Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
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.
They just want it to release so they can post about turning it off.
 
Maybe im too optimistic but 60 - 80% sounds a lot better than i thought. This will situation sounds better than i thought this was. (Situation is still ****ed up nevertheless)
I’m not sure we can trust what they are saying anymore.

Furthermore, it’s well known that the last 20% take 80% of the time, and looking at LLMs we may never actually achieve those last 20%.
 
Tim Cook should step down. I don’t say that purely to be malicious or capricious. I think his leaving Apple would help Apple regain a little bit of credibility.

But I also think Tim should retire because he was too focused on Apple Vision Pro to give Siri and Apple Intelligence the attention and resources they desperately needed.
 
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.

That’s a niche audience comprised mostly of older people (and brokers playing it in their office with the sound off). MacRumors has a much larger audience. That segment sounds like propaganda designed to lower the stock price so that hedge funds can reload for the next leg up. Who’s going to tell them that copy and paste handoff won’t work with an Android phone. Or MagSafe. Etc.
 
Working 60-80% of the time sounds better than I'd expected - some of the Chicken Littles running around made it seem like it was all still vaporware.
60-80% success rate in internal, controlled testing is NOT a number to brag about, Shadow. Real world use, especially in less than pin drop-quiet areas with spotty internet connections, is closer to 20-40% for me. Even functions that should be 100% processed on-device without requiring an internet connection, like pausing GD playback because I’m jogging and want to chat with someone real quick on the trail, requires me repeating myself 3-4 times before the obstinate idiot child graces me with a response. Even then it’s normally preceded with the “doon doon doon doon” chime indicating she’s accessing the internet to process the command. Why the hell does she need to call home to pause playback? On device functionality was supposed to 100% native three generations of iOS ago. Unacceptable.
 
Siri is basically always successful for me in setting timers (maybe a couple times a year it misunderstands the asked for time), even when asking it from clear across my kitchen.
Besides misunderstanding the time, which happens all the time for the “teens”, my biggest gripe is that you can’t specify by voice which device the timer should be set on.
 
the "incredibly impressive" features they developed
all they've shipped from this vision for now is a concept video and that's probably on the UI/UX guys, not the siri team...

it sucks because people upgraded to the 16 from older iphones so they can get those features and it turns out they won't be out for it.
 
Last edited:
Agreed! And apple should do something for those that bought into a expensive upgrade only to find most of the features that made this gen of product purchase worthwhile will now be passed onto a newer gen of devices but customers are still out the hundreds for these devices.

Not a happy Apple customer, shame on them for advertising what they couldn't do, and their coddling DEI type culture. This is the byproduct of not holding feet to the fire the way Steve did.

Restructure these teams starting at the top with Tim.
I agree with you on almost everything except the DEI comment. This has nothing to do with DEI. Full stop.
 
Is he for real?
They have been shipping non working features for a decade now and he also has the guts to say other companies launched features in this state or worse??

Has he tried to use Grok or Gemini? Has he tried a pixel phone?

It’s shocking to read this stuff, seriously. They need a reality check!


If all you want is novelty, sure, Grok and Gemini exist.

I suspect Apple has other goals in mind.

I remain convinced that if Apple had just shipped a worthless chatbot with iOS 18, people would act like it was some sort of accomplishment rather than being pointless noise.
 
This is because it gets louder if you raise your voice towards it. And vice verse, if you speak quietly it responds quieter.
You can ask Siri to speak louder or softer. It responds with “I’ll speak up”/“more softly”, as opposed to “Okay, media will play louder”/“more softly” when you ask it to adjust the volume. Sometimes it mixes up these two different volume requests.
 


Apple is reassuring employees on the Siri team who may be feeling demotivated by the recent Siri delays and the bad press surrounding the company's decisions, reports Bloomberg.

Apple-Intelligence-Comes-Under-Fire-Feature.jpg

In a Siri team meeting, Apple senior director Robby Walker acknowledged that employees might be feeling "angry, disappointed, burned out and embarrassed" following the Siri delay, but he praised the hard work of employees and the "incredibly impressive" features they developed, saying that Apple would continue to work to "ship the world's greatest virtual assistant" to Apple users. "I saw so many people giving everything they had in order to make this happen and to make incredible progress together," he said.

The situation was described as "ugly" because the Siri features were shown off in public with marketing campaigns and TV commercials before there was a fully functional product. Siri's new functionality was also tied to the iPhone 16 launch in advertising, and it was a feature that Apple used to promote its iPhone 16 models.

Apple decided to delay the functionality because of quality issues, with Walker telling employees that Siri's new features were only working properly 60 to 80 percent of the time.

To encourage employees, Walker demonstrated Siri locating his driver's license number, manipulating apps by embedding content in an email and adding recipients, and finding specific photos of a child. Employees on the Siri team will be able to use time away to recharge and prepare for "hard work ahead."

Walker told employees that it is not yet clear when the new Siri features will be ready for launch, but Apple's statement about the delay mentioned "in the coming year." That has been interpreted as 2026, or in an update to the iOS 19 operating system launching this fall.

Walker said that Apple is aiming for iOS 19, but that the timeline "doesn't mean that we're shipping then." Apple will ship the Siri functions when they're ready to launch, and the company does not want to provide the public with unfinished features, even if "competitors might have launched them in this state or worse."

