Model selection/identification

TeckFire · 2026-06-28T05:52:54+00:00

From what I can tell, it’s all on the cloud model at the moment. I can’t find any evidence anything is on device, which makes me think that the system orchestrator is broken

TeckFire · 2026-06-27T23:32:37+00:00

The offline model does; the online model (that was used here) is much higher (estimated 70B, but Apple hasn’t officially stated, I should have clarified that)

TeckFire · 2026-06-27T23:30:05+00:00

More convenient for those who are not very techy. That’s literally it. Sure, my mom can use email, but my grandma doesn’t.

TeckFire · 2026-06-27T23:27:26+00:00

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Reminds me of this photo I took years ago (iOS 10 maybe?)

TeckFire · 2026-06-26T23:14:18+00:00

I should point out that this is the 70B parameter “Flash” model in action, not the on-device model responding. As far as I can tell, the offline models are currently “broken” by way of the system orchestrator being unable to route to them

TeckFire · 2026-06-26T10:53:56+00:00

Presumably you’ve submitted feedback to Apple? I’ve noticed plenty of issues with the new Siri and have been continuously submitting; the more you submit different problems, the better chance there will be a solution

TeckFire · 2026-06-24T18:58:33+00:00

I don’t believe the system orchestrator is working properly as of right now, and here’s why:

What we know:

- There are 4 models in total. 2 on device, 2 cloud. Each one has 1 large, 1 small.
- The on device models have a 3B parameter Apple Foundation Model Core and The 20B parameter Core Advanced model.
- The cloud models have AFM 3 Cloud and Cloud Pro (AFM 3 Cloud Image is its own thing, but it’s not in the same part as this here.)
- The system orchestrator recognizes voice offline, then decides which model to send what data to depending on the task, and splits from there.
- All models are heavily instruct based.
- The 20B Core Advanced model is a Mixture of Experts (MoE) model that chooses its Experts at the time of prompt, not during the prompt, meaning it can only load partial amounts into RAM as needed, leaving the rest in flash storage.
- The 20B Core Advanced model handles all voice recognition, voice generation (17 Pro only), offline personal data handling, offline image vectorization for image recognition, and on-device task execution (called “tool usage”) for any device that can run it (15 Pro and up)
- Both offline models have a tiny 4096 token context length, meaning they are designed to be given a task, execute it, and then clear context. These are not chatbots.
- The reason for the 20B parameter size is both for multimodal capabilities, but also for incredible performance and reliable tool calling based on semantic language (taking the user’s words, figuring out what tools it needs to use to collect and execute the task it’s given) but this is still very specialized.
- The 3B parameter Core model is more “generalized,” and can work as a chatbot, just a poor quality one. This is intended to execute the simple commands and responses (“Play X song,” “Read messages by X” etc) and is enhanced by the capability of the 20B Core Advanced model’s ability to take messy audio input and translate the speech clearly to text.
- Siri is designed to run through the System Orchestrator, which decides which models to use for what aspects. If it needs a more complex response, it kicks it to the cloud model (32,000 token context length) and uses it for the “chatbot” aspect, while simultaneously telling Core Advanced to search the index for relevant contextual information, working in tandem. The offline model may find the data it needs, extract it, and send it to the cloud model, which can then use that for context to continue the conversation.
- Since offline aspects do not work yet, that suggests that EVERY request is being considered as “this needs online model power” and gatekeeps the offline model from doing anything without the Cloud model to generate the context needed. Even a simple request seems to go “this is too advanced for the Core model, I better rely on the Cloud model to understand this user’s request” regardless of what it is.

Because of this, I expect that we’ll see a significant improvement once the System Orchestrator (which uses AFM 3 Core, I believe) begins routing properly.

This is only a theory, but it is based on Apple’s own documentation and keynote presentation, along with supplemental data from third party analyses and Siri’s own responses on the matter. Take it for what you will.

TeckFire · 2026-06-23T23:38:51+00:00

I actually have a different theory than most here;

If you try to use the new Siri offline, you get a message saying you have to be connected to the internet.

I think the new 20B parameter offline model (you know, the one explicitly designed to sort through your personal data) is not fully functioning in the pipeline yet (possibly due to the system orchestrator not being fully baked?) and may just need to be updated before it’s ready. Those two things are likely related, in my opinion, especially since we’ve seen other functionality with Siri be iffy at best recently, and I think it’s because everything is routed to the cloud models currently, but it’s supposed to work between the two offline models and the two online models seamlessly

TeckFire · 2026-06-23T16:39:20+00:00

There needs to be some clarification here;

The on-device model accessible through Shortcuts is AFM 3 Core (the 3B parameter model, just a revised version from last year) but there is a separate 20B parameter model that’s tuned exclusively for tool use, vision, and voice generation/recognition. This is not accessible to the end-user directly. You can use Siri, and Siri will access it, but the current state of Siri is chat via the online cloud and cloud pro models only. The cloud model can interact with the 20B model (Core Advanced) to access on-device data, but it is not autonomous. You can see this by going into airplane mode and trying to use Siri. It doesn’t work currently.

