Siri AI Upgrade Delayed

Apple has internally targeted spring 2026 for the release of its revamped Siri, marking a significant milestone in the company's AI development efforts. The delay stems from challenges in creating a unified backend to handle both legacy and advanced Siri requests. Apple executives have confirmed the 2026 release date, clarifying earlier ambiguous timelines. The upgrade aims to provide a more personalised experience, with Siri able to access user data like emails and calendars to answer contextually relevant questions and perform complex tasks across multiple applications.

The initial architecture proved inadequate, leading to a complete pivot to a second-generation design. This overhaul has pushed back the release, but Apple is prioritising quality and user expectations. While the full Siri 2.0 experience is delayed, Apple plans to introduce intermediate features in the coming months. These may include AI-assisted photo editing, improved voice-to-text, and expanded dictation capabilities. Apple is also developing a new internal large language model (LLM), informally called “LLM Siri,” expected to debut in spring 2026, bringing Siri closer to the conversational abilities seen in other AI platforms.

The delay has triggered multiple class-action lawsuits in the United States and Canada, as consumers who upgraded to A18 chip-equipped devices specifically for AI features find themselves waiting longer than anticipated. Apple is also integrating external tools like ChatGPT within its ecosystem, particularly for Visual Intelligence updates and the improved Image Playground feature. The company has also opened its on-device AI model to developers for the first time, recognising that its talented developer community can accelerate innovation across the Apple Intelligence platform.