iOS 26.4 Beta Launches Without Apple Intelligence Siri Features

[Billy_Bob]

Best-case scenario: the March 4 event will see the release of homeOS 26.4.1, which will contain a bunch of Siri enhancements required to support the new home automation platform and related devices.

Likeliest scenario: a roomful of Apple executives pointing fingers at each other to deflect blame as to why they have a garbage AI not ready to ship.

 

[ButterF1ngers]

They REALLY jumped the gun in announcing Apple Intelligence.
Apple used to have a strong track record of not being first to the party but arguably doing it better once they do arrive. They were clearly too caught up in the AI hype train...

 

[kentos]

How about Appple just get the windows overlay, and cursor control issues fixed ffs.

 

[sw1tcher]

richest tech company on the planet btw

Apple doesn't have that much cash on their balance sheet anymore. They're spending a lot of it on stock buybacks and dividends. When they reported earnings last month, they said

Apple Reports Record-Setting 1Q 2026 Results: $42.1B Profit on $143.8B Revenue

Apple today announced financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2026, which corresponds to the fourth calendar quarter of 2025. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $143.8 billion and net quarterly profit of $42.1 billion, or $2.84 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $124.3...

www.macrumors.com

2:23 pm: Apple had $145 billion in cash and marketable securities, with $2.2 billion of debt maturities and decreases in commercial paper by $6 billion, with $91 billion in total debt. Net cash was $54 billion, with $32 billion in cash returned to shareholders, with $3.9 billion in dividends and equivalents and $25 billion in open market repurchases of 93 million Apple shares.


Berkshire Hathaway had close to $400 billion cash on hand at the end of 2025.

Market cap? NVidia's market cap (around $4.5 Trillion) is higher than Apple's (around $3.9 trillion).

 

[ItsASpider]

I wouldn't be surprised if they're just not including it until the March event to announce it there.

 

[Farquar]

It is amazing to me how so many people, including the authors of this site, seem to not realize that Apple themselves never claimed anything was coming in 26.4. This is stuff that Gurman made up, turned out not be true, and instead of Gurman simply being wrong about the thing he made up...it's "Apple missed it's deadline in latest Siri embarrassment".

Don't get me wrong, Apple's failure to deliver a working virtual assistant on par with even a generic AI chatbot to date is in fact a massive embarrassment. But this isn't furthering that.

The truth is that Apple made a deal with Google for Gemini-powered Siri very recently, and far more likely is an iOS 27 beta and eventual fall release.

 

[Farquar]

I wouldn't be surprised if they're just not including it until the March event to announce it there.

That's not happening. March is a press event. For members of the press to get hands on with iPhone 17e, MacBook, and other new hardware.

 

[Farquar]

Dont believe EVERYTHING you read 👍

Better yet. Don't believe anything Gurman says unless Weibo said it first.

 

[robertosh]

The sad/funny part is that whenever it is available, it will be a day 1 disabled for me.

 

[Rradcircless]

This just cracks me up 😂😂😂 one thing about me is that even if I miss out on something I still love to watch a fire burn and this Apple Intelligence fiasco continues to be an inferno 🔥🔥🔥

 

[HouseLannister]

richest tech company on the planet btw

That would be Nvidia.

But Apple made $143b last quarter in revenue and yet only has $66b on hand. They are spending it as fast as they can.

Their $3.8t valuation only means something to shareholders.

 

[GIZBUG]

Disappointing

 

[GIZBUG]

imagine what things woulda been like if they'd actually paid attention to Siri for the last decade and not let it rot

Too busy with emojis

 

[jimscard]

The first beta of iOS 26.4 is available to developers and public beta testers, and the software includes no new Siri features. There were expectations of at least some new Apple Intelligence Siri capabilities because of how long the delays have been and persistent rumors suggesting Apple was targeting an iOS 26.4 release, but we'll have to wait longer for Siri updates.

After Apple announced a delay for the Apple Intelligence version of Siri in March 2025, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple had set an internal launch target for iOS 26.4. He repeated the iOS 26.4 timeline in several subsequent reports, and even at the end of January, he suggested that Apple would unveil the more personalized version of Siri in February.

