Report Reveals Internal Chaos Behind Apple's Siri Failure

[rp2011]

But overall, the biggest mistake Apple made was listening to the clueless analysts and announcing this nonsense without a product.

Without spending one dime, Apple has access to Deepseek. A competitive LLM without spending the BILLIONS of dollars and entrenched engineering talent that OpenAI and everyone else has sunk into this nascent, everchanging technology.

What Apple needs to work on is keeping their devices SAFE from AI, and letting everyone spin their wheels and be ready to get the cream off the top when another Deepseek opportunity is released or buy a floundering leading company when, sadly, most of the dedicated LLM companies fail. Which they will. This is the clear path, financially speaking, for all of the LLM companies.

 

[SebCohen]

I'm in another camp on this. If Siri (or its successor) is going to be allowed to roam through my contacts, calendars, photos, location information, emails, messages and god knows what else then privacy and security are essential. If that means on-device processing takes longer to figure out, I'd rather wait than hand over the keys to my life to the likes of OpenAI.

And before you say "well just don't opt in" -- that doesn't help me one bit if the data about me that's on someone else's phone is all getting hoovered up regardless of my opting in or not.

I get that a lot of these cats are out of the bag at this point, but I'd rather Apple get it right than just "break things first and ask questions later" as is all too common in the tech industry.

10.000%.

Can’t say this clearly enough.

Even though AI is the upmost awesomest tech ever invented, and will be super nice for humanity and can do no wrong.

Do we really want an LLM to know us more than we know ourselves?

Know every button we have, combined with every educational psychology book ever written?

We say that TikTok is potentially manipulating us (and yeah, it’s not THAT hard to notice the algo pushing you in this or another direction to buy something….) and do we actually want a potentially perfect manipulation device for our emotions?

And there are no laws or legislation yet..heck we don’t even have a fully functional AI yet, they’re all under development. We don’t know yet how this will effect our lives.

You don’t even have to be a crazy conspiracist to imagine it’s possible. All you need is someone will to use it. And I’d bet you Zukkster would find a way to convince himself he’s doing it for the right reason….

Shiisiss…I didn’t know I was such a Luddite….

Ps I just finished NEXUS.

 

[ThailandToo]

I have been a Mac person for decades. This blatant lie and misrepresentation sealed it for me. I'm going to transition to non-Apple products. And I don't care what the fan boys say. I was a professional programmer, unix, IBM... Stability and consistency is what I want. Apple is no longer it.

The thing for me is I really like the Mac. I have Mac Studios and MacBook Pros. Love them. Really like my iPad Pro M4. What I want to eliminate is the iPhone from my setup. Eliminate it and not reward Apple’s flunkies by buying their annual crapware update to software and tiny incremental hardware updates. How about going to a **** it when it’s truly ready model????

I think my switch starts with Android full time; had an Android phone for ten years but always a business phone - my Pixel 8 Pro is good enough, and I even think my older Nothing Phone is good enough for my use cases - the thing I will miss most is auto connection to internet hot spot and AirPods auto switching to the right device. Then maybe a ThinkPad for business documents and such while continuing to use a Mac Studio for AI work.

 

[ThailandToo]

10.000%.

Can’t say this clearly enough.

Even though AI is the upmost awesomest tech ever invented, and will be super nice for humanity and can do no wrong.

Do we really want an LLM to know us more than we know ourselves?

Know every button we have, combined with every educational psychology book ever written?

We say that TikTok is potentially manipulating us (and yeah, it’s not THAT hard to notice the algo pushing you in this or another direction to buy something….) and do we actually want a potentially perfect manipulation device for our emotions?

And there are no laws or legislation yet..heck we don’t even have a fully functional AI yet, they’re all under development. We don’t know yet how this will effect our lives.

You don’t even have to be a crazy conspiracist to imagine it’s possible. All you need is someone will to use it. And I’d bet you Zukkster would find a way to convince himself he’s doing it for the right reason….

Shiisiss…I didn’t know I was such a Luddite….

Ps I just finished NEXUS.

I don’t believe Apple is as honest about privacy as most think. I believe it’s all marketing hype. I mean what they’re doing now is all ready sending crap to OpenAI.

 

[Nibo10]

I made the switch this year and it's been awesome. I was in a very similar boat as you, fed up with Apple. My S25 Ultra "just works" like Applet products used to for me.

I’m on a very similar boat for the better half of last year and now with the 16, but I can’t part ways with my Apple Watch. Or AirPods for that matter. It’s the first time I feel this way after decades and decades of being a loyal user and it’s a feeling I can’t shake.

