Early next year, Apple is set to debut its new AI-infused Siri as part of iOS 26.4 – after well over a year of delays. However, despite all of the additional time the company had to rethink its approach, some Apple engineers testing the software reportedly have concerns as it stands today.
It’s worth noting that we’re still around 6 months from the public release of the software. Things could easily improve, and ideally – they would.
In today’s Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported the following:
I strongly believe there will be more senior members of the company’s AI ranks hitting the exits soon, especially if the new Siri coming in the spring falls flat. Already, there are concerns from people testing iOS 26.4 — the OS version slated to include the new Siri — about the voice assistant’s performance.
Based on this early internal version, things aren’t sounding too promising.
Apple’s AI woes
It’s no secret that Apple hasn’t had a great time in the AI race. After loads of external pressure, Apple finally leaned into the AI bubble at WWDC24, where the company announced Apple Intelligence – a suite of AI-powered features running locally on your Apple devices.
The majority of the companies smaller announcements, like Clean Up in Photos, Genmoji, and ChatGPT in Siri did ship throughout the course of the iOS 18 release cycle.
However, one major thing failed to debut during the iOS 18 release cycle: the all-new Siri. Apple announced three key Siri upgrades – personal context, on screen awareness, and the ability to take action in apps. Essentially, if all went Apple’s way, Siri would’ve been a true all-encompassing digital assistant, that both knew you and could act on behalf of you.
That failed to come to fruition, though. People anticipated that this all-new Siri would launch by the springtime, in iOS 18.4 or iOS 18.5. Then, it never shipped in betas. Apple subsequently announced that the feature would be delayed by about a year, as it didn’t meet the company’s quality standards.
During an interview after WWDC25, software chief Craig Federighi commented that they needed time to rearchitect Siri, and that it should be on track to launch in 2026.
iOS 26.4 Siri
Reportedly, Apple has two teams working on different approaches for an all-new Siri. One would be powered by on-device models, and the other would be powered by Google Gemini running on Private Cloud Compute. It was initially referred to as a ‘bake-off.’
We don’t quite know which model powers this early version of iOS 26.4 Siri, but if I were to guess, it’s probably utilizing Apple’s on device models. Apple hasn’t exactly had the best time attracting AI talent.
I’m sure it isn’t Apple’s primary plan to simply announce that they failed to develop their own AI-infused Siri, and they instead need to rely on Gemini. However, based on early concerns, it’s plausible that ends up being the case.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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