Delays Ahead for Apple's "Personal Siri" as Next Update Approaches This Fall
As anticipation builds for Apple's upcoming Siri update, it appears that the highly anticipated "Personal Siri" feature, which would allow users to access personalized information across various apps, is not yet ready for prime time. Users have been eagerly testing beta versions, hoping to glimpse new capabilities, but reports indicate that they may need to wait a while longer for a meaningful upgrade to their digital assistant.
If you've been eagerly awaiting the rollout of "Personal Siri," which promises to navigate your Calendar, Messages, and Mail, it seems your hopes may be dashed—at least for now. The iOS 18.4 beta didn't deliver on these promises, and the same is true for the iOS 18.5 beta 1.
With the planned enhancements, users could potentially ask Siri questions like, “What time is Aunt Hill's plane arriving?” and receive accurate answers based on their stored data. However, Apple’s timeline for launching "Personal Siri" has slipped, as highlighted by a recent article in The New York Times discussing the challenges facing the tech giant.
Challenges in Testing Leading to Delays
Testing showed that Siri was providing incorrect responses approximately 33% of the time during evaluations. For context, while Siri understood nearly all queries (99.8%), it answered correctly only about 83.1% of the time, translating to a significant incorrect response rate of 16.9%. As reported earlier, Siri serves around 86.5 million users in the U.S., meaning accuracy is crucial for user satisfaction.
Apple has introduced some adjustments to Siri. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Apple’s AI initiative, Apple Intelligence, has received its share of criticism for underwhelming performance. Tech analysts have remarked on the company’s struggle with delivering promised features, fueling disappointment and accusations of false advertising from some clients.
The Myth of "Personal Siri"
In a now-removed promotional video for "Personal Siri," a user asks Siri about a person they met months earlier, illustrating the feature's intended functionality. However, it’s important to note that for this to work, the information must already be present in messages or calendar events. Without such context, Siri cannot provide information about past encounters.
What to Expect in the Upcoming Siri Update
While speculation mounts regarding the next Siri update slated for this fall, insiders suggest it may not include "Personal Siri." Instead, users might see the introduction of features related to photo editing and sharing. A previous report indicated that major changes, including "Personal Siri," may not materialize until 2026.
Despite delays, Apple executives have expressed a relaxed attitude about the situation, pointing out that their competitors, such as Google and Meta, are also grappling with AI challenges. Internal disputes over project leadership have compounded the delays, indicating complicated dynamics within Apple's software development teams.
Given the initial promise of Siri when it debuted in 2011, many wonder if Apple has been slow to expand the digital assistant’s capabilities, leading to the current situation.
