Siri is dead. Nobody uses it anymore. The fact Apple keeps "touting" Sir shows they still do not get it. AI has far surpassed a digital assistant. Modern AI companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini ..) are advancing so fast, ,there is NO way Apple can catch up. Deep integration is cool, and the way to go, but Apple just needs to partner with one of the big boys. They should NOT buy one of them .. that would just stifle the progress it/AI is making.
Apple is developing a new version of Siri that's supposed to be better than the existing Siri in every way. It will be smarter and able to do more, functioning like ChatGPT or Claude instead of a barely competent 2012-era smartphone assistant.
Upgrading Siri hasn't been without hiccups, and it's been delayed once. We've rounded up everything we know about Apple's work on a more capable Siri that uses large language models.
LLM Siri
The next-generation version of Siri will use advanced large language models, similar to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI chatbots.
LLM Siri would be able to hold continuous conversations and provide human-like responses to questions, plus the assistant would be capable of completing more complex tasks.
Apple Intelligence Siri Delays
In what became an infamous move, Apple went all-in showing off a smarter, Apple Intelligence-powered version of Siri when it showed off iOS 18 at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Apple also highlighted advanced Apple Intelligence Siri features when the iPhone 16 models launched, but after months of customers waiting for the new feature set, Apple said that it wouldn't be coming.
In March 2025, Apple said that the Apple Intelligence Siri features that it expected to introduce in iOS 18 would not be coming in iOS 18 at all. Apple said that Siri would not be ready until 2026.
The Siri Features That Got Pushed Back
The Siri functionality that was delayed wasn't even the LLM version of Siri that had been rumored. It was an in-between model that was smarter, but without full chatbot capabilities. Here's what we're waiting on:
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.
Onscreen Awareness
- 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.
Siri Redesign
- 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.
We got more context on what went wrong with Siri when Apple introduced iOS 26 and Apple executives did a series of interviews to explain the situation.
Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that the first-generation architecture that Apple was developing for the personalized Siri features ended up being too limited. Siri was not able to match Apple's high standards, and by spring 2025, Apple realized that it needed to transition Siri to the second-generation architecture (aka the LLM version of Siri) that it had been planning.
With Apple abandoning the first-generation Siri architecture it had been working on, the new Siri features had to be delayed until the second-generation architecture was ready.
In an all-hands meeting in August, Federighi told employees that Apple had attempted to merge two separate systems, and it didn't work out. Apple had one system for handling current commands and another based on large language models. Federighi said Apple realized that the hybrid approach was not going to work.
Federighi said that Apple has successfully revamped Siri, and it's going to be a bigger update than expected. "The work we've done on this end-to-end revamp of Siri has given us the results we needed," Federighi told employees. "This has put us in a position to not just deliver what we announced, but to deliver a much bigger upgrade than that we envisioned."
Internal Restructuring
The misstep with Siri's debut and the failure of the hybrid architecture led Apple to restructure its entire AI team. Apple AI chief John Giannandrea was removed from the Siri leadership team, with Vision Pro chief Mike Rockwell taking over instead.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was no longer confident in Giannandrea's ability to oversee product development. Rockwell reports to Federighi, and Federighi told employees that the new leadership has "supercharged" Siri development.
Apple has also struggled with retaining AI employees amid the Siri issue and recruitment strategies from companies like Meta. Meta poached several key AI engineers from Apple, offering pay packages as high as $200 million. At Apple's August all-hands meeting, Cook and Federighi aimed to reassure employees that AI is of the utmost importance to the company. "There is no project people are taking more seriously," Federighi said of Siri.
Cook said that Apple will "make the investment" to be a leader in AI.
Apple's LLM or a Partnership?
Part of the reason that Apple is seeing low morale among its AI employees is rumors that an Apple-designed large language model that's in development might be sidelined.
Apple is rumored to be considering a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI or Claude creator Anthropic to power the smarter version of Siri. Both companies are reportedly training versions of their models that would work with Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, and Apple is running tests with both its own models and models from outside companies. No final decision on Siri has been made as of yet.
Partnering with a company like Anthropic or OpenAI would allow Apple to d... Click here to read rest of article
Article Link: LLM Siri: The Complete Guide to Apple's AI Assistant Overhaul Coming in 2026
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LLM Siri: The Complete Guide to Apple's AI Assistant Overhaul Coming in 2026
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Wasn't John Giannandrea the one pushing for a complete reworking with longtime Apple engineers were pushing hard with their own long-standing project of supercharging the existing Siri? It's always felt like Giannandrea was getting mean girl'ed by the current Apple software engineers. The one with the fancy hair in particular.