Apple seemed to be aiming for an iOS 26.4 launch until right before the first beta came out, because just last week, Gurman said the Siri update wouldn't be coming in iOS 26.4 after all. Apple apparently ran into development issues and the new version of Siri has reportedly been delayed until iOS 26.5 or iOS 27.

Gurman said the Siri features will be spread across several upcoming iOS releases. Some or all of the new Siri features could be introduced in iOS 26.5, or Apple might wait for iOS 27, which will be previewed in June 2026 at WWDC.

Apple first showed off the Apple Intelligence version of Siri at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, and it was supposed to come in iOS 18. Apple had to upgrade Siri's architecture to make the promised functionality work, and so far, that's taken over a year.

Siri is apparently taking too long to respond to requests, and some queries aren't processed properly, which is what led to the iOS 26.4 Siri delay. Engineers are apparently using iOS 26.5 for further Siri testing right now, so some functionality could come in that update. There's still a possibility that new Siri features will be introduced in a later iOS 26.4 beta, but that's not guaranteed.

Apple has been working to add personalization, onscreen awareness, and the ability for Siri to do more in and between apps. Not all of the features are working reliably and Apple is said to be having continual issues with accuracy.

After the report about the missed iOS 26.4 timeline, Apple confirmed to CNBC that the new version of Siri would still be coming at some point in 2026. Apple has never given a timeline more specific than 2026, so there hasn't been a second actual delay, just a disappointment based on rumors of an iOS 26.4 launch.

Since it's only February, Apple has until December to meet the 2026 launch target that it publicly promised. Even if the new Siri features are delayed until iOS 27, Apple will still meet its goal. Gurman claims that Apple executives are reluctant to push the new Siri's debut beyond spring 2026, so an iOS 26 launch could still happen.

Article Link: iOS 26.4 Beta Launches Without Apple Intelligence Siri Features

This is misleading.

The 26.4 beta 1 developer beta:

- DOES contain the new version of the Apple Foundation Models that the new Siri will use. Remember, Siri is an app that uses Apple Intelligence, and the first priority is for App Developers to be able to test their apps that use Apple Intelligence and verify that they work properly with the new models. Importantly, it may be necessary for developers to update their prompts, as well as add logic to use the new APIs that return token counts to optimize their apps' use of Apple Foundation Models as described in the [updates on the Developer Website](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Updates/FoundationModels).
- Contains multiple new Siri related MachO's:

- `/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriAUSP.appex/SiriAUSP`
- `/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriAutoEvalPlugin.appex/SiriAutoEvalPlugin`
-`/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriInferenceRuntimeDiagnostics.appex/SiriInferenceRuntimeDiagnostics`
- `/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriPhoneAppIntentsExtension.appex/SiriPhoneAppIntentsExtension`
- `/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriUploadWorker.appex/SiriUploadWorker`
- `/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/SiriVideoAppIntents.appex/SiriVideoAppIntents`
- `/System/Library/Snippets/UIPlugins/SiriVideoUIPluginV2.bundle/SiriVideoUIPluginV2`

- And Dylibs:


- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriAnalyticsRuntime.framework/SiriAnalyticsRuntime`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriAnalyticsToolKitSupport.framework/SiriAnalyticsToolKitSupport`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriAnnouncePlatformOpportuneSpeaking.framework/SiriAnnouncePlatformOpportuneSpeaking`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriCalendar.framework/SiriCalendar`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriDeviceSelection.framework/SiriDeviceSelection`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriDeviceSelectionSignals.framework/SiriDeviceSelectionSignals`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriMessagesFlowCommon.framework/SiriMessagesFlowCommon`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriMessagesUICommon.framework/SiriMessagesUICommon`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriPhoneCATs.framework/SiriPhoneCATs`
- `/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriSchemaRegistry.framework/SiriSchemaRegistry`

along with new Entitlements with literally dozens of references to Siri and AppIntents etc.

The switch may not be turned on yet, but there's definitely the framing in this beta. Personally don't expect to see it working for at least a couple more betas....

