster graphics and up to 25 percent faster AI workloads when compared to M5, making the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 a compelling value for users who need serious power. For those upgrading from M1, the performance gains are even more significant, with up to 11× faster graphics and up to 13× faster AI performance. With additional Neural Accelerators in the GPU and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, M6 turns MacBook Pro into an even more powerful platform for AI — from taking advantage of Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features across apps and macOS to running LLMs locally, all while preserving user privacy. In addition, the 14-inch MacBook Pro features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, while superfast storage makes working with large files, exporting projects, and running demanding AI workflows fly.

I questioned Apple’s decision to close up “superfast” there, but I stand corrected — it is, in fact, a perfectly cromulent adjective. I learn something every day.

Anyway, this is just the base MacBook Pro, the one that’s more like a MacBook Air Plus than a true professional laptop with an M-series Pro or Max chip. This tier of MacBook Pro has only ever been offered in the smaller 14-inch size. Prices seem unchanged from the post-June-price-hike M5 models:

Base price:     $2000

  RAM:  16 GB      +0
        24 GB    +200
        32 GB    +400

  SSD:   1 TB      +0
         2 TB    +500
         4 TB   +1500

Space black and silver colors, and nano-texture is available for $150 extra.