Apple's Software Chief Asserts Contextual Siri is Not Vaporware

In recent discussions, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi has clarified that the much-anticipated contextual Siri, initially announced last year, is indeed a tangible product and not merely a demonstration of potential capabilities. Despite the delay in its release to 2026, Federighi emphasized the real existence of the software during interviews at the WWDC 2025 event.

Addressing concerns about the development of Siri, Federighi explained to Tom's Guide that Apple had been working on two iterations of the new Siri: Version 1 (V1) and Version 2 (V2). He noted that V1 was close to completion prior to WWDC 2024, and the team was optimistic about its release within the year. However, as the development progressed, it became evident that V1's architecture could not meet Apple's quality standards and customer expectations.

As a result, Apple made the decision to pivot to the V2 architecture, which they believed would provide a more robust platform for Siri's contextual features. Federighi shared that by spring, it was clear that the transition was necessary, leading to the announcement that the product would not be released as initially planned. The company is now focused on refining V2 to ensure it meets the high standards set by Apple.

Although the specific differences between V1 and V2 have not been disclosed, it is understood that significant internal changes took place, including a restructuring of the leadership team overseeing the project. Federighi has taken a more hands-on approach in guiding Siri's development.

The updates to Siri will introduce capabilities that allow the assistant to better understand context by accessing data stored on the user's device, such as calendar events and messages through iMessage. Additionally, Siri is expected to interact with app content more intelligently, leveraging new features like App Intents, which developers can integrate into their applications.

However, it is important to note that Apple has yet to officially announce plans for a fully-fledged chatbot experience akin to those offered by competitors like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. The introduction of a large language model (LLM) based Siri is projected for 2026 or potentially 2027, with no further details provided at this stage. In a conversation with the Wall Street Journal, Federighi acknowledged that the artificial intelligence landscape represents a long-term transformation that will take decades to evolve, emphasizing the importance of quality over speed in product development.