Is Siri software or hardware?

[shenfrey]

The reason I ask is even though we have iPads, iPhones and iMacs they are not very often the latest version since apple do a refresh every 6 - 12 months. With that said, could apple overhaul Siri to the point where it would only work well on there latest hardware at that time, and not on earlier generations that had full support for Siri, because let's not forget Siri is still in beta.

[r2shyyou]

Originally Posted by shenfrey

The reason I ask is even though we have iPads, iPhones and iMacs they are not very often the latest version since apple do a refresh every 6 - 12 months. With that said, could apple overhaul Siri to the point where it would only work well on there latest hardware at that time, and not on earlier generations that had full support for Siri, because let's not forget Siri is still in beta.

It's kind of both since all software has minimum hardware requirements.

Similar to the camera app being able to take still shots while filming but only so on the iPhone 5, I can see Siri evolving in ways that are only supported on some newer devices while retaining what it does now on current devices.

I don't think it would ever get to a point where an iPhone 4S, for example, "loses" Siri simply because Siri's "outgrown" it.

[Brian Y]

It's both.

Siri is a combination of software, and a set of microphones (main + noise cancelling).

On the server side, I'm guessing there's also a bunch of audio-processing hardware and software too.

[Gav2k]

All the current compatable devices feature an extra chip for sound processing as well as 2 microphones. That's the hardware side. Everything else is software.

But technically Siri dosnt live on a chip on your phone it lives on a server so you decide.

[mattopotamus]

like everyone else said, both. That is the reason the 4 was excluded even though it runs the same version of IOS.

[Daveoc64]

Originally Posted by mattopotamus

like everyone else said, both. That is the reason the 4 was excluded even though it runs the same version of IOS.

Unless you Jailbreak the iPhone 4 and then it works fine.

The reality is that *nothing* is impossible in software.

There's not a single part of iOS or App that could not work on older devices, a Mac, PC or an Android phone.

There ARE some things that the iPhone 4S/5 and the newer iPads have that the older devices don't, but that wouldn't actually stop Siri working on them in some capacity.

[Mrbobb]

For the purpose of this particular query, IT'S SOFTWARE.

Because the iPhone does no processing, all the processing is done remotely by Apple's big irons. THEIR hardware, not YOUR hardware.

My guess.

[Agent-P]

Originally Posted by r2shyyou

Similar to the camera app being able to take still shots while filming but only so on the iPhone 5

I don't mean to derail the thread, but I never knew that was an iPhone 5 feature.

[takeshi74]

Originally Posted by r2shyyou

It's kind of both since all software has minimum hardware requirements.

Hardware requirements do not turn software into hardware.

[TheShadowXX]

Originally Posted by mattopotamus

like everyone else said, both. That is the reason the 4 was excluded even though it runs the same version of IOS.

it wasn't always excluded on the 4, Siri used to be an App you could download in the App Store.

[r2shyyou]

Originally Posted by takeshi74

Hardware requirements do not turn software into hardware.

You don't say.

[surjavarman]

I don't know if I should cry or bang my head against a wall until I bleed.

Siri is pure software. No its not hardware its software. Its software in its purest definition. It had lines of codes etc

[r2shyyou]

Originally Posted by surjavarman

I don't know if I should cry or bang my head against a wall until I bleed.

Neither since both are superfluous reactions to an Internet forum thread.

Originally Posted by surjavarman

Siri is pure software. No its not hardware its software. Its software in its purest definition. It had lines of codes etc

Right, but Siri can't run on my TV remote or my coffee maker or my little hand-me-down desktop speakers that I never use at work.

Based on the content of the initial post, as opposed to just the thread title, it seems appropriate to mention hardware alongside software:

Originally Posted by shenfrey

...could apple overhaul Siri to the point where it would only work well on there latest hardware at that time, and not on earlier generations that had full support for Siri...

If, for example, this "overhaul" included a holographic Siri, a la Leia, it would almost certainly not be possible for an iPhone 4S or 5 to project it whereas it could be possible for a future iPhone with appropriate hardware to do so.