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The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has published this year’s Telecommunications, Cell Phone, and Smartwatch Study. Here’s how the iPhone and the Apple Watch did. more…
Every May, Apple previews new accessibility features coming to devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The announcement typically occurs a few days before Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and it offers a glimpse into what will be included in the next major releases of Apple's software platforms, such as iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. This year, one of the new capabilities shown off by Apple is natural language support for the Voice Control feature on the iPhone and iPad. Voice Control is receiving an Apple Intelligence upgrade that will make the feature "more intuitive than ever," according to Apple. Specifically, iPhone and iPad users will be able to describe on-screen buttons and controls with natural language, instead of having to remember exact labels, numbers, or descriptions like before. For example, users will be able to say things like "tap the guide about best restaurants" in Apple Maps or "tap the purple folder" in the Files app. Voice Control powered by Apple Intelligence will initially be available in English in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia, according to Apple. AI-powered Voice Control hints at the more personalized version of Siri that Apple first announced all the way back at WWDC 2024. At the time, Apple said Siri would gain on-screen awareness, which would essentially turn the assistant into an AI agent that is capable of understanding natural language and taking action for you. Correct me if I'm wrong but it sure looks like Apple just casually dropped agentic AI being built into iPhone Yes, in this video it's being used for Voice Control, but if a person can control their iPhone with natural language so can an AI agent! pic.twitter.com/S6DQOiQGsO — Dylan (@DylanMcD8) May 19, 2026 Apple's own example was an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps, and it was later reported that Siri will be able to do things such as comment on an Instagram post, or scroll through a shopping app and add something to your cart. Overall, the revamped Siri is expected to have a better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. In March 2025, Apple announced that these capabilities were delayed until later this year. The new-and-improved Siri is expected to be a tentpole feature of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 , which will be unveiled on June 8 and should be released to the public in September. The more personalized Siri will likely require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, a Mac with an M1 chip or newer, or an iPad with an A17 Pro or M1 chip or newer. Related Roundup: iOS 27 Tags: Accessibility , Apple Intelligence , Siri This article, " iOS 27's New AI Voice Control Feature Hints at Major Siri Upgrade Coming Soon " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
Apple this week previewed new accessibility features that are coming later this year, and one is particularly notable: automatic captions for personal videos. For videos that do not already have captions, Apple said a new on-device speech recognition model can automatically generate them for spoken audio. According to Apple, this feature will be available for videos that you record on your iPhone, videos that you receive from friends and family, and videos that are streamed online. The automatic captions will initially be limited to English in the U.S. and Canada. Apple ensured that the captions are generated privately, and you will be able to customize their appearance in the video playback menu or in the Settings app. The feature will be supported across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, with the "later this year" timing pointing to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27. Apple will unveil those software versions during its WWDC 2026 keynote, which begins on Monday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time , so we expect to learn more about this feature and its exact implementation in a few weeks from now. Related Roundup: iOS 27 Tag: Accessibility This article, " Apple Says iOS 27 Can Automatically Add Captions to Your Personal iPhone Videos " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
Samsung has edged past Apple for the top spot in customer satisfaction for cell phones, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 2026 Telecommunications, Cell Phone, and Smartwatch Study , published this week. Samsung scores 81 in the ACSI's cell phone rankings while Apple posts 80, breaking last year's tie between the two companies for satisfaction leadership. The overall cell phone industry score rose 1% to 79 this year, recovering from a sharp 4% decline in 2025 that had pushed it to its lowest point in a decade. The ACSI says satisfaction improves most when new features translate into everyday value without introducing new pain points, citing battery life tradeoffs as an example. AI integration, measured by the ACSI for the first time, scores 85 overall, signaling that customers are not only aware of AI features but find them useful, while improvements in battery life, up 5% to 81. For the cell phone industry, the highest-rated customer experience metrics are the fundamental functions of making phone calls and sending text messages, both scoring 86. AI feature performance debuts at 85, nearly matching those top table-stakes interactions, suggesting that AI is moving from novelty to practical utility for many customers. Among new flagship owners, Samsung's latest Galaxy S-series leads at 84, followed by new iPhone owners at 82, with Google's flagship models scoring 80. Satisfaction with flagship models overall scores 82, far outpacing legacy phones at 76 and foldables at 72. In the foldable segment, Samsung holds a clear lead with an ACSI score of 80, which is 8 points ahead of Google at 72 and 10 points ahead of Motorola at 70. The ACSI notes that foldable owners are three times as likely to complain as non-foldable owners, and says competitive dynamics in the segment may shift as Apple's rumored entry into the foldable market is anticipated for later this year. Apple is widely expected to debut a foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models this fall, featuring a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch cover screen, priced at around $2,000. In the smartwatch category, Apple holds steady at 80, while Samsung drops 4% to create a first-place tie at the top of the leaderboard. Customer experience characteristics of smartwatches are universally rated higher this year at the industry level, with the biggest gains including ease of navigating menus and settings, up 7% to 80, and app and accessory connectivity, up 5% to 83. The ACSI study is based on 26,963 completed surveys, with customers contacted via email between April 2025 and March 2026. Tag: Samsung This article, " Samsung Overtakes Apple for Top Smartphone Customer Satisfaction " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