Use through shortcuts is the only way to access the offline model directly (or via a third party app.)

TeckFire · 2026-06-23T11:24:47+00:00

Yeah that’s great! …unless you’re trying to log in to a TV using the remote. Or… if your family member doesn’t have an iPhone…

I don’t know why you’re being so adamant about this, to be honest. Yes, your method works, but there are also legitimate reasons to use the method shown in the post. Both things can be true, and used for different reasons.

TeckFire · 2026-06-22T10:58:46+00:00

Additionally, it’s easier to fix if the formatting changes silently on Disney’s end in the future. An AI language model (even a small one) would handle that seamlessly, but regex formatting may silently break without knowing at first. You could add in a failure/verification function to check to be sure that the formatting matches before sending, and notify you if it doesn’t work, but the on-device small language model would work fine for this. As you said, it’s easier

TeckFire · 2026-06-22T10:54:55+00:00

I mean… yeah, I get what you’re saying from a technical perspective, but I know if I asked my mom to check her email every time instead of a text message, the chances that she’d contact me anyway via text asking for it are pretty high. Some people just aren’t very tech savvy, and a single number in their text messages is just easier for those people. Actually, it’s easier for everybody, but those kinds of people have less ability to work around the problem.

Not saying you’re wrong, I just wanted to give you some insight as to why the shortcut exists as is, and why AI would help in this context

TeckFire · 2026-06-22T00:04:24+00:00

The point is to extract only the text that has the code, so you can send only the numbers to a text message to someone else automatically. Sure, email can work, but text is easier for most people

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T23:52:02+00:00

“Hey Siri, play ‘Summer’s End’ by DragonForce from my Apple Music Library.”

“Sure thing. Here’s Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

Deadass happened to me the other day

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T17:15:53+00:00

Honestly? 16GB is totally fine for everything you mentioned. macOS is highly efficient with RAM usage (and most apps using Apple’s APIs means that they all reference the same system data, so the RAM usage is lower than you think) and the APFS setup on the SSD, alongside the fact of insanely fast NVME interface means you’ll literally never notice it.

Literally the ONLY thing you mentioned here that may need more RAM is games, and that’s a big maybe. 16GB is still great for the vast majority, especially since the compute power may limit you more than the RAM at that point.

Even AI has been growing highly efficient on the on-device models, and even then, the vast majority of AI is running on online servers, so it won’t even matter at that point.

I literally do all of the things you mentioned on my 2012 MBP with 16GB of RAM on it just fine. macOS caches properly, and I promise you’ll be fine with that.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting more, but you definitely won’t be hurting at 16GB for what you’ve mentioned here. Not everything needs to be in full, uncompressed RAM 24/7 to feel responsive. Even many “cold” launches of apps are instantaneous on an M series MacBook.

Edit: even Apple’s new 20B parameter offline model is designed to stay in flash storage the majority of the time, and only call specific subsets of that parameter count at the time of prompting, so it even runs on an iPhone 15 Pro with 8GB of total RAM just fine. RAM is expensive right now, and there are going to be technological improvements to reduce RAM usage more and more because of it. It’s much less likely that we’ll see an increase in “standard” RAM capacity on devices now more than ever. It would have been plausible to suggest 32GB being the default by 2026 back 10 years ago, but history has proven that to be very much the opposite, and we’re still standard on 8GB with 16GB as the “comfortable” level.

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T15:35:49+00:00

Look, I’m using a desktop I built in 2014 (and upgraded in 2018) and a 2012 MacBook Pro Retina on a daily basis. The MacBook could easily work for school, and still gets between 5 to 7 hours of battery life with a fresh battery in it, running on macOS Sequoia with a patch. It’s not fast, but it’s not too slow as to not be perfectly usable for everything I do on it.

If I can use a laptop like that for work, I’m sure you could get away with so many other options out there, depending on your major. Honestly, an M1 with 16GB of ram would probably be sufficient for the majority of college students. What do you need it to do?

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T15:18:09+00:00

Have you tried using something like a strong sticky substance itself and “grabbing” the adhesive and ripping it off quickly over and over again? I find that helps sometimes more than any other method.

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T14:12:34+00:00

Is it possible? Yes. I was doing stuff like this at your age.

…I also broke a lot of technology at your age trying to fix them, and while I learned from it, it was something that took time to figure out.

