Apple Targets iOS 26.4 Launch to Introduce Long-Expected Siri AI Enhancement, As Reported by Bloomberg

Apple Targets iOS 26.4 Launch to Introduce Long-Expected Siri AI Enhancement, As Reported by Bloomberg

Apple Targets iOS 26.4 Launch to Introduce Long-Expected Siri AI Enhancement, As Reported by Bloomberg


**Apple’s Siri Improvement Postponed Until 2026: What to Anticipate**

Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, is anticipated to undergo a significant enhancement, but users will need to be patient until 2026 for its launch. This news was shared by Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of global marketing, who verified the postponement during a recent discussion. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has offered additional perspectives on the factors contributing to this delay and Apple’s internal schedule.

### Delay Timeline

Initially, Apple set a goal for the upgraded Siri to be launched by autumn 2024. However, this objective has faced several delays, with revised deadlines of early 2025 and May 2025 before finally landing on a release period in spring 2026. As per Gurman, the refreshed Siri experience will be incorporated into iOS 26.4, which generally launches in March.

### Features of the Enhanced Siri

The impending Siri upgrade is expected to bolster the assistant’s functionalities by integrating more thoroughly with user data and on-screen material. This will allow Siri to execute more contextual and multi-step tasks, enhancing its effectiveness for users.

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the new functionalities, Apple has not provided a definite schedule for the launch. The company has utilized ambiguous phrasing, indicating that the new Siri is projected to debut “in the coming year,” spurring speculation on whether this pertains to 2025 or 2026.

### Engineering Hurdles

The delays have been linked to several engineering obstacles, including complications with a hybrid framework that merges older and newer systems. Reports suggest that this system has demonstrated unreliability, failing around one-third of the time. These challenges have prompted notable shifts within Apple’s leadership hierarchy, particularly impacting the AI department.

### Changes in Leadership

John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI lead, is said to have been removed from the Siri initiative due to internal disagreements regarding missed targets. The project is now overseen by Craig Federighi and Mike Rockwell, who is additionally managing the Vision Pro project. The underlying technology, dubbed “Siri LLM,” is undergoing a thorough reconstruction to rectify the prevailing concerns.

During the recent WWDC 2025 keynote, Federighi acknowledged the setbacks, stressing the requirement for more time to achieve Apple’s high standards of quality. However, no public showcase or update about Siri was presented, as attention turned to other projects, including Apple Intelligence and new developer-oriented LLM tools.

### Aspirations for Siri’s Future

Looking onward, Gurman reports that Apple envisions a more sophisticated iteration of Siri that will operate as a real-time, proactive digital co-pilot. This update aims to build an always-active assistant that engages in more conversational exchanges. Furthermore, Apple is investigating a chatbot-style application called Knowledge, which would harness data from the open internet.

### Conclusion

As anticipation grows for the improved Siri, users should mark March 2026 as the earliest predicted launch date. Nonetheless, considering past delays, it remains uncertain whether this schedule will be maintained. The future of Siri suggests thrilling innovations; however, for now, users must await the upgrades that could revolutionize their interaction with Apple’s voice assistant.