Apple Plans to Release Delayed Siri Apple Intelligence Features in Spring 2026

[Ghengis LeMond]

iOS 26/27 Siri (opaque, translucent and liquid glass version):

Hey Siri, can you provide a review of Carlos Pizza up the street?
“I no longer need to find things on the web.”

That’s cool, but what do the reviews say?
“Reviews strongly tend in one direction.”

Please Siri, is the pizza good there or not?
“What do you think? It should be obvious.”

 

[dmccombs]

For a bunch of tech literate posters, you would think there would be more understanding of how software dev works

over decades, from mainframes down, i've been involved with rollouts and usually it's management pressure to create a rollout date that causes early promises and poor releases.

it's easy to prove things work in small controlled environments.
it's totally different to do a full production release.

this isnt something that would be easy to rollback.
and the outfall from a bad release to billions would severely affect the brand more than a delay.

sounds like Apple already realised the underlying structures werent going to cut it in the real world so they revamped things and that's taking time to get right.

i'm all for a delay and less buggy release.
i'm looking forward to a smarter Siri, finally, but a few more months isnt a deal breaker.

Agreed, but Apple was doing lots of advertising "Get Iphone 16 Pro for Apple Intelligence". You can't let the marketing department do this, then not deliver. I worked in software for part of my career, so I know things can happen. But Apple can't let their Marketing department over promise.

Develop it, then advertise it, AFTER you know you actually got it...

 

[Avidos1]

Hmmm ios 26…. Etc rather thsn ios25 suggests they already expect delays.

 

[JohnC1959]

Hmmm ios 26…. Etc rather thsn ios25 suggests they already expect delays.

This is no and will be no ios25.

 

[dandy1117]

Wow. I think all of us who bought the iPhone 16 series phones should get some sort of money back because it was "The first iPhone built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence!" All of the advertising was about Apple Intelligence, including the new Siri features, and we were misled.

Obviously I know that will never happen, and I do believe there is a class action lawsuit going on about this very issue (which is why I believe Apple was so hush-hush about Siri and gave that one statement about it at the beginning of WWDC) but joining those are a pain just to possibly get $15-30?

Give us AppleTV+ for a year free or something. I generally always tend to defend Apple on most issues, but this was blatant false advertising! If companies never get held accountable for this, they will just continue to do it! I wanted the iPhone 16 Pro Max new Siri or not as I buy the new iPhone every year, however, I was certainly looking forward to FINALLY having a much smarter and overall better experience with this new Siri. The problem is, some people actually upgraded from iPhones (and other phones) that worked perfectly fine, that they loved, to get this new A.I. Siri on the iPhone 16. Kind of crazy that by the time this feature is released we will only be 4-5 months away from iPhone 18.

I remember when Apple gave us a free third party case, or Apple Bumper for the iPhone 4 due to "Antenna-gate," as well as a very substantial press conference about it as well, haha.

I'm really confused. They will provide something: the features that were advertised. A delayed release does not mean that the iPhone 16 won't support the Siri architecture in future updates. If that’s the case, then you’ve received what you paid for. Or do you think that the iPhone 16 won't be compatible with future software upgrades?

 

[Avidos1]

You post doesn’t make sence. Maybe if I clarify.
iOS 25 should be the os name as it is supposed to come out this year 2026, but making it 26 gives them wriggle room if it comes out late.

 

[JohnC1959]

You post doesn’t make sence. Maybe if I clarify.
iOS 25 should be the os name as it is supposed to come out this year 2026, but making it 26 gives them wriggle room if it comes out late.

No. Ios26 WILL come out this year. If some feature isn't ready for ios26.0, then ios26 will still be released this year and the feature will come in later minor release. They opted to name the new releases like new car years have been done.

 

[Minato1990]

I almost want a refund for my iPhone 16 Pro Max at this point, and certainly no incentive to give the 17 a second look when it arrives.

Same
I mean all these features better ****ing work on the 16 pro max

 

[Avidos1]

Still no apology from Tim. sad…

 

[CocktailHour]

Apple is aiming to debut its delayed personalized Siri features in the spring of 2026, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman claims that Apple set an "internal release target" of 2026, which is in line with comments from Apple executives this week.

Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak did multiple post-WWDC interviews acknowledging Apple's issues with Siri, and confirmed that Apple is now planning for a 2026 release. According to Apple's narrative, there were ongoing quality issues with its testing of the new Siri features, so it held them back and swapped to a more powerful underlying architecture to address the problems.

Apple initially planned to launch the personalized Siri features in iOS 18.4, so after the year-long delay to fix the architecture, we could see the functionality introduced in an iOS 26.4 update sometime in March or April 2026.

Gurman claims that if the next few weeks of development "proves promising," Apple could preview the features when it launches the new iPhone 17 models in the fall. It is unclear if Apple will do so, because it faced significant criticism and multiple class-action lawsuits for delaying the Siri features in the first place.

Apple first showed off the Apple Intelligence Siri updates at WWDC 2024 last June, and advertised the iPhone 16 models using demonstrations of the functionality. Customers who bought an iPhone 16 in anticipation of the Siri features were not happy with the news of Apple's delay this March.

For WWDC 2025, Apple did not highlight any features that are coming in the future, and almost everything that the company introduced during the keynote event is present in the first developer beta.

The Apple Intelligence Siri features that we are waiting on include personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper integration with apps.

Article Link: Apple Plans to Release Delayed Siri Apple Intelligence Features in Spring 2026

Sure, Jan.

 

[Rogifan]

John Gruber is not apologizing or recanting anything he said in his ‘something is rotten in Cupertino’ post. In fact the post he put up today surely won’t please Apple execs. Get your popcorn. 🍿

I spoke this week, off the record, to multiple trusted sources in Apple’s software engineering group, and none of them ever saw an internal build of iOS that had this feature before last year’s keynote. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t such a build. But none of my sources ever saw one, and they don’t believe there was one, because they’re in positions where they believe that if there had been such a build, their teams would have had access to it. Most rank and file engineers within Apple do not believe that feature existed in an even vaguely functional state a year ago, and the first any of them ever heard of it was when they watched the keynote with the rest of us on the first day of WWDC last year.

Also, Apple is sticking with the euphemism “in the coming year” for when we can expect to see these next-gen personalized Siri features. Gurman reported today that they’re shooting for next spring. I confirmed with Apple at WWDC that “in the coming year” means “in 2026”. I don’t know why they’re sticking with that euphemistic phrasing, which to many people’s ears makes it sound like in the next 12 months, which might include this fall. Just say “next year” instead of “in the coming year”. It’s very obvious that this year’s WWDC keynote went back to an underpromise/overdeliver mindset. But “in the coming year” is raising some users’ hopes misleadingly.

 

[JosephAW]

Waiting for Apple to drop the other shoe and drop support for the iPhone 15 Pro for AI.

 

[ApAx]

what specific cases are worse now than 5 years ago?

Siri has long needed an upgrade.
but in my experience it has become slightly better over time.

it just needs a huge jump forward to catch up to other offerings and hopefully surpass them...

Just about any request on HomePod mini refers me to look at my iPhone instead of reading aloud the response. When I ask to run shortcuts, it's a different error every week, for shortcuts that haven been set up for years now. When I ask Siri any information at all, it just tells me to look at a list of web results. When I ask to turn off lights, it will tell me that the tv isn't responding. The list goes on.

 

[JohnC1959]

Just about any request on HomePod mini refers me to look at my iPhone instead of reading aloud the response. When I ask to run shortcuts, it's a different error every week, for shortcuts that haven been set up for years now. When I ask Siri any information at all, it just tells me to look at a list of web results. When I ask to turn off lights, it will tell me that the tv isn't responding. The list goes on.

yep. We long back ended up using our home google speaker if we wanted to ask and get answers audibly. Siri helps a lot for some simple things especially if I'm out for a walk or cycling and have AirPods. I haven't really missed having a better Siri much because there are other options out there but still it will be nice to have "one stop shopping" for all my questions be they general or specific to my private data on my phone. But I do agree with the other comment that it has improved a little from the early days.

 

[JGIGS]

It's just comical at this point. One thing to remember, never upgrade hardware for software that doesn't yet exist.