 

[newdeal]

Let's face it. Siri has so many problems that they need to buy something new thats better, possibly an entire large company, because it just can't be fixed in the timeline that it needs to be fixed in. They made a huge mistake in letting it fall so far behind. I mean it can't even get the basics of doing things with the phone locked, or giving you results based on your current location. How do they expect it to be the foundation of interacting with anything. It's like having a computer with a keyboard that only registers the right key 10% of the time. You just can't do it.

 

[mjschabow]

I’m on a very similar boat for the better half of last year and now with the 16, but I can’t part ways with my Apple Watch. Or AirPods for that matter. It’s the first time I feel this way after decades and decades of being a loyal user and it’s a feeling I can’t shake.

On the Samsung side, the Buds Pro 3 and Galaxy Watch Ultra are just as good.

 

[newdeal]

Apples "Musk" moment.

I can assure you Tim Cook is not going to be eating, working and sleeping in the Siri room to make sure this gets done like Musk would

 

[MEMSMaster]

Maybe the Apple team is just not lying to their bosses about what the application of large language modes to so-called "AI" can do, unlike their counterparts at other large tech companies. Maybe "AI" is right up there with the cryptocoin of the day as a total fraud.

 

[newdeal]

“Senior leaders didn't respond with a sense of urgency to the debut of ChatGPT in 2022”

This says it all. Unbelievable to overlook the significance of this.

But yeah, also some folks here still do not get it.

Apples RIM moment perhaps

 

[sdz]

I can assure you Tim Cook is not going to be eating, working and sleeping in the Siri room to make sure this gets done like Musk would

You really believe drug abusers? Oh my child...

 

[FatLouie]

The thing for me is I really like the Mac. I have Mac Studios and MacBook Pros. Love them. Really like my iPad Pro M4. What I want to eliminate is the iPhone from my setup. Eliminate it and not reward Apple’s flunkies by buying their annual crapware update to software and tiny incremental hardware updates. How about going to a **** it when it’s truly ready model????

I think my switch starts with Android full time; had an Android phone for ten years but always a business phone - my Pixel 8 Pro is good enough, and I even think my older Nothing Phone is good enough for my use cases - the thing I will miss most is auto connection to internet hot spot and AirPods auto switching to the right device. Then maybe a ThinkPad for business documents and such while continuing to use a Mac Studio for AI work.

Love my iPad Pro M4. Earlier this year I underwent medical treatments and needed to be out of State and needed to upgrade to a 15+ for app continuity with my iPad Pro. Had I not owned that iPad Pro I would probably have gone with a OnePlus 13 or the Pixel 8 Pro. My brother uses the Pixel and loves it...he was a former Apple user but grew tired of the multiple issues we have all discussed in this thread and other threads. I will leave my iPad Pro and 15+ on 17 for the next year and see what happens. If no improvements I will keep the iPad Pro but go to a Android device.

 

[MEMSMaster]

And let's not forget that the New York Times vs OpenAI lawsuit could end up with OpenAI owing the NYT a couple of trillion dollars in damages. The entire LLM-based "AI" house of cards is based on massive theft of intellectual property, and that well of OPM may not be available forever.

 

[Nibo10]

Apple definitely has the benefit of playing in the fourth quarter, and has a massive war chest it can deploy to assist. I am not worried about Apple falling behind right now, because as you correctly point out, most users don't use AI yet and it's not actually a selling point, and worse case scenario they can buy Perplexity or Mistral and be fine from a "Chat Bot" POV.

However, what I do worry about is developers/power users leaving Apple because they do use AI and if the tools aren't there (particularly Xcode) then the pace of development will slow dramatically in the long term. Moving forward, young people are going to expect AI tools, and Apple needs to be a valid option for them. If they aren't, Apple will be in real trouble moving forward.

Thank you for saving me the trouble to write the exact same argument. And to add to what you’ve said, the fact that the average user doesn’t care now doesn’t mean they won’t care in a few years and by then the catch up is almost impossible.

 

[reyesmac]

Apples privacy is a joke, they'll give your info to any government that needs it. Whats the point in not putting in Ai tools to look through your data? Can't they just blacklist a bunch of words for the more personal stuff, and just feature it as a business tool and not a keep track of your personal life tool? its all the non personal stuff that clogs my computer up. If that junk could get figured out for me I would have more time to organize my one personal files.

 

[Radeon85]

It's now 7 months into the 16 series and still no new and improved Siri, just the same incompetent, useless voice assistant that's barely improved in quite a few years.

