
Apple is planning to upgrade Siri twice in the coming year, adding personalization features in iOS 26.4 before turning the personal assistant into a full chatbot in iOS 27.
As long as timelines don't change, we'll see the Siri chatbot as soon as June 2026. Here's everything we know so far.
SiriBot
With iOS 27, Apple will change the way that Siri works. Right now, Siri can answer basic questions and complete simple tasks, but you can't engage it in a back and forth conversation, get help with multi-step tasks, or ask complicated questions.
Based on the current Siri chatbot rumors, Siri will be able to do all of that and more with the upcoming upgrade, and it will work like competing chatbots.
Apple wasn't initially planning to introduce a full chatbot that users can interact with similarly to Claude or ChatGPT, but chatbots have become too popular for Apple to ignore. Simply adding AI capabilities to apps and features isn't enough for Apple to stay competitive with the way people have embraced chatbots for everything from web searches to coding help.
Google has already integrated Gemini into a range of Android devices, and chatbots like ChatGPT have hundreds of millions of weekly active users.
Siri Capabilities
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Siri's chatbot capabilities will be "embedded deeply" into Apple's products at the system level. Siri won't be an app, but will instead be integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS like Siri is now.
Siri Activation and Interface
Users will activate Siri in the same way they do today, speaking the Siri wake word or pressing on the side button of a Siri-enabled device. Siri will be able to respond to both voice and text-based requests.
We don't yet know what the new Siri interface will look like. Apple will need to make big changes to the way that Siri looks and feels if it wants to match functionality offered by companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
People are used to opening up an app and having a full text interface that includes conversation history, and it's not clear how Apple will provide that if there's no dedicated Siri chatbot app. People will want to be able to access their past conversations and have tools for uploading files and images.
It's possible activating Siri could lead to an app-like interface that takes over the iPhone, iPad, or Mac's display, but that will be a departure from Siri's current minimalistic design. Apple could alternatively log conversations in a place like the Notes app, or in the clipboard on the Mac.
Gurman says that Siri won't be an app, but that might mean that it won't only be an app. There could be some kind of dedicated chatbot app that people can use, with Siri also able to be activated and used on a system level and in and across apps.
What Siri Chatbot Can Do
It sounds like the Siri chatbot will be able to do everything that current chatbots can do, and more.
- Search the web for information
- Generate images
- Generate content
- Summarize information
- Analyze uploaded files
- Use personal data to complete tasks
- Ingest information from emails, messages, files and more
- Analyze open windows and on-screen content to take action
- Control device features and settings
- Search for on-device content, replacing Spotlight
iOS 26.4 "LLM Siri" vs. Chatbot Siri
In iOS 26.4, Apple plans to introduce a new, updated version of Siri that relies on large language models, or LLMs. Apple has been working on this version of Siri since Apple Intelligence features were added to iOS 18, but it was delayed because Siri's underlying architecture needed an overhaul to run LLMs.
Starting in iOS 26.4, Siri will be able to hold continuous conversations and provide human-like responses to questions, plus Siri will have new personalization features that will let it do more than before. What Siri won't have, though, is full chatbot capabilities. Here's what we're expecting:
Personal Context
With personal context, Siri will be able to keep track of emails, messages, files, photos, and more, learning more about you to help you complete tasks and keep track of what you've been sent.
- Show me the files Eric sent me last week.
- Find the email where Eric mentioned ice skating.
- Find the books that Eric recommended to me.
- Where's the recipe that Eric sent me?
- What's my passport number?
Onscreen awareness will let Siri see what's on your screen and complete actions involving whatever you're looking at. If someone texts you an address, for example, you can tell Siri to add it to their contact card. Or if you're looking at a photo and want to send it to someone, you can ask Siri to do it for you.
Deeper App Integration
Deeper app integration means that Siri will be able to do more in and across apps, performing actions and completing tasks that are just not possible with the personal assistant right now. We don't have a full picture of what Siri will be capable of, but Apple has provided a few examples of what to expect.
- Moving files from one app to another.
- Editing a photo and then sending it to someone.
- Get directions home and share the ETA with Eric.
- Send the email I drafted to Eric.
Siri Redesign
With all of the new functionality coming to Siri, Apple is planning to make visual design changes. It's not quite clear what that will entail, but for the upcoming table-top robot that's in the works, Apple has tested an animated version of Siri that looks similar to the Mac's Finder logo.
Apple could start rolling out that new, more personalized design when Siri gets the major iOS 27 revamp.
Memory
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Article Link: Apple's Siri Chatbot in iOS 27: Everything We Know
- Article Link
- https://www.macrumors.com/guide/siri-chatbot/