Apple finally fixed Siri. So why does it feel anticlimactic?
Apple’s long-awaited AI overhaul finally makes Siri the assistant it was always supposed to be. But after years of delays, the launch lands in an AI landscape where chatbots have evolved into agents that can code, reason, create media, and complete complex tasks. Siri AI is genuinely useful, yet it arrives at a moment when simply being a capable AI assistant no longer feels revolutionary.
After a series of delays, Apple unveiled its AI-powered Siri in the consumer beta build of iOS 27, launched in July. The virtual assistant, which has been promised to understand users’ context, access vast world knowledge, and provide relevant information stored on iPhones, is finally functional. However, its arrival feels somewhat anticlimactic as it arrives at a time when AI tools have advanced significantly.
Today, AI models are used for coding, building software, completing multi-step tasks, and even working alongside users. Being a functional chatbot or AI helper is no longer the groundbreaking achievement it once was. Apple’s Siri AI has indeed been valuable and useful, fulfilling its promises and exceeding expectations. Users can now have natural conversations with Siri, type to the assistant, or use it via a dedicated app.
The AI can understand users’ personal context, helping them find things like photos, emails, contacts, texts, or calendar appointments. For example, asking Siri to find the last receipt saved on their iPhone, without specifying where it was stored or its purpose, will lead to Siri finding it for them. Siri can also learn about new topics, brainstorm ideas, and even help users split restaurant bills.
These improvements were achieved through Apple’s partnership with Google, utilizing its Gemini AI models. Apple didn’t just add Google’s technology to Siri; it trained and refined its own proprietary Apple Foundation Models using Google’s technology. The result is AI models designed to run efficiently on Apple’s own silicon and private cloud compute infrastructure.
Despite finally delivering a functional and helpful version of Siri, the launch feels like Apple fixing a long-standing bug rather than making a revolutionary breakthrough. The general public will gain access to the new Siri when Apple officially releases iOS 27 in September.
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