Apple Delays Key AI Features for Siri Until 2026
Apple has officially announced that the rollout of highly-anticipated artificial intelligence enhancements for Siri, its renowned virtual assistant, has been postponed until 2026. The shift in timelines indicates that the new features aimed at making Siri more intuitive and capable of managing tasks across multiple applications will need further refinement before they are made available to users.
According to a recent statement from Apple, the quest to create a more contextually aware Siri, which can comprehend and act upon user-specific information across various apps, has become more intricate than expected. Initially scheduled for release in 2025, users will now have to wait longer to enjoy these upgraded functionalities.
"Siri aims to assist our users in finding what they need and completing tasks efficiently. In the last six months, we have made significant strides in enhancing Siri's conversational abilities, introducing features such as 'type to Siri' and integrating product knowledge, as well as incorporating a connection with ChatGPT. We are also in the process of developing a more personalized Siri, which will be aware of your personal context and capable of executing actions within and across your applications. Delivering these capabilities is taking longer than anticipated, and we expect to roll them out in the upcoming year,"
- Apple representative to John Gruber, Daring Fireball.
These planned improvements are part of Apple's overarching "Apple Intelligence" initiative, which encompasses a variety of AI-driven functionalities. Among these most awaited features are those that would enable Siri to engage more effectively with information stored on Apple devices. For instance, users could ask Siri for podcast recommendations from friends or to pull up flight details shared by family members, showcasing Siri's potential to seamlessly access and process data directly from the device.
This setback was initially reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month, highlighting that the company encountered challenges while trying to implement these features in iOS 18.4, expected to launch in April. He also speculated on the potential for a delay until iOS 18.5, likely in May. However, with the recent announcement pushing the timeline to next year, it appears this delay is more significant than previously believed.
