Google isn’t pulling any punches in the run-up to the Pixel 10 launch later in August.
In its latest Pixel 10 teaser trailer, the company takes a direct shot at Apple’s much-hyped but still-missing Siri upgrade, reminding everyone that “coming soon” can mean very different things depending on who’s making the promise.
And, well, Apple can’t really say much in response. The promised Siri upgrade has been delayed once again, with claims that it might not appear until Spring 2026 – or even later.
Google takes aim at Apple’s empty promise
In a new Pixel 10 teaser, Google squarely aims at Apple’s failed promise of an upgraded Siri experience – something the company first teased would come in early 2025 after announcing the tech at WWDC 2024.
In fact, it was one of the key selling points of the iPhone 16 at launch – until Apple removed the commercial when it was clear it wasn’t going to hit its goals.
“If you buy a new phone because of a feature coming soon”, the 30-second teaser ad starts. “But it’s been coming soon for a full year, you could change your definition of soon.”
“Or, you could just, change your phone”.
Google doesn’t explicitly mention Apple, the iPhone 16 or Siri, but given Apple’s empty Siri promise, it’s pretty clear what the advert is referring to.
Apple doesn’t have much of a response
To be honest, there’s not much Apple can really say in response because, well, it’s true.
When Apple announced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, the upgraded Siri experience took centre stage. Apple claimed that the long-awaited GenAI upgrade to its virtual assistant could perform tasks like retrieving information from your emails, filling out forms on your behalf and much more.
Apple tapered expectations though; it made clear that the rollout of Apple Intelligence features would be staggered, and the upgraded Siri experience wouldn’t make an appearance until early 2025.
However, the fact that Apple Intelligence wasn’t available in any form at the iPhone 16’s release in September 2024 should’ve given us an indication that Apple was running well behind schedule.
The first AI features began rolling out in October 2024 in the US before expanding to the UK and other regions in late 2024 and well into 2025 – but the promised Siri upgrade was still nowhere to be seen. It was largely expected to be released sometime in the Spring as part of the iOS 18.4 update.
Then, in March, Apple finally confirmed that its personalised Siri experience needed a little more time in the oven. “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features, and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year” – but what the ‘coming year’ means is up for interpretation. Before the end of 2025? By Spring 2026? Who knows.
For what it’s worth, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed in March that Apple execs “voiced strong concerns internally that the features didn’t work properly – or as advertised – in their personal testing” and that people in Apple’s AI division believe that “work on the features could be scrapped altogether” and that it might need to be rebuilt “from scratch”.
Then, in August, Apple’s CVP of software, Craig Federighi, put the delay down to Apple’s issues of trying to achieve a hybrid architecture for Siri – but the company is now working on a new version with an updated architecture.
“This has put us in a position to not just deliver what we announced, but to deliver a much bigger upgrade than we envisioned,” Federigi reportedly said in an hour-long all-hands meeting.
The Bloomberg analyst has previously claimed that a “true modernized, conversational version of Siri” might not arrive until iOS 27 “at best”.
Things could change though
Apple is, of course, aware of the optics of the situation and how it makes the company appear like it’s behind the competition in the AI race.
But in the recent all-hands meeting, Apple CEO Tim Cook made it clear that AI is still a big priority, and that it doesn’t matter if Apple isn’t ‘first’.
According to Bloomberg, the executive told staff that the AI revolution is “as big or bigger” than the internet, smartphones, cloud computing and apps. Cook claimed that “Apple must do this” and that “we will make the investment to do it”.
Cook also pointed out that while Apple has “rarely been first” in emerging categories like computers, smartphones and MP3 players, it has eventually made the “modern” versions of those. “This is how I feel about AI,” Cook explained.
Combined with comments ahead of Apple’s recent earnings call in which Cook claimed that the company is “open to” AI acquisitions to accelerate its roadmap, it’s clear that Apple’s Siri plans aren’t dead in the water – they just need a little longer to perfect them.