 

[Kar98]

It is amazing to me how so many people, including the authors of this site, seem to not realize that Apple themselves never claimed anything was coming in 26.4. This is stuff that Gurman made up, turned out not be true, and instead of Gurman simply being wrong about the thing he made up...it's "Apple missed it's deadline in latest Siri embarrassment".

Don't get me wrong, Apple's failure to deliver a working virtual assistant on par with even a generic AI chatbot to date is in fact a massive embarrassment. But this isn't furthering that.

The truth is that Apple made a deal with Google for Gemini-powered Siri very recently, and far more likely is an iOS 27 beta and eventual fall release.

The deadline they kissed was when Apple ran those “get Apple Intelligence now, with the iPhone 16” commercials.
That ship had sailed. But we got trombone emojis. Womp womp 🎺🎺

 

[riverguide]

A new improved Siri is coming even if we don’t know when.

That is less likely than USMNT winning this summer’s soccer World Cup tournament … 😊⚽️

 

[teaneedz]

does 26.4 fix the keyboard? that alone would make me hop up and down and get jiggy with it.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

If part of the reason why Siri isn't yet up to speed enough to include updates for it in 26.4 beta 1, it might be due to Apple's reliance on Gemini for some of Siri's new features, at least if the Gemini chatbot is anything to judge this by, since too often it's a mess. It still sometimes hallucinates, repeats itself endlessly even after you tell it to stop, takes significantly longer to respond than at other times, gives only partial responses, etc. Gemini isn't ready for prime time, so I wouldn't expect the new Siri to be ready either. Investors should be annoyed.

 

[riverguide]

… After the report about the missed iOS 26.4 timeline, Apple confirmed to CNBC that the new version of Siri would still be coming at some point in 2026.

The new improved Apple Intelligence Siri deserves better than being released under n .x upgrade number. Much more fitting, festive, and … feasible would be 30.0

 

[Joooeforlong]

It is amazing to me how so many people, including the authors of this site, seem to not realize that Apple themselves never claimed anything was coming in 26.4. This is stuff that Gurman made up, turned out not be true, and instead of Gurman simply being wrong about the thing he made up...it's "Apple missed it's deadline in latest Siri embarrassment".

Don't get me wrong, Apple's failure to deliver a working virtual assistant on par with even a generic AI chatbot to date is in fact a massive embarrassment. But this isn't furthering that.

The truth is that Apple made a deal with Google for Gemini-powered Siri very recently, and far more likely is an iOS 27 beta and eventual fall release.

Truly. I thought I was taking crazy pills reading the comments because Apple never said anything about releasing new Siri with 26.4, so I'm not sure how anyone can call this a delay.

As far as the state of Apple Intelligence, for me the feature that has improved my life most significantly is visual intelligence + adding to calendar.

Whether I'm walking outside and see a flyer or see an event post on IG, being able to take a photo/screenshot and have Apple Intelligence add it to my calendar with all the details filled in saves so much time. This is the true promise of AI, to enable us to skip the tedious tasks and processes that should be so much faster than they currently are!

 

[Joooeforlong]

does 26.4 fix the keyboard? that alone would make me hop up and down and get jiggy with it.

You'll have to be more specific, it's broken in so many different ways 😆

 

[Aries79]

I believe that we will see the new Siri at WWDC. Some features may be part of iOS 26.5 or 26.6

 

[Octavius8]

IOS. 27.4 for decent Siri. This year will provide trivial AI such as playground (useless)c “better” and useless text styles, almost acceptable photo editing and will consume 30GB of storage.
My photos will never show all the people in them. The indexing is soooooooo flawed…

 

[DocMultimedia]

Siri, are you intelligent?

I have a lot of information. I’m always seeking more intelligent ways to use it.

The exact statement.

 

[teaneedz]

You'll have to be more specific, it's broken in so many different ways 😆

the bar is so low, maybe apple could concentrate on fixing just two things at a time? 1. intended keys are actually typed 2. working swipe to type. then later go big on fixing autocorrect, lookback autocorrect, contextual awareness.. whatever else is broken. by the time the keyboard works, we might all have forgotten about this siri vaporware.