Preparations for iOS 26.4 have started, but Apple is already having major problems with the software version. That’s because of this important part.
iOS 26.4
Apple recently brought iOS 26 to the iPhone, but has already started developing iOS 26.4. It will be a very important update for Apple, because a delayed feature is finally being rolled out. The updated version of Siri is then expected, which was already announced in 2024. Siri 2.0 was supposed to be a major part of iOS 18, but it’s still not available to all users.
The company is having major problems with the development of Siri 2.0. The voice assistant must become much smarter through the integration of Apple Intelligence and more language models. The release of Siri 2.0 was planned for iOS 18.4 or iOS 18.5, but was postponed several times by Apple. According to Apple, the new generation of Siri does not yet meet the company’s requirements. That still seems to be the case, because Apple is now also encountering problems when preparing iOS 26.4 due to Siri 2.0.
Problems with Siri 2.0
Two teams are reportedly currently working on the next generation of Siri at Apple. These teams have completely different approaches to developing Siri 2.0. One of the teams is working on a new version of Siri, which only runs locally on the iPhone. The other version of Siri 2.0 works with Google Gemini and uses Private Cloud Compute. This means that all AI commands are processed on remote servers, rather than on the iPhone itself.
According to the usually reliable Apple expert Mark Gurman, several employees have now expressed their concerns about the development of Siri 2.0. A number of Apple employees are concerned about the performance of the voice assistant, especially now that the release of iOS 26.4 is slowly approaching. There is a good chance that the teams will need more time for Siri 2.0, which will mean that the new generation of the voice assistant will appear even later.
Release of iOS 26.4
The new generation of Siri must become much smarter and communicate in a more natural way. This way, Siri 2.0 can easily execute multiple commands in succession. In addition, the improved version of the voice assistant better understands the context of a command and allows you to refer to previous tasks. Siri 2.0 is an important part of Apple Intelligence, but is not yet available in any country.
Tim Cook indicated in July of this year that Apple is making progress in developing Siri 2.0. It remains to be seen whether this is enough progress to roll out Siri 2.0 in iOS 26.4. The update will be released in the spring of 2026, probably at the end of March or beginning of April. The teams at Apple still have a few months to improve the next version of Siri. Don’t want to miss an update from Apple? Then sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter so you always stay informed!
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