Apple Reassures Siri Team Members Feeling Disappointed and Embarrassed by Apple Intelligence Delay

[Rogifan]

I'm afraid if we are looking for the person most responsible for this mess, it is Tim Cook. I'm very sorry to say this, because I respect him a lot, and I think he was the behind the scenes guy who was responsible for much of Apple's success under Steve Jobs. He was the one who turned Jobs' vision into finished products -- setting up supply chains, production schedules, etc.

I think the mistake was hopping on the AI bandwagon. Apple should have just kept saying that Apple is going to approach AI thoughtfully, adapting features that are useful and ready for the public, while keeping working on other features behind the scenes. That's what'll end up happening here in the end.

Whether this is a blip in Apple's marketing strategy, or the beginning of a fundamental loss in trust remains to be seen.

Cook was afraid of a repeat of 2013 when Wall Street was panicked because Apple wasn’t selling a big phone and Samsung was. AI is Wall Street’s obsession right now and Cook felt he had to show Wall Street that Apple was on it.

Incidentally I asked Siri when the iPhone 6 was released. This was the response I got:

I asked the same question but prefaced it with ChatGPT. I got this response:

It’s pretty pathetic that Siri can’t answer a simple question like that. And it doesn’t even hand off to ChatGPT to answer it.

 

[lysingur]

Wait, there’s a “Siri team”? What do they do? I mean, I haven’t seen big changes in Siri for a long time…

You'll be surprised how many people basically work 20-hour weeks while earning a full salary in big tech companies like Google, Meta, and Apple.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Everyone's reaction is completely blown out of proportion, LOL -- this is the end of the company? Like come on, so many of these takes are not serious. Especially when people have been ragging on Siri for years and rag on AI now. You either care about this or you don't, so why are you upset and thinking it can never be done just because they need more time? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with some of these dramatic outlandish and absurd reactions.

The peanut gallery reaction here is so over the top. Funny thing is, there are so many commenters who spend every day demanding that Tim Cook be fired because they don't like the new shade of Sky Blue or whatever, that when something more significant happens that the company legitimately needs to react to, like this, they can't turn up the volume on their scorn and derision more than it always is. It's easy to laugh at comments from people who cry wolf every day.

 

[Rogifan]

I remember back in the he also cried like the immature b**ch he is about how Apple Music “deleted” all his music. And it didn’t.

Yes I do remember him being so upset about Apple Music. I think he still complains about it.

 

[dypeterc]

People who rely on AI as their primary method of GTD are both lazy and gullible. I can easily find the right photo of "my dog at a BBQ last weekend" quicker and with more confidence than an AI assistant. AI has been found to be incorrect most of the time but is extremely confident in these errors.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/...ct-answers-at-an-alarming-60-rate-study-says/

About all I use Siri for is to find directions (still have to verify), add things to my grocery list, and start timers.

Sinking more money and resources into Siri and AI integration is a waste and, as an investor, I'm not happy that they're pursuing.

 

[JForestZ34]

I know Apple Intelligence is a mess but and this is just my opinion, Ios and everything software related took a **** ever since forestall left. I know the maps thing was an issue but it was alot better when he was there.


James

 

[Oscar_440]

It's absolutely not engineering fault.
Delaying some SIRI features it's ok. What it is not, is what Mr.Cook did, letting its marketing team advertise something that it was not even in beta version, and they know it...
Tim must leave in order to let others health this wound/mess of decisions

 

[picpicmac]

Apple has not shipped good software in years.

Sigh... more toxic fandom.

In reality, Apple like any large corporation has a spectrum of products, some are better than others.

In reality, "AI" has gone so far beyond the Tulip-bubble phase that people don't seem to be able to make judgements about what they want and how to evaluate if something is good or not for them.

On-device AI is always going to be very limited... at least for the foreseeable future.

 

[sesnir]

I think most of you are being overdramatic. I really don’t see this as a “fall from grace” or the end of Apple. Some feature most people will never use is a little late. Big deal. Did they mess up by announcing it too early? Yeeeep. But also pressure for Apple to do something in AI was huge and looking back now it’s clear they had the right idea even if they stumbled into it - is anyone still using chat bots these days?

