Apple reaffirms its stance to release revamped Siri in 2026: What happened

Apple has reiterated that its revamped Siri remains on track for a 2026 rollout, after reports suggested an internal shift in update timelines

Apple has reportedly confirmed that there is no delay in the release of the revamped Siri and that it will roll it out to users sometime in 2026. According to a report by MacRumors, Apple confirmed to CNBC that it is on track to release a more intelligent version of Siri this year. This confirmation comes on the heels of a Bloomberg report claiming that the iPhone maker has postponed the release of the overhauled AI assistant and won’t be releasing it with iOS 26.4, which was expected earlier.

What went down

Earlier, there were reports from multiple publications suggesting that Apple was internally planning to release the revamped Siri with iOS 26.4, which was expected in March. However, more recently, a report from Bloomberg claimed that the iPhone maker postponed this internal target and pushed the rollout of its features to iOS 26.5 and iOS 27.

 

 

According to the report, Apple’s engineering teams have been asked to evaluate the forthcoming Siri upgrades on iOS 26.5, suggesting the features may not arrive until a later update cycle.

 

Initial internal versions of iOS 26.5 are also said to feature a dedicated settings toggle allowing staff to enable a “preview” version of the changes. This indicates Apple could introduce the enhancements as an early-access rollout, making it clear that the features may still be in development or prone to inconsistencies, much like its approach to beta releases.

 

To be clear, Bloomberg did not suggest that this will be pushed beyond iOS 27, meaning the report also hinted that the revamped version of Siri will be released this year. Apple’s statement falls in line with this, solidifying that Apple did not commit to the release being tied to any specific version of iOS 26.

Revamped Siri: What to expect

In a joint statement issued last month, Apple and Google confirmed a long-term partnership. Under this deal, Apple’s upcoming foundation models will be developed using Google’s Gemini models along with its cloud infrastructure. The tie-up will power new features, including a more customised version of Siri and upgrades connected to Apple Intelligence.

 

The updated Siri is anticipated to introduce several new capabilities, such as a chatbot-style interface, improved personal context recognition, on-screen awareness, and the ability to execute app-related tasks without launching them.

Siri as chatbot

As per earlier reports from Bloomberg, Apple is working on a project internally known as “Campos” to transform Siri into a more advanced AI chatbot, potentially comparable to Gemini. Unlike the current assistant, which focuses on short responses and command-driven requests, the enhanced version is expected to handle longer interactions and more complex queries. It may support both text and voice conversations and could gradually replace Siri’s existing interface across Apple devices. 

Personal context understanding

The upgraded Siri is likely to better interpret user information stored across emails, messages, photos, calendar entries, and on-device files. Apple has earlier demonstrated how Siri could pull specific information — such as extracting a licence number from an image — or highlight suggestions mentioned in message conversations.

On-screen awareness

Another reported improvement would allow Siri to understand and respond to whatever content is visible on the screen. For example, users might be able to ask Siri to save contact details from a message or create a reminder based on an email currently open.

In-app actions

Siri is also expected to perform tasks within apps without users needing to open them manually. Previous demonstrations showed actions like finding a photo, editing it, and saving it to a folder completed entirely through voice commands.