Apple has announced a significant delay in the rollout of several AI-driven features for its voice assistant, Siri. Initially expected to debut in 2025, these enhancements will now be pushed back to 2026. The delay affects a range of capabilities designed to make Siri more personalized and integrated with other apps.
Why it matters: The postponement highlights the challenges Apple faces in developing advanced AI features while maintaining its high standards for user experience and privacy. This delay could impact Apple’s competitive edge in the virtual assistant market, where rivals like Google and Amazon are rapidly advancing their AI capabilities.
Planned Siri Upgrades: The delayed features include a more personalized Siri with enhanced capabilities such as understanding a user’s personal context, taking action within and across apps, and providing on-screen awareness. For instance, Siri was set to perform tasks like filling out forms by pulling information from photos of documents and integrating more seamlessly with other apps to assist users in various tasks.
Impact on User Experience and Competition: The delay in these upgrades may affect the user experience by not providing the anticipated level of integration and personalization that users were expecting. This could give competitors like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa an edge, as they continue to advance their AI capabilities. Apple’s delay in rolling out these features means users will have to wait longer for a more seamless and integrated experience across their Apple devices.
Apple executives, including software boss Craig Federighi, have expressed concerns that the features did not work properly or as advertised during internal testing. There are also beliefs within Apple’s AI division that the work on these features might need to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch.
Timeline for Release: Apple anticipates rolling out the delayed features “in the coming year,” which likely means between iOS 19 in September 2025 and iOS 19.4 in March 2026. This timeline suggests that users may have to wait until at least the fall of 2025 or early 2026 to see these enhancements.
The delay aligns with Apple’s cautious approach to ensuring that its AI features meet high standards before release. Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of AI tools, is designed to enhance various aspects of user interaction, including writing, visual expression, and task management. Despite the delay in Siri upgrades, Apple continues to roll out other AI-powered features like Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Visual Intelligence.
Impact on Apple’s Reputation and Market Position: The delay could impact Apple’s reputation in the AI and virtual assistant space, particularly if competitors continue to innovate and release advanced features more quickly. However, Apple’s commitment to privacy and ensuring features meet their standards may mitigate some of the negative impact.
Apple’s more personalized Siri features need a little more time in the oven. Company spokesperson Jacqueline Roy gave this statement to Daring Fireball today announcing the delay: “Siri helps our users find what they need and get things done quickly, and in just the past six months, we’ve made Siri more conversational, introduced new features like type to Siri and product knowledge, and added an integration with ChatGPT.
The delay affects the overall user experience by delaying the integration of Siri across Apple’s ecosystem of devices and services. For example, Apple’s planned smart home hub, which relies on the advanced Siri features, has also been postponed.
Developers who were anticipating integrating the new Siri features into their apps will have to wait longer. Apple’s delay means that the new App Intents, APIs, and frameworks designed to make it easier for developers to integrate Siri into their apps will not be fully utilized until the features are released.
In summary, Apple’s decision to delay the AI-powered Siri upgrades reflects the company’s commitment to quality and user experience. While this delay may give competitors an interim advantage, Apple’s long-term strategy in AI and privacy could still position it strongly in the market.
