Apple is planning a significant upgrade to Siri, its virtual assistant, aiming to enhance its conversational abilities and intelligence. This overhaul, set to be released in 2026, marks a major shift for Siri, which has long been criticized for lagging behind other voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s ambitious plan to improve Siri involves using its own advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models to enable more natural, back-and-forth conversations and better handle complex queries. But while the new Siri is expected to be a game-changer, it’s still a few years away.
The Current State of Siri and Its Challenges
Since its launch in 2011, Siri has been a staple of Apple devices, allowing users to perform tasks like sending messages, setting reminders, or getting directions by simply speaking to their phones or smart devices. However, over the years, Siri has struggled to keep up with the rapid advancements in AI and machine learning, especially when compared to its competitors.
AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini have raised the bar for what voice assistants can do. These systems use large language models (LLMs) that are capable of engaging in complex, human-like conversations and generating text on a wide range of topics. By contrast, Siri has often been criticized for its limited ability to understand nuanced language or carry on meaningful conversations.
To address this gap, Apple is planning an overhaul that will integrate its own AI models into Siri, making the assistant smarter and more conversational. According to a recent Bloomberg report, this new version of Siri is being developed under the internal code name “LLM Siri.”
What is LLM Siri?
LLM stands for “Large Language Model,” a type of artificial intelligence trained on massive datasets of text to understand and generate language. Models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are examples of LLMs, which are capable of understanding context, answering questions, and carrying out tasks with a level of flexibility and intelligence that older AI systems simply can’t match.
Apple’s LLM Siri will be built from the ground up using the company’s own advanced AI technology. This shift will allow Siri to engage in more fluid, back-and-forth conversations, similar to ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, both of which are seen as leaders in generative AI.
Currently, Siri is still based on older, less flexible AI infrastructure that doesn’t allow for this level of conversation or complex task handling. For instance, if you ask Siri a question that requires a deeper understanding or follow-up questions, it often struggles to maintain context and provide relevant answers. With LLM Siri, Apple aims to solve these limitations, making Siri more responsive, intelligent, and able to handle complex queries.
The Path to Siri’s AI Overhaul
The development of LLM Siri is part of Apple’s broader strategy to improve its AI offerings. Since launching its AI platform in June 2023, Apple has rolled out a series of small improvements to Siri. These updates include a redesigned interface, the ability to type commands instead of speaking them, better integration with Apple products, and improved handling of pauses in speech. Siri’s understanding of context has also been improved, allowing for more accurate responses based on what’s currently displayed on the screen.
While these updates have made Siri a bit more user-friendly, they don’t address the deeper issues with Siri’s underlying AI system. That’s where LLM Siri comes in. Apple’s long-term plan is to integrate its own advanced AI models into Siri, enabling the assistant to engage in more sophisticated conversations and understand context in a more human-like way.
However, this overhaul won’t happen overnight. Apple is currently testing its next-generation Siri, and the full rollout is not expected until spring 2026, with the new features likely to be introduced alongside the release of iOS 19. Before then, some new features are expected to appear in iOS 18.4, due to arrive in spring 2025.
Temporary Solutions: ChatGPT and Gemini Integration
While users eagerly await the new version of Siri, Apple is taking steps to improve the assistant’s functionality in the short term. One of the key moves is its decision to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Siri starting in December 2024, with the release of iOS 18.2. This collaboration is seen as a temporary fix to fill the gap between Siri’s current limitations and the company’s long-term vision for an AI-powered assistant.
By integrating ChatGPT, Apple aims to offer users a more advanced AI experience, allowing Siri to leverage the capabilities of OpenAI’s model to generate more accurate and relevant responses. In addition to ChatGPT, Apple also plans to partner with Google to bring Gemini, another advanced AI model, into the mix. This gives users access to multiple AI-powered options, depending on their needs and preferences.
However, these partnerships with OpenAI and Google are seen as short-term solutions. Apple is clear that its ultimate goal is to build its own AI tools to power Siri, ensuring that the assistant can work more seamlessly within the Apple ecosystem while still competing with other voice assistants.
A Cautious Approach to Change
Apple’s slow and steady approach to revamping Siri reflects the company’s cautious stance on rolling out major updates. Unlike other tech companies that release frequent updates to their software and services, Apple has been more deliberate in introducing new features. This is evident in the fact that the full Siri overhaul won’t be available until 2026, even though Apple has been working on it for some time.
This delay also reflects the complexity of building a truly advanced AI system that can compete with the likes of ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Training large language models requires vast amounts of data and computational power, and the models must be fine-tuned to ensure they deliver accurate, reliable, and contextually appropriate responses. Apple wants to ensure that Siri can meet these standards before it’s rolled out to millions of users.
Siri’s Future: What to Expect in 2026
The new Siri is expected to bring a major transformation to how users interact with their Apple devices. With a more sophisticated AI engine, Siri will be able to understand and respond to complex queries in a more natural, conversational manner. It will also be better at handling follow-up questions and carrying on more extended conversations.
Beyond that, Siri is likely to be more deeply integrated into Apple’s ecosystem, making it easier for users to control their devices, access information, and manage tasks without needing to rely on third-party apps or services. With the rise of generative AI models like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, Apple is under pressure to ensure that Siri doesn’t fall behind, and the LLM Siri project represents the company’s answer to this challenge.
However, while the promise of a smarter Siri is exciting, users will need to wait until 2026 to see the full benefits of this upgrade. In the meantime, Apple is focusing on incremental improvements, such as the ChatGPT integration in December 2024, to ensure that Siri remains relevant in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Conclusion: The Road Ahead
Apple’s overhaul of Siri represents a bold step toward making its virtual assistant smarter and more capable of handling complex tasks. While the new version of Siri is still a few years away, the integration of ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini offers a glimpse of the future and provides users with a more powerful tool in the interim. The journey to a smarter Siri may be slow, but the wait promises to be worth it for Apple users eager to see their voice assistant reach its full potential.