Apple's Revamped Siri Faces Performance Concerns in Early iOS 26.4 Testing

Apple employees have 'concerns' over Siri performance in early iOS 26.4 builds: report - 9to5Mac

Early next year, Apple is set to debut its new AI-infused Siri as part of iOS 26.4 - after well over a year of delays. However, despite all of the additional time the company had to rethink its approach, some Apple engineers testing the software reportedly have concerns as it stands today. It's worth noting that we're still around 6 months from the public release of the software. Things could easily improve, and ideally - they would. In today's Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported the following: I strongly believe there will be more senior members of the company's AI ranks hitting the exits soon, especially if the new Siri coming in the spring falls flat. Already, there are concerns from people testing iOS 26.4 -- the OS version slated to include the new Siri -- about the voice assistant's performance. Based on this early internal version, things aren't sounding too promising. It's no secret that Apple hasn't had a great time in the AI race. After loads of external pressure, Apple finally leaned into the AI bubble at WWDC24, where the company announced Apple Intelligence - a suite of AI-powered features running locally on your Apple devices. The majority of the companies smaller announcements, like Clean Up in Photos, Genmoji, and ChatGPT in Siri did ship throughout the course of the iOS 18 release cycle. However, one major thing failed to debut during the iOS 18 release cycle: the all-new Siri. Apple announced three key Siri upgrades - personal context, on screen awareness, and the ability to take action in apps. Essentially, if all went Apple's way, Siri would've been a true all-encompassing digital assistant, that both knew you and could act on behalf of you. That failed to come to fruition, though. People anticipated that this all-new Siri would launch by the springtime, in iOS 18.4 or iOS 18.5. Then, it never shipped in betas. Apple subsequently announced that the feature would be delayed by about a year, as it didn't meet the company's quality standards. During an interview after WWDC25, software chief Craig Federighi commented that they needed time to rearchitect Siri, and that it should be on track to launch in 2026. Reportedly, Apple has two teams working on different approaches for an all-new Siri. One would be powered by on-device models, and the other would be powered by Google Gemini running on Private Cloud Compute. It was initially referred to as a 'bake-off.' We don't quite know which model powers this early version of iOS 26.4 Siri, but if I were to guess, it's probably utilizing Apple's on device models. Apple hasn't exactly had the best time attracting AI talent. I'm sure it isn't Apple's primary plan to simply announce that they failed to develop their own AI-infused Siri, and they instead need to rely on Gemini. However, based on early concerns, it's plausible that ends up being the case.

AppleInsider.com

Apple's ability to pull off its long-promised overhaul of Siri is being questioned, with a report claiming the digital assistant isn't working as well as it should for a future iOS 26 update. The iOS 18 introduction of Apple Intelligence was supposed to also bring in some much-needed upgrades to Siri. However, it seems that Apple's Siri problems may still persist long into the lifecycle of iOS 26. According to sources of Mark Gurman in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, testers of iOS 26.4 are already feeling uneasy about Siri. There are apparently "concerns" from the testers over the digital assistant's performance. The iOS 26.4 update is thought to be the one where Siri finally gets its overhaul. That updated is anticipated to arrive in the spring of 2026, according to the report. The spring 2026 timeframe is a little early, but mostly tallies up with macOS Tahoe leaks provided to AppleInsider. Mac hardware scheduling and macOS 26 updates in the leak puts a 26.4 release in the summer, though this could be early in the season enough to border with late spring. Gurman doesn't go into details about the concerns, other than it being about performance and for the iOS 26.4 update. Continued Siri strain The Siri saga has seen Apple undergo considerable restructuring of teams working on AI, due to the continued fumbling. This has led to Apple seeking a replacement of John Giannandrea to lead AI within the company, which it is still searching for. Robby Walker, a senior AI executive, was also linked to the delays in Siri. In September, it was reported he would be departing Apple sometime in October. Apple has also had to deal with a drain in talent. AI engineers have been tempted away to competitors such as Meta by the promise of massive levels of compensation. The affair has also exposed Apple to legal fallout, with lawsuits claiming Apple was misleading shareholders before confirming Siri was delayed. Despite this, Apple is still working to make AI a much better prospect for iPhone users. There have been references to Model Context Protocol in iOS 26.1, indicating that Apple is considering a system to simplify AI data access. It has also been working on its own ChatGPT-like iPhone app, which could eventually become the key to creating the new Siri. However, aside from some reported "concerns" by testers, no-one truly knows how far along Apple truly is, and how long we have to wait for Siri to finally get that upward bump.