Bruv
This was supposed to be this year
My estimation Apple as a company ****ing plumetted.
Even cinderella didn’t **** up this bad
This was supposed to be this year
My estimation Apple as a company ****ing plumetted.
Even cinderella didn’t **** up this bad
I really just want to be able to translate text that is currently shown on the screen with a single tap like with circle to search on Android or have live translation next to the original in text messaging apps. It's so convenient.
Personally, I prefer Apple delayed until the product is ready. I am not jealous of the AI tools on other platforms. Siri has sucked forever, so that is not knew, that is why I had always used Google Assistant on my iPhone anyway. And the version of ChatGPT I installed on my iPhone is equivalent to the product on every other platform regardless of what Apple doesn't deliver. I prefer iOS to Android overall (I am quite familiar with both), and when they get this stuff right I expect it to be good. I also use Windows and Copilot mainly made Windows and Edge even more obnoxious than they already were. Apple needs to take their time.
This development is disappointing and reveals just how far behind Apple is in the AI space.
Sounding desperate and confused as Apple searches for a solution, Google and others AI projects are far ahead. How ironic and off putting it will be if Apple establishes a strategic alliance with Google to bail them out of their dilemma.
Suddenly the Pixel 10 series with full Gemini AI built in is looking good. Especially for those users who value a flagship smartphone with fully integrated AI.
An Apple-Google hybrid smartphone doesn't sound very appealing.
Sounding desperate and confused as Apple searches for a solution, Google and others AI projects are far ahead. How ironic and off putting it will be if Apple establishes a strategic alliance with Google to bail them out of their dilemma.
Suddenly the Pixel 10 series with full Gemini AI built in is looking good. Especially for those users who value a flagship smartphone with fully integrated AI.
An Apple-Google hybrid smartphone doesn't sound very appealing.
Maybe they wouldn't be so delayed if their finance team would approve acquiring more AI chips? They have only 50,000? Compared to the 150,000 some competitors have, while, Google's AI chips is in the millions?
I don't see any big tragedy in that Apple may want to ask Google for AI assistance. The reason is that in search (the last big thing) Apple also wasn't a pioneer but it ended up being financially good for Apple, because there is huge competition in the area. Same will happen to AI: they all feed on information and thats what is really valuable, so at the end competing LLM models will vye for Apple's markets.
When Apple announced it’s version of AI in 2024 the 15 PM was one of the devices it could run on. So I bought one.
Given all the problems and the fact that I have to add, at least, one year extra for my country/language my 15 PM will be declared “vintage” by the time AI is ready for prime time 😀
Given all the problems and the fact that I have to add, at least, one year extra for my country/language my 15 PM will be declared “vintage” by the time AI is ready for prime time 😀
I don’t think they want Siri to be an AI like the others though, their goal in the short term seems to be just making it a more useful digital assistant, not an all-knowing multi-purpose AI like chatgpt
I’m thinking though that Apple has something like that in the works, but still under wraps. It wouldn’t be Apple’s style to release something that hallucinates, they are extremely risk averse and highly protective of their brand, so I’m thinking we won’t see something from them until and unless hallucination is solved. They’d likely prefer to partner with someone in the mean time to have somewhere to shift the blame when hallucinations cause harm
This is like the (really) abusive spouse telling the same excuse over and over:
- honey, I promise I will stop using crack. This is the last time!
- honey, I promise I will stop using crack. This is the last time!
Personally, I don’t need all of these bells and whistles. Because, if they’re as unreliable and unpredictable as every other AI model at the moment, I’ll be switching it off. I’d be fine with a Siri that just does what it supposed to do reliably. I don’t mine having to learn set phrases, I don’t need to converse with my speakers in natural language. Just do the thing the set phrase is supposed to do reliably.
Curious if new Siri can show me emails from Eric IN OUTLOOK app or will Siri only work with Apple apps? If it does work, will Siri know my default mail app is Outlook or do I always have to end my question with "...in Outlook"?
That’s unclear, but the conversational functionality will almost certainly be cloud-based. Onscreen Awareness and Personal Context will likely at least partly be on-device. Apple could nevertheless restrict the cloud-based parts to newer devices as well, especially when there is tight integration with on-device features.
When Federighi says that Siri will be "a bigger update than expected", I am hoping it will provide some clarity around the strategy for automation tools in general.
That is a very good point.
I think what is of biggest concern to many about Apple's attempts at AI is the failure to deliver on the promises they made.