macOS 27 Beta Hides Trippy Siri 'Voice Pad' Interface With 13 Voices

[MacRumors]

For macOS 27 Golden Gate, Apple appears to be working on an immersive new interface for choosing Siri AI's voice, based on findings in the latest beta.

MacRumors forum member "mactracker" has shared what they call a hidden "voice pad" in the macOS 27 beta 4, which was released on Monday. When enabled, the interface replaces the System Settings menu for Siri's voice options with a nearly black canvas, with the currently selected voice marked by a colored dot.

Pressing, holding, and moving around the pad with your pointer brings the interface to life, causing various colors to transition across the view as more dots appear and the voice modulates through different characteristics. Each dot emerges from the ether like a revealed star in a hidden constellation.

The visuals are even responsive to cursor movement via spatial audio, so that when the pointer approaches a new voice on the pad, it sounds clearer and more present, while voices further away become distant and ambient. Meanwhile, a spatial mixer tracks the pointer's distance, angle, and velocity, which adjusts volume, reverb, occlusion, and filtering across the voice and background audio layers as you move.

The pad lays out 13 voice slots in a loose grid, suggesting Apple may be preparing to support up to 13 custom voices for Siri AI. You can see the UI in action in the video embedded below.

Currently, the latest macOS 27 beta doesn't include the required voice models, so it falls back to the two custom voices available. However, a related file found in the beta describes the 13 expected American English voices by gender, age, and character, spanning everything from a soft-spoken young female voice to a deep adult male voice and two older-sounding voices.

If the interface makes the final macOS 27 cut, it would be a big jump from where things stand today. As of the current betas, American is the only voice option for Siri AI, whose expressiveness and pace can only be adjusted via sliders.

In this context, the interface likely serves as an onboarding experience for picking Siri's underlying voice, with the existing picker and its Pace and Expressivity controls used to further adjust the voice after selection. While the interface remains unfinished, it is already said to be localized for 44 languages. It also shares the same Siri setup framework with iOS 27, so we could see it on iPhone and iPad, too.

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Unlike the hidden Siri popover we covered earlier this week, there's no easy way for beta testers to switch on this feature flag, as it requires disabling System Integrity Protection (SIP) and overriding internal code with a debugger.

The new, more advanced Siri AI, which is backed by large language models, will arrive in supported regions with the release of iOS 27, macOS 27, and Apple's other software updates this September.

Article Link: macOS 27 Beta Hides Trippy Siri 'Voice Pad' Interface With 13 Voices

 

[Baumi]

Do the intermediate positions actually serve any purpose? (As in: Would it be possible to pick a voice that has a sound somewhere in between two or more of the standard voices?) If so, this kind of interface may make sense. If, however, the choice is still restricted to one of the thirteen dots, then this mystery meat navigation seems like an unnecessary inconvenience when compared to a simple list of items.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

It's hidden because it's a terrible interface.

 

[neuropsychguy]

That's really cool.

 

[vegetassj4]

Apple Introduces Trippy Siri “Voice Pad,” Featuring 13 Voices, miSiri Custom Voice Replicas, and Absolutely No New Answers

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — Apple today unveiled Voice Pad, a groundbreaking new Siri interface that allows users to experience the same incorrect, unhelpful, or completely unrelated response in 13 distinct voices—plus virtually anyone else’s voice, whether they agreed to it or not.

Designed from the ground up to make Siri feel more expressive without requiring it to become more useful, Voice Pad presents users with a colorful, pulsating grid that resembles a synthesizer designed during a medically concerning weekend in Cupertino.

“Voice Pad represents our deepest commitment yet to changing how Siri looks and sounds,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We considered improving what Siri actually does, but ultimately felt that would distract from the animation.”

The 13 included voices feature:

• Warm Siri, which apologizes before failing.
• Confident Siri, which provides the wrong answer immediately.
• Thoughtful Siri, which pauses dramatically before opening Safari.
• Playful Siri, which misunderstands your request and adds a joke.
• Professional Siri, which says, “Here’s what I found on the web,” in a blazer.
• Intimate Siri, which whispers your timer confirmation from three rooms away.
• Visionary Siri, which promises the requested feature is coming next year.
• Legacy Siri, which works exactly as it did in 2014.
• Experimental Siri, which activates accidentally whenever anyone says anything remotely similar to “Siri.”
• Spatial Siri, which gives the wrong answer from somewhere behind your left ear.
• Ambient Siri, which responds only after you have completed the task yourself.
• Private Siri, which refuses to answer because privacy is a fundamental human right.
• Courage Siri, which removes the feature you were trying to use.