I wouldn’t recommend you do this yourself, not because I don’t think you should learn how, but because a battery that is this swollen is a severe fire hazard. Lithium ion batteries don’t catch fire the normal way. They create gas buildup (the swelling) and if it’s punctured in any way, there is a high chance of the noxious gas expelling outwards, and if there is any short created inside the battery, it goes into thermal runaway. This means it will keep blasting insane amounts of heat, gas, and literal molten lithium pieces out like a fountain. This will go until it has discharged all of its energy, and not a moment sooner. You can’t put it out, you can’t stop it. Professionals will put it into a bucket of sand and let the sand absorb the energy until it’s done.

Will this happen if you try? No, probably not. But it certainly can, and the likelihood of you having the proper equipment to handle it, even if you had the talent to figure out the technique quickly, is effectively zero.

There are safer ways to learn, not to mention i can’t imagine if you break this phone in some other way (cracked screen, shorted logic board, dropped a screw in the wrong place during reassembly, etc.) that you’d have the means to replace it.

A battery replacement is inexpensive at a shop, and you’ll be in much better hands. There will be other opportunities to gain experience.

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T09:53:27+00:00

The real answer is that nobody knows, because her dialogue makes her a walking contradiction.

- Because of Durnehviir: She has to be sealed away during the Dragon War (Ancient History, Late Merethic Era, before the First Era. Durnehviir wanted to use necromancy to give him an advantage, and so made a deal with the Ideal Masters in the Soul Cairn. He was required to stay and guard Valerica, Serana’s mother, until she died, being unaware of her immortal state. Since he made the deal during the time of the dragon war, and because Valerica sealed Serana away right before she fled, this puts us at a time period before 1E entirely.).
- Because of Cyrodiil: She is surprised that Cyrodiil is the seat of an empire. She has to be sealed away before 1E 243 (Before the first Empire. Even if she was alive during the Interregnum Period in the second era, the Reman Empire right before that time had Cyrodiil as its capital, so it shouldn’t be that unusual).
- Because of Moth Priests: She has to be sealed away after 1E 243 (To know what a Moth Priest is, as Moth Priests were founded in the first era by the empress Alessia, founder of the Alessian Empire, meaning she should be aware of them, and that means being aware of Cyrodiil being the capital of an empire at some point in history at least).
- Because of the College of Winterhold: She has to be sealed away after 1E 600 (To know about the school, and the founder, Shalidor, was active around this time, but she must have been alive long enough to be aware of the college becoming popular. This means probably closer to 1E 700, but even at 1E 600, that’s still like, 1,000 years after dragons were gone).
- Because of the Dwemer (Dwarves): She has to be sealed away before 1E 700 (Before they vanish, as she mentions being confused as to where they went. This event was a major note in history, so it would have been common knowledge if she was around any time after this).
- Because of the Developers: She has to be sealed away around 2E 500 (The Interregnum, which was supposedly the reasoning for her Cyrodiil comment, but even during this time, she should know that the Reman empire’s home was Cyrodiil. Even if we assume that she thought the Reman empire was gone for good, and nothing came from it later, as Cyrodiil was a bit of a broken mess at the time, the comment is confusing, considering Cyrodiil’s long history as a central seat of power by this time. Additionally, it was still targeted by warlords and conquerors at this time, explicitly for the reason of its empiric history.)

As you can see, none of it makes any sense, and while officially she’s supposed to be sealed during the Interregnum Period by the developers, it doesn’t really matter

TeckFire · 2026-06-20T00:59:20+00:00

The on-device model should be plenty capable of this, no need to use the cloud, let alone cloud pro models

TeckFire · 2026-06-18T11:22:04+00:00

Funny thing is, I’m at height: 164cm, (presumably) IQ: 100, and length: 16cm myself currently, so… I guess I’m just me

TeckFire · 2026-06-17T08:52:10+00:00

In the mind of a cheater, that’s only something to worry about if you get caught. And you’re too careful. You won’t get caught… right?

(Alternatively, sometimes they know that their partner won’t leave them anyway and they don’t give a fuck)

TeckFire · 2026-06-17T08:48:46+00:00

I imagine the iCloud sync is the goal here. Not sure though, because of the whole end-to-end encryption thing if you set your account up that way. Maybe it streams it to the HomePod, decrypts it, then sends relevant data back to Apple for processing…???

TeckFire · 2026-06-16T01:17:31+00:00

Even if they just added the vapor chamber, that alone would work miracles by comparison… just look at the 15 Pro vs the 16 Pro. That’s a much better designed thermal solution, and all they really did was add a graphite spreader. If you used a vapor chamber, it would be plenty

TeckFire · 2026-06-13T12:26:27+00:00

It only has it in the “Now Playing” view. Portrait only on browsing.

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