AI is a joke. It’s not even AI. Chat bots have no value as long as they spread inaccuracies and make stuff up. Apple should not be trying to catch up to useless AI

I’d rather they released it when it’s useful. For example AI notification summaries are inaccurate and often terrible and I’d rather they delayed that feature too

AI as you know it is a fad and what Apple is building is something that will be useful when it’s ready. Personally I’d rather they spend their time on something more important though.

 

[QuarterSwede]

 

[scrapesleon]

only apple would find a way to reassure incompetent staff members

 

[JohnC1959]

I'm just glad I haven't felt the negative impact that many posting here have. Sounds pretty bad for those impacted.

 

[vinsalducci]

I do not understand why everyone is upset, If a product is not up to standard don't put it out, keep working on it to get it working the way you envision it. Unless you are in charge of Apple hold off on negative comments until you know the whole story, let's stay positive and wish for the best outcome.

People are behaving like spoiled children who didn’t get a pony for their birthday. Apple will release it when it is up to their standards. It will be outstanding. Apple is rarely first. Apple is very often best.

Everyone go outside and touch some grass and settle down.

 

[vinsalducci]

John Giannandrea is literally useless and needs to be fired. He’s been there 6 years and Siri has not advanced at all.

You literally would not know anything about this individual if you hit him with your car. Calling for someone’s job over NOT shipping a product that is NOT ready for shipment is laughable. Settle down.

 

[Dark_Omen]

I'm afraid if we are looking for the person most responsible for this mess, it is Tim Cook. I'm very sorry to say this, because I respect him a lot, and I think he was the behind the scenes guy who was responsible for much of Apple's success under Steve Jobs. He was the one who turned Jobs' vision into finished products -- setting up supply chains, production schedules, etc.

I think the mistake was hopping on the AI bandwagon. Apple should have just kept saying that Apple is going to approach AI thoughtfully, adapting features that are useful and ready for the public, while keeping working on other features behind the scenes. That's what'll end up happening here in the end.

Whether this is a blip in Apple's marketing strategy, or the beginning of a fundamental loss in trust remains to be seen.

Tim had nothing to do with Apple’s success while Steve Jobs was the CEO. Steve was the company, and his handpicked people (Forestall, Ive, Schiller) were only a small reason the company took off. I’ll admit he made a mistake when picking Tim as the CEO, but I’m not sure the intention was for a 10+ year tenure either.

The CEO is an independent position from the rest of the C-Suite team, so perhaps Apple should’ve went outside the company to find someone in charge.

 

[jarman92]

You literally would not know anything about this individual if you hit him with your car. Calling for someone’s job over NOT shipping a product that is NOT ready for shipment is laughable. Settle down.

Lol I’m calling for his job because he’s been in charge of Siri for 6 years and Siri has not gotten one bit better; in fact there’s a good argument it’s gotten worse. Apple is paying this dude millions every year and he isn’t getting any results. So yeah, he should be fired.

 

[brofkand]

Tim had nothing to do with Apple’s success while Steve Jobs was the CEO. Steve was the company, and his handpicked people (Forestall, Ive, Schiller) were only a small reason the company took off. I’ll admit he made a mistake when picking Tim as the CEO, but I’m not sure the intention was for a 10+ year tenure either.

The CEO is an independent position from the rest of the C-Suite team, so perhaps Apple should’ve went outside the company to find someone in charge.

The C-suite as Jobs had it set up basically only worked with Jobs. It was combative and that only works when you have someone like Jobs in charge who has the final say-so.

 

[Night Spring]

Tim had nothing to do with Apple’s success while Steve Jobs was the CEO. Steve was the company, and his handpicked people (Forestall, Ive, Schiller) were only a small reason the company took off.

What, you think Steve did everything himself? Forestall, Ive,
Schiller, the guy who was in charge of the physical Apple Store, and Cook -- they all contributed to Apple's success.