Introducing miSiri: Your Voice. Their Voice. Anyone’s Voice.​

Voice Pad also introduces miSiri, a revolutionary personalization experience that lets users create a custom Siri voice from a brief audio sample.

With miSiri, users can hear everyday reminders, weather reports, and failed HomeKit commands delivered in the voice of:

• An ex who specifically asked for space.
• A deceased grandmother who definitely never agreed to become a smart-home assistant.
• A celebrity you have developed a completely normal and proportionate interest in.
• A former boss whose voice still causes an immediate stress response.
• A neighbor you recorded through the wall for “acoustic testing.”
• Yourself, for users who believe one of them is not already enough.

“Voice is deeply personal,” said an Apple executive. “That’s why we’ve made it possible to turn unresolved grief, romantic fixation, and parasocial attachment into a delightful on-device experience.”

Using Apple silicon and advanced machine learning, miSiri can recreate the emotional warmth of a loved one while preserving Siri’s signature inability to understand what you asked.

For example, users can now enjoy experiences such as:

Grandma: “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t find ‘turn off the kitchen lights’ in your music library.”

Your Ex: “Here’s what I found on the web for ‘Why won’t you answer me?’”

Your Creepy Obsession: “Your 6:30 a.m. alarm is set. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

To protect privacy, all miSiri voice processing occurs securely on device, where only you, Apple, your Family Sharing group, anyone near your unlocked phone, and several future court proceedings can access it.

Apple has also developed Emotional Distance Detection, which recognizes when a selected voice may be psychologically unhealthy and responds by displaying a tasteful notification reading:

“You seem to be using this voice a lot.”

Users can dismiss the warning indefinitely.

Thanks to deep integration across the Apple ecosystem, users can ask their ex’s cloned voice to turn off a light, wait eight seconds, hear “I’m having trouble connecting,” turn off the light manually, and then receive a notification confirming that the light is already off.

Voice Pad and miSiri will be available as a free software update on supported devices, although custom voices of people you actually miss will require an iPhone model announced after the one you currently own.

Additional voices may arrive later, pending regulatory approval, sufficient processing power, and Apple’s ability to determine whether users are emotionally prepared to hear their late grandfather announce that their DoorDash order has been delivered.

Availability

Voice Pad will launch first in U.S. English. miSiri will initially support exes, grandparents, former coworkers, minor celebrities, and individuals whose restraining orders have not yet been uploaded to Apple Wallet.

Support for additional languages, reliable answers, basic contextual awareness, healthy emotional boundaries, and setting more than one timer will be announced at a later date.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in making the microphone animation slightly larger—and your grief significantly more interactive.

 

[tonmischa]

I like the interface. Better than the ChatGPT voice picker.

But what is up with the meditation music in the background?
I can only guess, but Apple probably uses it to hide the small artefacts in the voice generation. The voice actually sounds more natural when there is some kind of background noise.

 

[Samplasion]

Here’s a sharper parody press release:

Apple Introduces Trippy Siri “Voice Pad,” Featuring 13 Voices and Absolutely No New Answers

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — Apple today unveiled Voice Pad, a groundbreaking new Siri interface that allows users to experience the same incorrect, unhelpful, or completely unrelated response in 13 distinct voices.

Designed from the ground up to make Siri feel more expressive without requiring it to become more useful, Voice Pad presents users with a colorful, pulsating grid of voice options. Each voice has been meticulously engineered to misunderstand requests with its own unique personality.

“Voice Pad represents our deepest commitment yet to changing how Siri looks and sounds,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We considered improving what Siri actually does, but ultimately felt that would distract from the animation.”

The 13 available voices include:

• Warm Siri, which apologizes before failing.
• Confident Siri, which provides the wrong answer immediately.
• Thoughtful Siri, which pauses dramatically before opening Safari.
• Playful Siri, which misunderstands your request and adds a joke.
• Professional Siri, which says, “Here’s what I found on the web,” in a blazer.
• Intimate Siri, which whispers your timer confirmation from three rooms away.
• Visionary Siri, which promises the requested feature is coming next year.
• Legacy Siri, which works exactly as it did in 2014.
• Experimental Siri, which activates accidentally whenever anyone says anything remotely similar to “Siri.”
• Spatial Siri, which gives the wrong answer from somewhere behind your left ear.
• Ambient Siri, which responds only after you have completed the task yourself.
• Private Siri, which refuses to answer because privacy is a fundamental human right.
• Courage Siri, which removes the feature you were trying to use.

