There’s going to be a significant shift in how AI works across Apple’s devices, and you’re going to be at its center. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, iOS 27 and its major siblings (iPadOS 27 and macOS 27) will allow users to select from competing third-party AI models to handle tasks across core Apple Intelligence features.
I’d like you to think of it as using your TV’s remote to set the desired channel and watch it, except the remote is iOS 27 and the channels are some of the most popular AI models that you’ve been using elsewhere.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
What exactly is Apple changing here?
The feature is internally called “Extensions.” It will let you head into Settings and choose which AI service powers the Apple Intelligence tools on your device. These include Writing Tools (for proofreading and summarizing), Image Playground (for generating stickers, funny images, etc.), and, most importantly, Siri.
It’s like choosing the default search engine or the default app for streaming music. You should be able to select AI models from providers that opt in through their App Store apps. The report mentions that Apple has already conducted test runs with Google and Anthropic, making Gemini and Claude likely early options.
Until now, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been the only external AI option baked into Apple Intelligence, enjoying exclusive reach across over two billion active devices. However, with multiple AI models on the same device, ChatGPT might lose that position.
The report adds how ChatGPT engagement on Apple devices came short of what both companies anticipated. It also looks like they’re growing apart, as reports that OpenAI is actively poaching Apple engineers for its own hardware plans have been circulating online.
For everyday users, the payoff here is real choice. You’ll actually have control over assigning an AI model to a particular Apple Intelligence tool and use it or change it at your will. In my opinion, Apple’s pivot from AI builder to AI marketplace is a calculated hedge, allowing the company to monetize access to its ecosystem instead of developing its own AI models from scratch.
With the start of April, Netflix is welcoming entertaining movies that will be available to stream for the foreseeable future. One of the new movies I’m ready to watch is Thrash, a new shark movie where the Jaws-like creatures wreak havoc on a coastal town during a hurricane. It might only be spring, but I’ll watch this type of survival thriller any time of the year.
Speaking of thrillers, there are several prominent movies featured on the genre page. My top pick for thrillers this week is a gritty punk-rock film, now streaming on Netflix in the U.S. The other two thrillers we want to spotlight are a twisty crime tale from the 1990s and an allegorical dystopian mystery set in prison.
3
The Platform
Maybe don’t watch on a full stomach
Read what I wrote under the title again. The Platformis not for viewers with queasy stomachs. I have a strong stomach, and yet there are several moments when certain prisoners chow down where I wanted to look away. Between that and the violence, watching before dinner might be the move.
In a dystopian future, there is a prison called the Vertical Self-Management Center. Two prisoners are stationed on each floor, and there is a giant hole in the center. Every day, a platform filled with food lowers to the floor. Prisoners can have as much food as they want when the platform is on their level. However, they can no longer eat when the platform lowers to the next floor. The higher you are in the building, the more food you’ll have at your disposal. The lower floors are left to eat the scraps.
The Platform has much to say about social inequality and greed. I did not expect the Spanish thriller to be as gory as it was. This movie reflects how society treats the rich and the poor, so I should have expected a few uprisings. Overall, it’s a surprisingly effective thriller.
2
Wild Things
A steamy thriller from the 1990s
The following phrase is meant as a compliment: Wild Thingsis sexy trash. It is unapologetically lustful. It’s like playing Mad Libs with an erotic thriller. Plus, its attractive cast—Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Kevin Bacon—adds to the appeal.
In Miami, high school counselor Sam Lombardo (Dillon) is accused of raping popular student Kelly Van Ryan (Richards) and outcast Suzie Toller (Campbell). Sam then hires sleazy lawyer Kenneth Bowden (Murray) to defend him at trial. As the case progresses, Detective Duquette (Bacon) remains suspicious of the girls’ motives and questions whether Sam is innocent.
I’m being intentionally vague in my synopsis because of the significant twists this movie takes. Even if you guess one of the twists, more will follow. It approaches parody with how ridiculous it is, but I’m a sucker for this movie. It’s a soap opera with scandal, murder, and sexual longing. Wild Things is a scripted version of your favorite reality TV show.
1
Caught Stealing
Austin Butler races around New York City
Austin Butler has the “it factor.” Ever since Elvis, Hollywood has been pushing Butler as one of its future stars. The 34-year-old has the looks and skills of an A-list talent. He has good taste, as evidenced by the directors he works with, a list that includes Quentin Tarantino, Jeff Nichols, Denis Villeneuve, Ari Aster, and Darren Aronofsky.
Butler headlined Aronofsky’s 2025 crime thriller Caught Stealing. In the late 1990s, Hank (Butler) is a bartender living in New York City. Hank had aspirations of playing in the MLB, but a car accident derailed his opportunity. One day, Hank’s neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to look after his cat. That small task somehow leads to Hank going on the run from Russian mobsters.
Butler is the perfect actor for this star-making performance that would have taken him to new heights had it come out in the 1990s. Caught Stealing was considered a box office flop—$32 million on an estimated budget of $40 million. I don’t necessarily blame Butler for the poor box office. I think the August 29 release date played a role in its poor performance. Butler’s inclusion in a project might not lead to significant financial gains. However, I appreciate that he made a grimy mid-budget crime thriller that has seemingly disappeared from today’s movie landscape. If Butler’s down to make more crime capers with breakneck action and frenetic pacing, sign me up.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
