Apple finally ships its AI Siri overhaul at WWDC 2026 — two years late

Now I'll write the article.

Two years late, Apple finally shows the Siri it promised

Apple used its June 8 WWDC keynote at Apple Park to unveil "Siri AI," an entirely rebuilt version of its assistant that the company calls "profoundly more capable and conversational."apple It's the same overhaul Apple promised at WWDC 2024 but never shipped — a gap so glaring the company recently agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action accusing it of misleading consumers about Apple Intelligence's availability.theverge Siri AI is available to developers now and will reach users as a public beta later this year.apple

The pitch is a transformation from voice-command tool into a full conversational companion. Siri AI draws on "broad world knowledge" for up-to-date web answers, reads what's onscreen, and surfaces personal context across Messages, Mail, and Photos — so a user can ask it to find a restaurant a friend texted about or pull a hotel confirmation number from an old email.apple It ships with a dedicated Siri app, similar to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, that syncs conversation history across devices via iCloud.techcrunch

Built on Apple's models — with Google's help

Crucially, Siri AI runs on a new generation of Apple Foundation Models that Apple says were built in collaboration with Google.theverge Earlier this year Apple struck a deal for Google's Gemini to power new Apple Intelligence and Siri features, letting Apple focus on products rather than the underlying models.theverge Queries are processed either on device or through Apple's Private Cloud Compute, which the company says stores no personal data — a privacy framing SVP Craig Federighi leaned on hard, taking a swipe at rivals "racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI."theverge

Apple also extended the update beyond Siri. Photos gains AI editing tools including a Spatial Reframing feature that changes a shot's angle, with edits carrying a hidden SynthID watermark; Safari can auto-organize tabs and watch pages for price drops; and Shortcuts now accepts plain-language prompts.theverge

Catch-up, with caveats

The reception was muted. Bloomberg noted investors gave a "lukewarm" response, and The Verge judged that much of it "still mostly feels like Apple is playing catch-up" to features already on Android and in third-party chatbots.bloomberg +1 Availability is also fenced in: Siri AI launches in English only, won't initially reach the EU on iOS or iPadOS, and won't come to China at all amid regulatory hurdles.apple The most powerful on-device features are limited to the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, M4 iPads, and M3 Macs with at least 12GB of memory.theverge For a company that spent two years promising a smarter Siri, finally shipping one is the easy part — convincing users it was worth the wait is the rest.