Voice Pad builds on Apple’s long tradition of delivering highly visible updates to features that remain functionally unchanged. It joins the company’s industry-leading emoji strategy, which has brought users essential innovations including a melting face, a biting lip, seventeen subtly different hand gestures, and several vegetables no one has ever searched for.

“We know our users have been asking for a smarter Siri,” said an Apple spokesperson. “But they have also been asking for a lime emoji. We listened.”

This fall, Apple will expand its emoji collection with more inclusive, expressive, and urgently needed designs, including a sideways-facing goose, a distressed-looking lentil, a wireless router with feelings, and a second shovel angled three degrees differently from the current shovel.

Thanks to deep integration across the Apple ecosystem, users can ask Siri to locate an emoji, be told that Siri cannot find it, manually open the emoji keyboard, scroll through 3,700 symbols, forget what they were trying to say, and purchase a new iPhone.

Voice Pad will be available as a free software update on supported devices, although several voices will require an iPhone model announced after the one you currently own. Additional voices may arrive later, pending regulatory approval, sufficient processing power, and Apple’s ability to determine whether users are emotionally prepared for Siri to understand follow-up questions.

Availability

Voice Pad will launch first in U.S. English. Support for additional languages, reliable answers, basic contextual awareness, and setting more than one timer will be announced at a later date.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in making the microphone animation slightly larger.

I can also make it even nastier and closer to Apple’s real press-release style.

The descriptions of each style gave me a good chuckle!

 

[tonmischa]

If, however, the choice is still restricted to one of the thirteen dots, then this mystery meat navigation seems like an unnecessary inconvenience when compared to a simple list of items.

Really? To be honest, I find it fun.
Also it is clearly built to be used with a finger. On a touch screen this would make a lot of sense.
(The UI literally says "Scan around with your finger")

 

[fullauto]

I wish we could rename Siri.

 

[svish]

Would like to try this out. Possible that it will be available in a future release, maybe early 2027.

 

[nt5672]

I can think of probably 100 more important bugs that need to be fixed.

How about assigning resources to something that really matters?

 

[TwoBytes]

I want it to sound like Flight of the Navigator

 

[orbital~debris]

Really? To be honest, I find it fun.
Also it is clearly built to be used with a finger. On a touch screen this would make a lot of sense.
(The UI literally says "Scan around with your finger")

Seems similar to the interface in Photos for adjusting tone and colour in Styles.

 

[megascott]

Is it interesting that a Mac interface says to “scan around with your finger”? I feel like they would usually refer to it as a cursor.

 

[tonmischa]

Support for additional languages, reliable answers, basic contextual awareness, healthy emotional boundaries, and setting more than one timer will be announced at a later date.

LOL what AI did you use for this?

 

[orbital~debris]

I want it to sound like Flight of the Navigator

Apple (hopefully): Compliance!

 

[KENESS]

Is it interesting that a Mac interface says to “scan around with your finger”? I feel like they would usually refer to it as a cursor.

Well it is super unfinished, deeply hidden within a beta... So that kind of thing would get ironed out as it progressed.

 

[vegetassj4]

LOL what AI did you use for this?

SIRI

 

[mwhite]

Apple Introduces Trippy Siri “Voice Pad,” Featuring 13 Voices, miSiri Custom Voice Replicas, and Absolutely No New Answers

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — Apple today unveiled Voice Pad, a groundbreaking new Siri interface that allows users to experience the same incorrect, unhelpful, or completely unrelated response in 13 distinct voices—plus virtually anyone else’s voice, whether they agreed to it or not.

Designed from the ground up to make Siri feel more expressive without requiring it to become more useful, Voice Pad presents users with a colorful, pulsating grid that resembles a synthesizer designed during a medically concerning weekend in Cupertino.

“Voice Pad represents our deepest commitment yet to changing how Siri looks and sounds,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We considered improving what Siri actually does, but ultimately felt that would distract from the animation.”

