Apple employees have raised concerns about Siri’s performance in early versions of iOS 26.4, the next major update that will debut a completely revamped, AI-powered version of the voice assistant. These concerns are especially relevant because Siri’s redesign and its associated Apple Intelligence features have been delayed for more than a year, and internal test results appear less encouraging than hoped.
Apple Intelligence features for Siri postponed
During WWDC 2024, Apple announced its ambition to fundamentally improve Siri with new capabilities such as personal context, screen awareness and the ability to perform actions within apps. These innovations were supposed to make Siri a much smarter and more useful digital assistant. Although some smaller AI features such as ChatGPT integration have been introduced in previous iOS releases, the major Siri update has been delayed several times because it did not meet Apple’s internal quality standards.
Internal concerns and test results
Sources tell Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that early versions of iOS 26.4, which are being tested internally, have performance issues that concern software engineers. There is little information about the specific issues, but feedback shows that Siri’s responses, accuracy, and user experience are not always consistent and compelling enough.
These concerns stem from a larger reorganization within Apple’s AI departments. Several key people, such as Siri development leaders, have left, making development more difficult. There are two teams working on Siri: one team focuses on a proprietary on-device AI model, while the other team experiments with Google’s Gemini model through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. This internal process should determine which technology will become the basis of Siri.
AI features for Siri listed
Apple Intelligence for Siri promises to be a major breakthrough for the voice assistant, but what exactly are we waiting for? Siri’s upgrade includes a number of groundbreaking features:
- Personal results: Siri will soon be able to use personal information, such as emails, calendars and messages, to provide contextual responses. For example, if you ask “When does my mother’s flight land?”, Siri will search your messages for flight information and then check the current status online.
- Insight into what is on your screen: Siri can ultimately understand what’s on your iPhone or iPad screen. This allows you, for example, to ask questions about information you are currently seeing, or to perform actions based on the content shown.
- In-app actions: Siri gets deeper integration with apps, allowing you to perform complex tasks without manually operating the app. Think of editing a photo, booking an appointment, or performing actions within apps based on the context.
Renewed Siri in spring 2026?
Although iOS 26.4 is scheduled for a public release in spring 2026, it’s unclear whether Apple will be able to improve current performance before then. There is speculation that a disappointing Siri release could risk even more AI employees leaving Apple, which could worsen the company’s current AI challenges.
Apple therefore remains faced with a difficult task to catch up with lagging competitors such as Google and OpenAI in the AI ​​race. The hope is that the extra development time and internal restructuring will lead to a Siri that meets the high expectations of both Apple and its users, but the question is whether this will be possible within the tight timetable.