When having a voice conversation with ChatGPT it really feels like talking to an actual person, by now I would have expected an improved Siri to at least get somewhere too close to this.

It's only 5 months left to the 17 series ffs, and features that should have been out day one are still being worked on!. Apple deserves all the crap they get for this mess.

Tim needs sacking and someone else needs to give this job ago, because with a penny pincher in charge, it's going from bad to worse.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

There is no such construct as being "late to AI." Over the past six decades they have continually redefined what defines AI, what constitutes its parameters, how we classify its applications. Scrap the ideas from Asimov. That notion will remain in science fiction for decades to come.

They should focus on improved CNC, automated machine tasks that have adaptable states/parameters, etc., and start down playing the absurd notions of companions, etc.

 

[ashdelacroix]

The move from live to fully prerecorded keynotes has enabled this. Pre-2020, if a feature wasn't in a usable state, it couldn't be shown because the demos were live. Now, they've gotten way too comfortable with the ability to literally fabricate features and say "We'll get it working later." There's no sense of urgency to get things done.

Go back to live keynotes.

The lack of live keynotes is a symbol of everything wrong with this managerial and safe Apple of the 2020s.

 

[sofila]

This is good. We all know Siri sucks and Apple Intelligence sucks. It sounds like Apple fumbled when chatGPT came out because leadership thought it was all hype, which unfortunately was the wrong take. So this explains why Siri sucks and Apple Intelligence sucks.

But for this to be coming out now suggests to me that Apple knows it's a problem. Apple is sitting on their cash like a dragon, they have talented engineers, and leadership cares now because you can no longer dismiss AI as hype: we want a smart personal assistant. Apple will be late to the game, but they'll deliver. I'm going to buy more shares the next time the stock tanks.

Actually Siri has sucked since the beginning, 2011. Eleven years before Chat GPT debut.

 

[subjonas]

I have been a Mac person for decades. This blatant lie and misrepresentation sealed it for me. I'm going to transition to non-Apple products. And I don't care what the fan boys say. I was a professional programmer, unix, IBM... Stability and consistency is what I want. Apple is no longer it.

What do you mean by stability and consistency? Regarding products or advertising or all or other? In any case, which competitors have better track records?

 

[Idgit]

If that's true Giannandrea should be fired.


Good.

This predates Giannadrea. Siri has been ******* since it was introduced back in 2011(?) and hasn't really improved much in all that time. The AI additions to Siri are just the most recent example of Apple's internal dysfunction and neglect of and indifference towards Siri.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

There seems to be a real hatred of Apple amongst the terminally online. I don’t see it in real life, except among the most stalwart PC/Android types who still cling to the old Mac/PC Holy War. And it all seems to be over silly little chatbots.

 

[omiks]

Apple is currently experiencing a significant decline in its software quality. The recent issues with the iPhone 15 Pro, including overheating, are unacceptable and should not have been released to the market. As a long-time Apple user, I have never considered switching to Android until this year. The company’s focus has shifted from delivering high-quality products to prioritizing extravagant features, that they can't deliver, which is concerning.

I disagree with this. Although Apple is still very bad in terms of software. It is much better than it used to be. Nowadays, I use most of apple apps (Maps, Notes, Calendar, Mail, etc.) and they used to be so terrible that they were unsusable. Also the MacOS is a lot better today with the new windows-like features. Before the M1, even the Macs were really bad. I think overall the company is progressing well, but it could be much better. Except for Siri, which is an even bigger joke now that we have ChatGPT...

 

[bluecoast]

Apple is currently experiencing a significant decline in its software quality. The recent issues with the iPhone 15 Pro, including overheating, are unacceptable and should not have been released to the market. As a long-time Apple user, I have never considered switching to Android until this year. The company’s focus has shifted from delivering high-quality products to prioritizing extravagant features, that they can't deliver, which is concerning.

Extravagant features that don't exist and puerile features like Genmoji.

 

[Siliconguy]

Announcing a feature that didn’t even exist is still what gets me.

Dilbert, Feb 2 1999,

Panel 1; Marketing Drone 1, "We didn't include engineers in the product planning sessions because...um..because..."
Panel 2; Marketing Drone 2, "Because we were all art history majors in college.
Marketing Drone 1, "Party!"
Panel 3, Marketing Drone 2, "How soon can you build the cloak of invisibility?"
Marketing Drone 1, "Let the man think, Clover."

I remembered this one as it was too appropriate for me too.