The 13 included voices feature:

• Warm Siri, which apologizes before failing.
• Confident Siri, which provides the wrong answer immediately.
• Thoughtful Siri, which pauses dramatically before opening Safari.
• Playful Siri, which misunderstands your request and adds a joke.
• Professional Siri, which says, “Here’s what I found on the web,” in a blazer.
• Intimate Siri, which whispers your timer confirmation from three rooms away.
• Visionary Siri, which promises the requested feature is coming next year.
• Legacy Siri, which works exactly as it did in 2014.
• Experimental Siri, which activates accidentally whenever anyone says anything remotely similar to “Siri.”
• Spatial Siri, which gives the wrong answer from somewhere behind your left ear.
• Ambient Siri, which responds only after you have completed the task yourself.
• Private Siri, which refuses to answer because privacy is a fundamental human right.
• Courage Siri, which removes the feature you were trying to use.

Introducing miSiri: Your Voice. Their Voice. Anyone’s Voice.​

Voice Pad also introduces miSiri, a revolutionary personalization experience that lets users create a custom Siri voice from a brief audio sample.

With miSiri, users can hear everyday reminders, weather reports, and failed HomeKit commands delivered in the voice of:

• An ex who specifically asked for space.
• A deceased grandmother who definitely never agreed to become a smart-home assistant.
• A celebrity you have developed a completely normal and proportionate interest in.
• A former boss whose voice still causes an immediate stress response.
• A neighbor you recorded through the wall for “acoustic testing.”
• Yourself, for users who believe one of them is not already enough.

“Voice is deeply personal,” said an Apple executive. “That’s why we’ve made it possible to turn unresolved grief, romantic fixation, and parasocial attachment into a delightful on-device experience.”

Using Apple silicon and advanced machine learning, miSiri can recreate the emotional warmth of a loved one while preserving Siri’s signature inability to understand what you asked.

For example, users can now enjoy experiences such as:

Grandma: “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t find ‘turn off the kitchen lights’ in your music library.”

Your Ex: “Here’s what I found on the web for ‘Why won’t you answer me?’”

Your Creepy Obsession: “Your 6:30 a.m. alarm is set. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

To protect privacy, all miSiri voice processing occurs securely on device, where only you, Apple, your Family Sharing group, anyone near your unlocked phone, and several future court proceedings can access it.

Apple has also developed Emotional Distance Detection, which recognizes when a selected voice may be psychologically unhealthy and responds by displaying a tasteful notification reading:

“You seem to be using this voice a lot.”

Users can dismiss the warning indefinitely.

Thanks to deep integration across the Apple ecosystem, users can ask their ex’s cloned voice to turn off a light, wait eight seconds, hear “I’m having trouble connecting,” turn off the light manually, and then receive a notification confirming that the light is already off.

Voice Pad and miSiri will be available as a free software update on supported devices, although custom voices of people you actually miss will require an iPhone model announced after the one you currently own.

Additional voices may arrive later, pending regulatory approval, sufficient processing power, and Apple’s ability to determine whether users are emotionally prepared to hear their late grandfather announce that their DoorDash order has been delivered.

Availability

Voice Pad will launch first in U.S. English. miSiri will initially support exes, grandparents, former coworkers, minor celebrities, and individuals whose restraining orders have not yet been uploaded to Apple Wallet.

Support for additional languages, reliable answers, basic contextual awareness, healthy emotional boundaries, and setting more than one timer will be announced at a later date.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in making the microphone animation slightly larger—and your grief significantly more interactive.

Well done 👏

 

[ppdix]

Siri in the sky with diamonds

 

[lazyrighteye]

Is it interesting that a Mac interface says to “scan around with your finger”? I feel like they would usually refer to it as a cursor.

Touchscreen Macs, yo.

 

[jayducharme]

I want to know when Apple will allow me to incorporate my own voice into Siri for the ultimate narcissistic experience. I can digitize it on my iPhone but I can’t really do much of anything with it.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I’m ok with them putting voice variety and expressiveness on the back burner. Let’s get the basics working first.

They’re off to a good start but it seems they still need to work on world knowledge and consistency. Voices can wait.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I want to know when Apple will allow me to incorporate my own voice into Siri for the ultimate narcissistic experience. I can digitize it on my iPhone but I can’t really do much of anything with it.

Or, related, someone you know who volunteers/is paid to do it. A world of possibilities there.

 

[Happy_John]

It sounds like a fun mini-game, or fidget app.

It doesn’t sound like an effective settings interface.

I really don’t get the amount of time an effort bring put into anthropomorphising AI interfaces.

An interface that understands natural human languages is very useful. That the interface tries to be a “pretend human” is not.

It’s not a person, or a game or a companion.

It’s simply an interface: a tool.