Apple Delays Enhanced Siri Features, CEO Tim Cook Addresses Concerns

Tim Cook: Apple is 'Making Progress' on Apple Intelligence Siri Features

During today's earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2025, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the Apple Intelligence Siri features that have been delayed. Cook said that Apple needs more time to ensure Siri meets its quality bar, but progress is being made. With regard to the more personal Siri features we announced, we need more time to complete our work on these features, so they meet our high quality bar. We are making progress, and we look forward to getting these features into customers' hands. Apple first unveiled the more personalized Siri features at WWDC 2024, and rumors suggested that the plan was to introduce them with an update to iOS 18. That didn't happen, and Apple earlier this year said that there would be a delay because more time was needed for development. At this point, the new Apple Intelligence features will be held for iOS 19, and it is not yet clear if they will be in the first iOS 19 release or held for a later update. Apple's delay wording suggested that we could be waiting until 2026 for the functionality. Behind the scenes, Apple made a number of changes to Siri leadership, moving AI chief John Giannandrea off of the project and instead turning to Mike Rockwell, who handled Vision Pro development.

Tim Cook defends Siri during Apple earnings call -- 'we need more time'

The Apple Intelligence revamp is 'taking a bit longer than we thought' During a call with Wall Street analysts today (May 1), Apple CO Tim Cook tackled one of the company's biggest setbacks in recent memory -- its inability to deliver a smarter version of Siri as part of the Apple Intelligence rollout. Last June, Apple outlined its plans to introduce more features powered by artificial intelligence across its phones, tablets and computers. Included in these Apple Intelligence tools was a new version of Siri that promised more conversational and context-aware. Nearly a year after that preview, though, Siri has only seen a few modest changes, like a new interface, the ability to answer follow-up questions and a Type to Siri feature. The more substantial overhaul will have to wait until iOS 19, which isn't set to arrive until later this year. "With regard to the more personal Siri features we announced, we need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high-quality bar," Cook said to analysts as part of his review of Apple's financial performance for the three months ended March 29. "We are making progress, and we look forward to getting these features into customers hands." Apple's acknowledged the delay before. Back in March, the company put out a statement conceding that the Siri 2.0 features were taking longer than it had anticipated. Still, it's quite noteworthy to have Apple's CEO directly address the setback. Asked by an analyst what factors might have contributed to delay, Cook declined to pinpoint any particular reason. "It's just taking a bit longer than we thought," Cook said. That explanation seems at odds with some of the rumored moves coming out of Cupertino, where Apple is said to be reorganizing management of the Siri revamp efforts. Those reports didn't come up during the analyst call, though Apple chief financial officer Kevan Parekh did dismiss any suggestions that Apple didn't spend enough on developing the tools used for Apple Intelligence. "We're continuing to grow our R&D investment, and so we definitely are making all the investments we think we need to enable our roadmap," Parekh said. During Apple's last earnings call in which the company detailed its performance during the holiday quarter, Cook suggested that markets where Apple Intelligence had become available saw a greater demand for the iPhone 16 models. There was no update on that for this quarter. While Apple Intelligence has expanded to more countries to additional language support arriving in the iOS 18.4 update, that software didn't land until April -- too late to influence March quarter sales for the iPhone. Apple did sell more phones year-over-year from January to March, thanks in part to the launch of the iPhone 16e. Phone revenues rose a modest a modest 2% from year-ago quarter to $46.8 billion. Overall sales were up 5% year-over-year to $95.4 billion, with double-digit gains in revenue from services and iPads helping Apple's bottom line. Apple has come in for a lot of criticism for its Apple Intelligence launch -- including from me -- but during the call with analysts, Cook struck a largely positive tone, even in light of the delay to Siri's new features. "If you sort of step back from what we said at WWDC, we talked about a number of different features that would launch with iOS 18, and we've released a slew of those, from Writing Tools to seamlessly connecting to ChatGPT, to Genmoji, to Image Playground, to Image Wand, to Clean Up, Visual Intelligence, making movies of your memories with a simple prompt, AI-powered photo search, smart replies, priority notifications, and the list goes on," Cook said. Siri talk only took up a small portion of the March quarter earnings call. Understandably, analysts were interested to hear Apple's guidance on the Trump administration's tariffs and what impact that might have on the company. Apple only provided guidance for the June quarter, saying that barring any other changes to tariff policies -- a big if in our current climate -- it was an anticipating an additional $900 million in costs from the tariffs. Because tariffs are levied on the country of origin, Apple has shifted a lot of its production away from China. Cook said that in the June quarter, the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will be sourced from India, with almost all iPads, Macs, Apple Watches and AirPods sold in the U.S. coming from Vietnam. The products made in China will be sold in other parts of the world. Even with the added impact of tariffs, Apple expects to see its revenue grow for the three months between April and June. Parekh told analysts to look for low to mid single-digit growth over the $85.9 billion in sales posted last year.

