Apple Delays Advanced Siri Features Until 2026, Fueling Speculation About Future Partnerships

Apple has confirmed a delay in deploying its sophisticated AI features for its voice assistant, Siri. The features, which were previously slated to appear in 2025, now have a release date of 2026. The company did admit that it is taking longer than expected to build these features, with an intention to release them next year.
The delayed features include a more personalized Siri experience that would learn more about users’ individual context and perform tasks in various applications. The feature would allow Siri to assist users in switching between programs and perform tasks based on data saved on Apple devices. Users, for instance, would be able to ask Siri to find a podcast that a friend has suggested or retrieve flight information from a relative, all based on data saved on the device.
Apple’s delay is while the company continues to develop a full-featured cloud computing platform based on its own chips, prioritizing privacy as it adds AI features. Siri processes roughly 1.5 billion user requests daily, indicating the assistant’s widespread use and importance of these additions.
The voice assistant market is getting increasingly competitive, with Alphabet’s Google and Amazon also investing heavily in AI-driven features for their assistants. Google has recently introduced its Gemini model to its assistant, while Amazon launched a comprehensive AI overhaul for Alexa, with new features accessible to Prime members and others for a monthly fee.
Apple’s decision to delay Siri’s AI updates follows earlier reports on the company’s Apple Intelligence suite, which features capabilities like rewriting emails and summarizing jammed-in inboxes. Apple Intelligence was meant to supercharge Siri, but the in-app features introduced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024 will now be delayed.
The delay also impacts Apple’s smart home hub vision, which has been called a “Command Center” for controlling Wi-Fi connected smart home devices. The product, described as a mini iPad with a six-inch display, was to utilize Siri’s enhanced features to become more useful. But with Siri’s features being delayed, the launch of the smart home hub may also be pushed back until 2026.
It is also an internal problem that has contributed to the delay. Executives like software chief Craig Federighi have grumbled that the features had not worked as intended when tested by them personally. Some members of the AI team believe that the development work on these features might need to be scrapped and begun again, complicating the timing of a next-generation Siri.
Despite such drawbacks, Siri has already undergone significant revamps from Apple, including making it speak more naturally and introducing features like Type to Siri and product lookup. ChatGPT integration has also been a significant update. However, the pushback in introducing more profound AI-driven feature updates is an indication of how challenging it will be for Apple to enhance voice assistant technology as much as is occurring in AI technology presently.