Carolyn, There is a big difference between using Siri and dictation. Siri is a voice assistant that takes commands and answers questions, while the keyboard microphone is a dictation tool that simply types your spoken words into a text field. When you use Siri, you are asking it to perform an action, like sending a message or setting a reminder. When you tap the microphone on the keyboard, you can freely mix speaking and typing to compose longer texts, emails, or notes.
When using keyboard dictation on your iPhone, you can use a variety of voice commands to format your text, add punctuation, and insert emoji. For example, you can say "new paragraph" or "new line" to format your text, and "period," "question mark," or "exclamation point" to add punctuation. You can also insert emoji by saying the name of the emoji followed by the word "emoji," like "heart emoji". Additionally, you can edit text by saying commands like "select," "delete," "undo," or "redo". while Siri may also enter text like when you say send a text message to Ralph and say I am on my way, that is a Siri command, not dictation. Richard, USA, The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." -- Alan Watts (1915-1973) My web site: <https://www.turner42.com/> https://www.turner42.com From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Carolyn Arnold Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 12:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Apple trade-in? I find dictation to be more reliable by pressing Dictation on the right bottom corner than dictating with Siri. Carolyn Arnold From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 1:25 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Apple trade-in? Yes, I also have a 16 Pro Max and while dictation is still plenty stupid in many cases, even with what by now is almost the final version of iOS 27 Beta, I hope to experiment a bit with how to make the best of it. I have, for example, neve rhad much luck telling Siri during dictation to use numbers as in 1, 2, 3 etc. instead of writing "one", "two", "three" etc. Same goes for telling Siri to capitalize a word or to spell a word I know it will not get right. Maybe this is better in iOS 27. My wife and I both have the Apple Watch Ultra 2 so not too old, but rumours are the Ultra 4 will have more sensors and I look forward to hearing what else they came up with. But I am glad already that they finally fixed this issue where prior to WatchOS 27 the volume sometimes was very loud and could not be changed even if you lowered it with the volume rotor. This was very annoying especially at night. From: 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 10:18 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Apple trade-in? I think you make some good points Sieghard, since I too have the iPhone 16 pro and frankly I'm less likely to upgrade as I do not use dictation that much and what I do, seems more accurate already with the beta. I am interested in possibly a new watch as my series 6 will be 6 years old this year and won't support WatchOS 27. My wife needs a new phone however, as she has the SE 2nd gen and the home button is hardly responding. To get Siri, it has to be held down for probably 6 to 10 seconds. After tomorrow, I hope to convince her to get something new. She should get a new watch as well as she has the watch SE 2nd gen I think it is. Anyway, thanks for the article. Richard, USA, The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." -- Alan Watts (1915-1973) My web site: <https://www.turner42.com/> https://www.turner42.com From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 9:36 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Apple trade-in? I would first wait until we hear reports about this enhanced dictation feature, sometimes a feature which sounds amazing on paper does not live up to the hipe. If it's truly amazing then it would definitely be nice to have if you use dictation a lot which I do, but then again there is the fact that next year it's the 20th anniversary of Apple releasing the first iPhone and it sounds like there could be potentially a lot of changes which sound good and even though I could upgrade this year and again next year financially, it is not usually something I like to do. I just came across this article earlier this morning: iPhone 18 Pro: Nine Reasons Not to Upgrade This Year - MacRumors <https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/07/iphone-18-pro-reasons-not-to-upgrade-this-year/> And depending on what Apple has to say/reveal about the new Apple Watches this year, especially the Apple Watch Ultra 4, I may very well decide my iPhone 16 pro will serve me just fine for another year and get a new Apple Watch this year. Then there are also the new Apple TV and Home Hub which are expected to be announced and released this fall and those interest me a lot as we are somewhat invested in home automation. Best regards, Sieghard From: 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 9:04 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Apple trade-in? Have you checked with your carrier on what they offer on a trade in? They often offer more than Apple. The 18 and all other phones are likely going to be higher in price due to the demand for AI chips and of course other political issues which are not for this list. So yes it is a gamble either way. But check with your phone carrier today. Richard, USA, The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." -- Alan Watts (1915-1973) My web site: <https://www.turner42.com/> https://www.turner42.com From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Michael Feir Sent: Monday, September 7, 2026 7:08 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: Apple trade-in? If the advanced dictation feature is something you would value urgently, this would almost certainly be the least expensive way to get it. Bear in mind that in doing this, you forfeit what will likely be a more future-proof chip offering a somewhat better artificial intelligence experience in the 18 Pro. I expect that speed of responsiveness is likely to be a key attractor to the 18 Pro versus the 17 Pro. Depending on how much you value other aspects of AI performance beyond dictation, this might be a good reason to wait and get the 18 Pro. However, if money is tight and dictation improvement is your primary reason for upgrading, this gets you in on the ground floor. One thing there's no way to predict is how rapidly new AI features will demand even more RAM and other resources going forward. The 18 Pro should give you a longer runway before you start finding that features on future iPhones are unavailable to you unless you upgrade. That's always the catch point with picking your moment to pounce. Best of luck with your decision. Michael Feir Author of Personal Power: Getting The Most From iOS as a Totally Blind User https://michaelfeir.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-third-edition-of-personal-power.html Mastodon: @[email protected] Check out my blog at: http://www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com On Mon, Sep 7, 2026 at 9:10 AM Vicky Collins <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Since I want the new AI dictation feature, I'm wondering if I should trade in my iPhone 16 Pro to Apple for an iPhone 17 Pro. The offer from Apple right now is up to $630, but I'm reasonably sure that will change and go down when the iPhone 18 Pro models are likely announced this Wednesday. I know it's kind of a gamble either way, and I'll likely just wait and see what happens with the event on Wednesday. However, with the amount of RAM expected in the standard iPhone 18 that is supposedly coming in the spring still kind of uncertain, and with the price jump expected for the new 18 Pro models, I figure it's something to think about, but I better do it quickly. Thoughts? Vicky Collins USA Sent from my iPhone -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . 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