Apple admits Siri's AI features are "taking a bit longer" than expected

On an earnings call with analysts yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the more advanced Siri is under active development, but it could still be a while before it arrives. He assured callers that Apple is "making progress," but didn't give any indication of a launch window. Cook spoke extensively about the Apple Intelligence features that have already been released on iOS 18, including Genmoji, Clean Up, ChatGPT integration, and more. Cook went on to say, "With regard to the more personal Siri features we announced, we need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high-quality bar. We are making progress, and we look forward to getting these features into customers' hands." Recommended Videos In the earnings call, Richard Kramer of Arete Research asked Tim Cook directly about the Siri delays. In response, Cook reiterated, "We just need more time to complete the work so they meet our high-quality bar. There's not a lot of other reason for it. It's just taking a bit longer than we thought, but we are making progress and we're extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there." However, neither Cook nor CFO Kevan Parekh suggested a time to expect the features to roll out. These features were originally intended to arrive in April, but statements from Apple employees indicate numerous problems and glitches that haven't yet been resolved. As a stopgap, Apple collaborated with ChatGPT to offer its functionalities on the iPhone and Mac. The company is eager to get the features to a working point, especially as it has already been hit with one lawsuit for allegedly misleading customers with advertising that focused heavily around advanced AI. Previous statements from Apple suggest the features will launch sometime this year, but these statements were the first updates since the delays were first announced in March. The personalized Siri features are set to include contextual commands and the ability to perform actions within your apps and device settings. Please enable Javascript to view this content

Tim Cook Says iPhone 16 Sales Stronger In Markets With Apple Intelligence Despite Siri Struggles - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

While Apple Inc. AAPL faces scrutiny over delays in rolling out key Apple Intelligence and Siri features, CEO Tim Cook says its artificial intelligence-powered iPhones are already giving the company a noticeable sales edge. What Happened: On Thursday, during Apple's second-quarter earnings call, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee asked Cook whether the rollout of Apple Intelligence -- Apple's suite of on-device AI features -- continues to positively influence iPhone 16 sales, especially amid delays in personalized Siri updates. "During the March [quarter], we saw that in markets where we had rolled out Apple Intelligence, the year-over-year performance on the iPhone 16 family was stronger than those where Apple Intelligence was not available," Cook said. He added that many additional languages were added in April, which falls into the current third quarter. "A lot of the languages that I think you're referring to rolled out in April, and so they actually rolled out in third quarter," he noted, implying the full impact of the broader AI rollout is still to come. See Also: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Says AI Won't Just Be About Free Tools And Ads -- Some People Will Pay A Fortune To Deploy Armies Of Digital Workers Why It's Important: In March, it was reported that Apple is grappling with internal tensions as it works to address significant AI shortcomings in Siri, with a senior executive reportedly describing the delays as ugly and embarrassing after the company promoted features that weren't yet fully developed. Last month, it was reported that Apple's AI team, once led cohesively by John Giannandrea, is reportedly being split up amid concerns over underwhelming performance. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. This came after reports surfaced that Apple has reassigned Mike Rockwell, the executive responsible for the Vision Pro headset, to lead Siri, shifting oversight of the virtual assistant away from AI chief Giannandrea. Get StartedStart Futures Trading Fast -- with a $200 Bonus Join Plus500 today and get up to $200 to start trading real futures. Practice with free paper trading, then jump into live markets with lightning-fast execution, low commissions, and full regulatory protection. Get Started Apple reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $95.36 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $94.53 billion. The company also delivered earnings of $1.65 per share, edging past the consensus estimate of $1.63. iPhone revenue came in at $46.84 billion, up from $45.96 billion in the same quarter last year. Price Action: Apple shares rose 0.39% during regular trading on Thursday but fell 2.95% in pre-market trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Benzinga Edge's Stock Rankings give Apple a growth score of 44.64% and a momentum score of 44.65%. Click here to see how it compares to other top tech stocks. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Charlie Munger Said Getting Rich Is Harder Than Ever, But Here's 'The Beauty Of It' -- You Only Have To Do It Once Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image Via Shutterstock AAPLApple Inc$206.97-2.98%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum74.54Growth44.65Quality86.08Value7.68Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Apple CEO Tim Cook Opens Up About Siri Features Delay In Earnings Call, Cites High-Quality Standards As The Reason For The Setback

