Apple is continuing to improve the AI Support Assistant that it is testing in the Apple Support app, introducing new functionality in the latest update.
In addition to answering questions about Apple devices and services and providing device-specific help, Apple says the Support Assistant is able to help run diagnostics to show details about a device's health and performance.
The Apple Support app now has a more informative interface for the Support Assistant, and the tab for accessing the feature has an updated "Ask" label with a new icon instead of a "Chat" label. Apple is no longer calling the Support Assistant an "Early Preview," suggesting it is now available in a more official capacity.
Despite the update, the Support Assistant remains limited, and it is not yet available to all users. It's possible that Apple has expanded the feature to a larger number of testers, but not everyone will see it yet.
Apple began testing the Support Assistant last August. The tool uses AI to answer questions related to Apple support, and it is able to walk users through step-by-step solutions for common problems.
If the Support Assistant is unable to solve a problem, users are able to escalate a request to Apple's support staff for further help.
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker.
Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...
That's nice. The only discourse I've had with this thing is spamming "Live agent" until a real human being takes over and I can get my issue solved. But hey, keep wasting billions on this nonsense, Apple.
Having spent days with the AI «support» of Adobe and Adidas these past months, in endless loops of helplessness of the machine agent – this is not the way to go. Support is such an important part of your brandscape, you do not at ALL ever in any fashion give this over to digital agents that are much worse than even the free ChatGPT experience. It does not solve the problem. I think that making information available via AI, that having assistants online for simple problems, making support databases dialogue-based why not?
But when you **** up as a company and your client needs help, because your system is broken, you have a bug, you made an error... don't hide behind AI-crap.
In all cases I had, the best result was a real human, ideally of a higher support level with a certain experience, that solved the mess.
Except for Adobe, where a very simple problem was obviously too much and even after calling a number that is noooowhere on their site and which I found by googling in a forum and finalllllly had a human being in my ear... they could not solve a simple account-mess they did with my CC sub. I had to cancel my Adobe-Stock-subscription and lost 90 credits in the process, while the support dude actually still tried to hard-sell me on the Acrobat-AI-nonsense that really no one ever will need. Adobe is great, but they kill their brand with that kind of support.
When I want AI-support I can ask Gemini, GPT, Claude, whatever.
When I call Apple because they f*d up SMB or all the Electron Apps make my CPU go nuclear, I want a capable, experienced human being that at least can speak English and find a solution. Via Mail, in a Chat, on the Phone. But sure as hell not a roboChat that explains again and again how sorry it is that it cannot help me and that it understands my frustration that IT IS CAUSING. :-D
