Apple has officially confirmed that The long-awaited custom version of Siri won't be released until 2026. This news is a considerable delay from what many users and analysts expected, raising questions about the reasons behind this decision and the improvements that the company intends to implement before its launch. Apple's voice assistant has been evolving for years, but competition with other systems based on artificial intelligence, such as those from Google and Amazon, has increased the pressure on the company to offer a more advanced service. new version of Siri promised to bring a much more personalized and contextualized experience, taking advantage of more advanced artificial intelligence technologies.
Why has Apple delayed custom Siri?
Various reports suggest that this change in the release schedule could be motivated by the need to continue to perfect the integration of AI into the Apple ecosystem. Sources close to the company indicate that Apple is looking to ensure that the update offers a fluid and truly effective experience, rather than releasing a product without the level of quality its users are used to. This is especially relevant considering the Current delays and issues with Siri.
Another factor that could have influenced this delay is the Complexity of adapting Siri to different devicesApple wants to ensure that the custom version of the assistant works optimally on both iPhone and iPad, Mac and other Apple devices, which would require more development time.
The official confirmation came today from the official Apple spokesperson to the media Daring Fireball:
[…] We’ve also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps. It will take longer than we thought to deliver these features, and we plan to roll them out next year.
This has only confirmed the series of rumours about this delay that have been circulated by Mark Gurman and Bloomberg over the past few weeks.
The expected improvements in the new Siri
Apple's goal with this new version is to elevate the user experience thanks to more advanced artificial intelligence. Personalized Siri is expected to be able to learn from user habits and preferences, offering more precise and context-adapted responses. This is in line with the current trend in the development of voice assistants, where personalization is key.
In addition, Apple aims to improve the assistant's ability to understand more complex commands and execute tasks more efficientlyThis will mean better integration with third-party apps and greater autonomy in executing functions within the Apple ecosystem. However, it is crucial that the development team is aware of the changes and improvements to Siri that have been introduced in previous versions in order to build on those advances.
For many users, This delay is a disappointment, as the most advanced version of Apple's assistant was expected to arrive earlier. In fact, that's how it was sold at WWDC24. However, the company has preferred to prioritize the quality of the product, avoiding possible problems that could arise from a rushed launch.
However, the delay also gives the competition room to continue to evolve. Assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa are continually improving, and Apple will need to make sure its new custom Siri really offers a noticeable differentiation when it finally arrives in 2026. While the wait will be longer than expected, all signs point to Apple betting big on a version of Siri that make a real difference. It will be necessary wait until 2026 to see if the wait will have been worth it.