Apple had its Q2 2025 earnings calls yesterday, which gave us insights into not just how well the tech giant is doing financially but also more clarity on the company's strategic direction. Despite facing challenges, the company still managed to have strong financial results for the second quarter of the year, surpassing Wall Street's expectations. The stock market, however, fell over 3 percent in after-hours trading even when there were strong earnings due to the delay in AI and Siri features on the company's end, leading to investors being a little skeptical about the company's ongoing approach. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, addressed the growing concerns regarding the delay during the earnings call. While yesterday's earnings call focused on the company's strong financial performance, contrary to expectations and despite the challenges it faced, investors seem to be concerned over the tech giant's delay in releasing more advanced Siri features that brought more personalization under its Apple Intelligence initiative. One of the salient topics discussed was Tim Cook addressing the delay and giving more insights into it. Tim Cook gave the assurance to its investors and all the others who have been anticipating the AI-powered features and advancement that the more enhanced Siri features are in the works. He admitted that the initiative is taking longer than expected, but progress is being made in this regard, and the company is committed to bringing more enhanced capabilities for its users. He also emphasized how optimal quality is the goal, and in an attempt to chase that, the features are taking more time to take shape. While addressing where currently the Apple Intelligence initiatives stand, Tim Cook took the chance to highlight all other enhancements that they have released with the launch of iOS 18, which include features like Genmoji, Image Wand, Clean Up, Writing Tools, seamless integration to ChatGPT, smart replies, AI-powered photo search, and the capabilities are not just extended to more regions but offered in an array of language. When asked by Richard Kramer of Arete Research about the Apple Intelligence delay, Tim Cook further highlighted how, in an attempt to meet the high-quality bar, the whole process is taking more time to complete. CFO Kevan Parekh also jumped into the question where Kramer wanted to know if it was a matter of R&D spending and added to it by specifically addressing this: I'll just add that on your question about investment, that we don't underinvest in our business. You know, we make significant investments in R&D. That continues to grow. We're continuing to grow our R&D investment, and so we definitely are making all the investments we think we need to enable our roadmap. Although Apple has not given any specific date for the more personalized Siri features, this marks the first time the company has publicly acknowledged and disclosed the issue. We can expect the features to be released sometime in the coming year.

Apple Needs 'Time' to Upgrade Siri; Services Revenue Dampened by Cost Hikes | PYMNTS.com

Cook said Apple disagrees with a federal judge's contention that the company was in "willful violation" of a 2021 injunction in the Epic Games lawsuit. Apple will appeal. Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday (May 1) that the company needs "more time" to upgrade Siri's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, as the AI assistant faces criticisms that it lags behind rivals such as Amazon's Alexa and other voice-enabled AI chatbots. "We need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high-quality bar," Cook said during Apple's earnings call with analysts. "We are making progress, and we look forward to getting these features into customers' hands." When pressed by an analyst to specify reasons for the delay, Cook said that "There's not a lot of other reasons. ... It's just taking a bit longer than we thought." Apple had faced criticism about the progress of Apple Intelligence -- Apple's AI initiative -- which experienced snafus, including hallucinating news alert items. Siri, in particular, was criticized for lagging behind competing chatbots, despite being a pioneer as the first AI assistant embedded in a smartphone. Siri co-designer Luc Julia has told PYMNTS that Apple's obsession with perfection likely hindered Siri's progress. Generative AI is famously hard to completely control because it hallucinates, said Julia, who is also the chief scientific officer of Renault. However, Cook said that consumers appreciate Apple Intelligence. In the markets where the company launched the AI system, sales of the iPhone 16 family of smartphones were stronger year over year compared to markets that did not have Apple Intelligence, he said. During the earnings call for its fiscal 2025 second quarter ended March 29, 2025, several analysts asked about the impact of tariffs to Apple's top and bottom lines. Cook said that Apple expects to see a $900 million increase in costs due to tariffs for its fiscal third quarter based on the current tariff policy. "We estimate the impact, assuming that the current global tariff rates, policies and applications don't change for the balance of the quarter, to be $900 million to our cost," Cook said. The CEO also said Apple had been diversifying parts of its supply chain to mitigate the risk from relying too much on one country. Cook said he expects to continue this policy. A day earlier, a federal judge rebuked Apple, saying the company is in "willful violation" of a 2021 injunction stemming from the Epic Games lawsuit. The court had previously ordered Apple to let users pay App Store developers directly through a third-party link to avoid the 30% commission Apple charges developers. Instead, the judge said, Apple assessed a 27% commission to app developers for external sales. Apple also put up pop-up screens warning consumers that paying outside the App Store might not be secure. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers then ordered Apple to stop collecting commissions outside the App Store and stop sending these messages to consumers. The judge also asked the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California to investigate Apple for criminal contempt. Cook said he disagreed with the judge's ruling. "We've complied with the court's order and we're going to appeal." However, Cook declined to comment on the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google for its search monopoly, which would have a big impact on Apple's services business. Google pays Apple a reported $20 billion a year to be Safari's default search engine across iPhones, iPads and Macs. Separately, Apple is also facing its own antitrust lawsuit, brought about by the Justice Department in March 2024, saying that it allegedly used its smartphone monopoly power to improve restrictive contractual terms on developers and withholding critical access points. Meanwhile, the EU fined Apple and Meta last month for violating its Digital Markets Act. Apple allegedly prevented developers from giving consumers other options to pay for apps besides through the App Store.