Apple Delays Enhanced Siri Features and Removes Promotional Video

Apple has announced that it will postpone the rollout of significant improvements to its virtual assistant, Siri, which were initially expected to be released in the upcoming iOS updates. According to company representatives, developers require additional time to implement a more personalized version of Siri, which is now slated for release in 2026.

In a recent statement, Apple confirmed that the advanced features would not be available with the next iterations of iOS 18.5, and instead, users can anticipate these enhancements with the future iOS 19, expected to debut in the summer of 2025. This postponement means that users will have to wait until at least the spring of 2026 for the new functionalities, potentially appearing in iOS 19.4 or 19.5.

Among the new features is the introduction of personalized context, allowing Siri to perform actions across different apps based on user preferences. This requires significant adjustments to the App Intents API and collaboration with third-party app developers.

Previously, Apple promoted these capabilities in a now-removed advertising video featuring a well-known actress. The video illustrated how Siri could assist users in recalling individuals from past meetings by accessing personal context data. Apple emphasized that information would be retrieved locally on the device, enhancing user privacy through its on-device language models and using its privacy-conscious cloud infrastructure when necessary.

Additional scenarios included in the planned updates would allow users to request actions like playing a podcast recommended by a friend or checking the arrival time of a family member's flight--demonstrating Siri's intended ability to utilize device-specific information effectively.

The enhanced Siri functionalities are not expected to be available on macOS 16 or iPadOS 19 until later versions, and for the Vision Pro platform, they will not arrive until visionOS 3 is released. Additionally, while there was speculation about making Siri more conversational to compete with advanced chatbots like ChatGPT, these improvements have not yet been officially announced and are unlikely to materialize until iOS 19 or even iOS 20.

In the interim, Siri has been granted access to ChatGPT as part of the Apple Intelligence initiative, although the company is also collaborating with local partners in China to enhance its offerings.