Apple set expectations high last year with the promise of a more powerful Siri that would do stuff for you without you having to tire out your fingers and thumbs. This promise was woven throughout the iPhone 16 market campaign. The messaging has now been updated to make it clear that these capabilities won't be shipping anytime soon.
Apple has been struggling with Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Apple Intelligence, which is what it has branded its suite of features. They were previewed during its June Worldwide Developers Conference, marketed as the key iPhone 16 features, and only began rolling out in phases a month after the September release of its flagship phones.
The features that have shipped so far, such as writing tools, messages and notification summaries, smart replies, and image clean-ups work fine, but at this point in the AI revolution, there is nothing novel about them. They don't necessarily give the iPhone 16 an edge over other top smartphones available in 2025.
That's where a revamped Siri with contextual awareness was supposed to come in. It was reportedly scheduled to arrive with iOS 18.4. Apple sold iPhone 16 buyers on a vision where Siri would tap into information on the phone, have an awareness of what was on the screen, and traverse apps to take multi-step actions such as digging up information about a family member's upcoming flight so you'd know when to go to the airport to pick them up.
iPhone 16, 16 Pro, and 16e pages have been updated to create realistic expectations about Siri. | Image Credit - Apple
Considering the more capable Siri was touted as one of the main reasons to buy the iPhone 16, customers who have already bought the phone are bound to feel burned. Sure, Apple is still working on the features and Siri has improved in other ways over the past six months, such as improved conversational skills and ChatGPT integration, but the company still doesn't sound confident about when it will ship the features.
Apple has acknowledged that the endeavor has proven to be tougher than it expected, but still hasn't provided a clear timeline on when the features will ship, instead taking a more cautionary approach by saying "we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year."
At first, the features were allegedly delayed until May, but with Apple engineers stumped by buggy code, the whole project is a mess. The most optimistic timeline is that the features will be released next year.
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Apple is reportedly also considering trashing the current work and starting over. The likely scenario right now is that an underwhelming conversational Siri will be ready by 2026, in time for iOS 19 and the iPhone 17, but it will take another year for Apple to deliver on its initial promise of a Siri with super powers.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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