The one skill that Jobs had that Cooks seems to lack is the ability to attract and keep A-class people. Jobs put together a great team of top-class people, and managed to get the best out of each of them. Unfortunately, that's the rarest of skills. It's disappointing Cook isn't Jobs, but someone like Jobs comes only once in a generation, if that.

 

[Abazigal]

I'm just glad I haven't felt the negative impact that many posting here have. Sounds pretty bad for those impacted.

That’s the internet for you - it has a way of magnifying niche opinions on the internet which may not be representative of overall sentiment.

Maybe Siri could be better, and it’s just a small portion of the overall Apple experience. I am not upset over this, I am not banging the doors of Apple HQ demanding an apology (for what?), and I am not going anywhere anytime soon.

Viva la Apple!

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I don't understand why there's a need for a senior director to acknowledge employees feeling angry, disappointed, burned out and embarrassed. If they did a poor job and didn't release a good product, they should feel that way - about themselves for the bad job they did. Then get right back at it, DO YOUR JOB and put out a good product.

It's embrarrassing nowadays how employees need to be cajoled to just do a good job. The low standards and coddling of entitled employees is leading to poor products. I assumed companies like Apple, google, etc. would be hiring the top 1% of employees available, which should be people who have both intelligence and a strong work ethic and a willingness to grind and get stuff done. But, I guess not. So many of these employees making hundreds of thousands of dollars putting out mediocre products and software.

But we don't yet know the ratio of poor Siri employee performance, versus poor management. It'll be interesting to hear the details if that story ever comes out.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Apple knows that Siri has been behind for many years. It's built on 2 generations old methods. If you read the AI papers that Apple is publishing, you'd better understand their approach. Their research is leading edge.
Rather than releasing another "me too" LLM tool, where they would be behind the others, they are working on a whole new compute paradigm. Highly risky but if it works, will redefine personal computing.
Take a look at their new APIs. VisionOS and Spatial functions are designed to build a 3D model of your favourite locations, Home, work, cottage, car etc. This is the setting that will generate location context for your meta data. Have you seen spatial images on Vision Pro? - stunning. Lidar is included in all of their high end devices for a reason.
Apple is pushing the boundaries for edge computing models that will run on local devices - specifically phones. Combined with meta data (private) derived from every interaction within your domain, Apple has the potential to deliver magic.
When the edge devices don't have the compute power, the private servers will process your data and send the results back to your model. They can't do everything locally.
Their vision is bold and they are inventing solutions to bring about this new paradigm. They'll keep inventing until they deliver a worth while product. I'd rather they wait to get it right before release.

Those are all great feature goals, but during the run-up to their release, Apple should have developed Siri so that it could at least do the things that Apple claims it can currently do, as well as not promise features that surely plenty of people working on Siri should have known couldn't be released in the time frame that Apple claimed starting at WWDC in 2024.

 

[MallardDuck]

“Incredibly impressive”? Image playground? Email and messaging suggestions for 8th graders?

Let me search the web and show some links for that.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

It was on CNBC Squawk Box this morning with 2 full segments and open discussion from all three hosts (all iPhone Apple supporters) about trying android in the near future.

Yup, the Apple Intelligence problems and missed release dates are becoming pretty well-known among more than just the Apple enthusiast community.

 

[JimmyHook]

They had a goal. They didn’t meet the goal. They pushed back the release to make sure their goals are met.

I’m not sure why this is controversial or even remotely that big of a deal. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out? It’s a part of being human.

 

[JimmyHook]

They had a goal. They didn’t meet the goal. They pushed back the release to make sure their goals are met.

I’m not sure why this is controversial or even remotely that big of a deal. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out?

2 biggest unacceptable Siri fails:

"you have to unlock your phone first"

"Here are the search results for what you asked"

Until these 2 responses are eliminated, Siri will be 100% a JOKE and so far behind Android, it's hilarious. Every new iPhone is a joke because the software is terrible.

Far behind Android? That statement doesn’t even make sense. Android isn’t a voice assistant, so how can Siri be “behind” it? It’s a bloated mobile OS.