Long-awaited context-aware Siri: Allegedly "concerns" about internal text
Apple's postponed, improved voice assistant is expected in spring. But what's available so far doesn't seem to impress all internal testers.
Siri on different devices: Still waiting for "real" AI.
(Image: Apple)
Apple users are still waiting for the company's voice assistant system, Siri, to be improved. After technical problems, Apple postponed a new, context-aware version, which, among other things, can read the screen and interact with apps, by at least one year. But will the wait have been worth it? According to a report by the business news agency Bloomberg on Sunday, there are at least internal frowns. People who have tested pre-release versions of iOS 26.4 with the new Siri have had “concerns” about whether the voice assistant is performing adequately.
V1, V2, and drop it?
According to current plans, the new Siri is expected to be released in spring 2026, likely in March or April, when iOS 26.4 is planned. Apple is said to have already developed two different versions of the new Siri in 2024: V1 and V2. Software chief Craig Federighi stated in an interview last June that V1 did not achieve the expected quality level, despite the company having worked on it for a long time. Now they want to switch to V2. However, work on that also doesn't seem to be going perfectly, as Bloomberg now suggests. Details on this are not yet available.
Videos by heise
However, it is clear that Apple's AI team is still in turmoil. Most recently, again, a well-known manager from the department resigned and went to Meta. This was none other than the head of Apple's intelligence search team. According to the report, potential problems with Siri could further negatively impact the team and lead to more departures. The biggest question remains how long John Giannandrea, Apple's AI boss, who had already been partially demoted, will remain in his position.
LLM-Siri is still completely missing
In July, Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts that they were making “good progress” on a “more personalized Siri” for the coming year. It remains unclear whether Apple will postpone the technology again; it would be extremely embarrassing in any case.
Incidentally, the new Siri does not mean it will be a “real” voice assistant. The so-called LLM-Siri, which operates like the voice mode of ChatGPT & Co., is not expected to be released until later—when is unclear. The currently planned functions only make Siri partially more intelligent, ensure that it understands user context better, and, as mentioned, can control apps.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