According to Bloomberg, Apple does not have plans to fire Siri chief John Giannandrea or any other Siri executives at this time, though there have been discussions about moving additional senior executives under Giannandrea to speed up development.

Article Link: Apple Reassures Siri Team Members Feeling Disappointed and Embarrassed by Apple Intelligence Delay
The meeting should have been started with the following statement: “Despite the abundance of resources Apple has made available, Siri’s performance has trailed our competitors and has disappointed Apple’s customers for over a decade. The failure to now keep up with competitors and our promises regarding AI now signals we need to change. We will start this change at the top and John Giannandrea will no longer be leading this team. Now, get back to work and surprise me how fast we can turn this sh*t show around.
 
Apple is behind in many ways (the buck stops with Tim Cook’s leadership and lack of vision). I know that this article is specifically about Siri, but that is just a symptom. Apple is still thinking in terms of annual updates while the world is moving to fast iteration for every from IDE’s (e.g. Cursor and Windsurf) to massive hardware (e.g. SpaceX’s Starship). Using fast iteration they can roll features out as soon as they think they are ready without waiting for a massive marketing campaign for the specific (and underwhelming) product launch – I’m looking at you iPhone 16E.

Apple (and the rest of the world) are releasing products (hardware and software) so fast that unless you have a very different product (e.g. Vision Pro introduction) there is just too much noise for many to want to care. Now people want to know that they have the best in their hand’s or on their desk right now…not a year from today.

Not only would a process of fast iteration get desired features into the hands of the users faster, it would enable Apple to be more nimble and flexible. By not making grand announcements and then failing to live up to them, they avoid the huge embarrassment associated with failing. Instead, they could hold event periodically and with much fanfare to explain what they have done and why it is so good. They could develop and show off those great use case stories they are so good at producing.

Also, continuous releases would mean they can adjust when technology disrupts those well laid plans, as technology is want to do. I get that Apple is a huge corporation. But do they have to act like a national level government? If Apple doesn’t adapt, it is very likely to be disrupted by a horde of smaller faster companies and technology advancements.
 
Thats what they get for not making it a web app any device could use instead of tying it to hardware to spur product sales. Nobody who actually has to spend money on this stuff is rooting for that to succeed.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Apple$
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.
RE the 'here are the search results for what you asked' - agree 100%. I could've saved time by just googling my question. Totally worthless.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bilbo--baggins
Apple is behind in many ways (the buck stops with Tim Cook’s leadership and lack of vision). I know that this article is specifically about Siri, but that is just a symptom. Apple is still thinking in terms of annual updates while the world is moving to fast iteration for every from IDE’s (e.g. Cursor and Windsurf) to massive hardware (e.g. SpaceX’s Starship). Using fast iteration they can roll features out as soon as they think they are ready without waiting for a massive marketing campaign for the specific (and underwhelming) product launch – I’m looking at you iPhone 16E.

Apple (and the rest of the world) are releasing products (hardware and software) so fast that unless you have a very different product (e.g. Vision Pro introduction) there is just too much noise for many to want to care. Now people want to know that they have the best in their hand’s or on their desk right now…not a year from today.

Not only would a process of fast iteration get desired features into the hands of the users faster, it would enable Apple to be more nimble and flexible. By not making grand announcements and then failing to live up to them, they avoid the huge embarrassment associated with failing. Instead, they could hold event periodically and with much fanfare to explain what they have done and why it is so good. They could develop and show off those great use case stories they are so good at producing.

Also, continuous releases would mean they can adjust when technology disrupts those well laid plans, as technology is want to do. I get that Apple is a huge corporation. But do they have to act like a national level government? If Apple doesn’t adapt, it is very likely to be disrupted by a horde of smaller faster companies and technology advancements.
Having never used an Android phone or tablet - how do they handle software/OS updates?
 
Some of the comments here don’t take into account the human impact of working for Apple.

It seems that Apple puts huge pressure on the software teams to get features out of the door, to line up with new hardware releases.

This is due to the every year hardware refresh, meaning new software across a range of products, it’s unnecessary and only done as Apple maintains its profit margins.

Software from Apple has been poor for a long while, largely because the teams are not given the time needed to get it working in a way that meets quality control.

I feel for the teams that clearly wanted to get it working, even after they told Apple it might not be ready for the gravy train hardware refresh.
The way I see it is this… today Apple doesn’t do anything revolutionary or amazing.. they used to make happen revolutionary products like the iPhone in like 4 years. There’s no excuse that they can’t make the things they do now when all they do is iterative.
 
  • Like
Reactions: delsoul
Wow sounds like what every company in the history of the world goes through when bringing products to market. Taking time to develop the best product out there. It’s really 100% no news here lol but the media needs to fabricate something to get those clicks!
Dude, Siri has been out for 13 years. How much time do they need?
 
I assumed companies like Apple, google, etc. would be hiring the top 1% of employees available, products and software.
The competition to hire that top 1% is brutal so it’s inevitable you end up with a bunch of mediocre as well. Although I see this as a management problem because poor software has plagued Apple for a while now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 9081094
Employees on the Siri team will be able to use time away to recharge and prepare for hard work ahead.

Seems to me they’ve been on “time away” since the 4S.
Talking of the 4S, I'm still only comfortable using Siri on my iPad Pro M1 as I used it on the 4S. That is, telling it to wake me up in an hour when I'm napping. And that's pretty sad, but using Siri for anything else always ends up in a headache for me.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.