 

[turbineseaplane]

John Gruber is not apologizing or recanting anything he said in his ‘something is rotten in Cupertino’ post. In fact the post he put up today surely won’t please Apple execs. Get your popcorn. 🍿

I believe John's reporting on this more than Apple execs, who have all the incentive in the world to try to patch up this disaster.

 

[wbeasley]

Just about any request on HomePod mini refers me to look at my iPhone instead of reading aloud the response. When I ask to run shortcuts, it's a different error every week, for shortcuts that haven been set up for years now. When I ask Siri any information at all, it just tells me to look at a list of web results. When I ask to turn off lights, it will tell me that the tv isn't responding. The list goes on.

but that's functions not working... not getting worse...

did it ever work? and no isnt?

 

[Finalcountdown]

I almost want a refund for my iPhone 16 Pro Max at this point, and certainly no incentive to give the 17 a second look when it arrives.

Seriously. Apple intelligence was a driving reason for my iPhone 16 purchase. And the ads definitely made it clear that it was ready for prime time. I have a sense the pending class actions will have good success

 

[wbeasley]

Voice actions on any device are difficult...

It's hard to get a playlist or album playing in our car from a clear voice prompt.
Watching the words appear on what the software thinks you mean can be an exercise in frustration.

Or it delivers a song by a different artist. or a remix. or live version.

sometimes it is just easier to type...

 

[turbineseaplane]

Voice actions on any device are difficult...

On any Apple device maybe

 

[wbeasley]

Seriously. Apple intelligence was a driving reason for my iPhone 16 purchase. And the ads definitely made it clear that it was ready for prime time. I have a sense the pending class actions will have good success

the ads said it would be coming to the hardware.

soon.

guess that depends on your definition of soon ...

did Samsung buyers sue for the faked moon shots?

Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon

A photo of a blurry image of the Moon revealed some telling results.

www.theverge.com

i bought the phone for all the other features. not that AI. three years between phones is the point i currently upgrade.
so it was happening regardless. mainly because battery life becomes a bit of an issue by then.

and the cameras have had a few iterations as well. the 5x optical zoom was probably the main thing i wanted.
i use the camera button but it's not that different to the lockscreen button. i use both these days.

i wish they would fix the screen touch sensitivity.
hard to get it to recognize a press on parts of the screen on mine. is this common?

 

[JohnC1959]

Voice actions on any device are difficult...

It's hard to get a playlist or album playing in our car from a clear voice prompt.
Watching the words appear on what the software thinks you mean can be an exercise in frustration.

Or it delivers a song by a different artist. or a remix. or live version.

sometimes it is just easier to type...

Though for me, accurately hearing my words was one of the few things it did pretty well. I've often composed whole text responses and got it right better than 95%

 

[JohnC1959]

the ads said it would be coming to the hardware.

soon.

guess that depends on your definition of soon ...

did Samsung buyers sue for the faked moon shots?

Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon

A photo of a blurry image of the Moon revealed some telling results.

www.theverge.com

i bought the phone for all the other features. not that AI. three years between phones is the point i currently upgrade.
so it was happening regardless. mainly because battery life becomes a bit of an issue by then.

and the cameras have had a few iterations as well. the 5x optical zoom was probably the main thing i wanted.
i use the camera button but it's not that different to the lockscreen button. i use both these days.

i wish they would fix the screen touch sensitivity.
hard to get it to recognize a press on parts of the screen on mine. is this common?

Similar deal for me including the three years. My biggest draw coming from my 13 pro was satellite messages/help since I'm often in poor cell areas. No touch screen issues for me, FYI.

 

[wbeasley]

Though for me, accurately hearing my words was one of the few things it did pretty well. I've often composed whole text responses and got it right better than 95%

speech recognition instead of keyboard entry works well (dictation) often correcting spelling based on context.

what it struggles with still is actions.

maybe the screen protector i have on is causing the finger recognition issues. glad you dont have the problem.

 

[TouchMint.com]

I almost want a refund for my iPhone 16 Pro Max at this point, and certainly no incentive to give the 17 a second look when it arrives.

I’m sure there will be a class action lawsuit.