Apple plans its biggest Siri upgrade yet

Apple is working on a comprehensive upgrade to its voice assistant, Siri. According to internal information, the upgrade will be significantly larger than originally announced. Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, recently informed employees that the ongoing Siri overhaul is already significantly exceeding expectations. The project is being given high priority within the company.

Siri has long been overshadowed by other AI systems. While companies like OpenAI and Google made significant progress, Apple remained hesitant. Initial steps toward a more intelligent, personalized Siri were already presented at WWDC 2024. At the time, there was talk of AI-powered improvements, but it soon became clear that the development path they had chosen was insufficient. Apple therefore opted for a new technical foundation—one with significantly greater potential.

Internal address at Apple: New details about Siri

Shortly after the announcement of strong quarterly results, an internal employee meeting was held at Apple Park. According to a Bloomberg report , the meeting was unusual—structured almost like an hour-long motivational speech. The focus was on Siri. Craig Federighi explained to the employees that the new development was on track. Progress was even exceeding the original goals. He said:

The work we've done on this comprehensive redesign of Siri has delivered the results we wanted, enabling us to deliver not only what we announced, but a much bigger upgrade than originally planned.

He also emphasized the internal importance of the project:

There is no project that is taken more seriously by employees.

These statements demonstrate the importance Siri has now gained for Apple – not only as an assistance system, but also strategically in the entire AI sector.

New architecture for Siri

Siri's previous architecture failed to meet the desired quality standards. Therefore, the original development approach was abandoned. Apple completely rebuilt the underlying technology. The goal is a system that is more stable, more powerful, and more flexible in the long term. This decision is intended to make Siri not only faster and more precise, but above all, more responsive to the user's context. The technical redesign is being led by Mike Rockwell, who has previously played a key role in the development of technologies such as the Vision Pro. Rockwell brings experience working on complex hardware and software solutions—a prerequisite for fundamentally rethinking Siri.

Schedule and outlook

Apple has been vague about the timeline publicly. According to current information, the new Siri upgrade is scheduled for release in 2026. Internally, a rollout with iOS 26.4 in the spring is being discussed, although this has not yet been officially confirmed. It's possible that the date could be postponed. A significantly more powerful Siri is planned. The new version will not only provide more precise answers but also be more personalized. It's an assistant that learns from user behavior, behaves contextually, and is deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem. This would allow Siri to play a more active role in everyday life – from the smart home to the iPhone, Mac, and iPad.

Apple is serious about Siri

Apple has high hopes for the new Siri. After years of criticism, the company is responding with a fundamental redesign. Internal effort is high, as are expectations. Craig Federighi's statements indicate that Apple is taking the project very seriously – and that users can expect a Siri in the future that's more capable than ever before. (Image: Shutterstock / onapalmtree)