Apple quadruples down on Siri with new AI capabilities.
Apple really wants us to talk to our devices via Siri, which was my takeaway from the presentation at its World Wide Developers conference yesterday. Here are some bullet points:
Siri AI has been given an AI boost
Apple has been lagging behind other AI companies. But now that it has a new deal to tap into Google’s Gemini AI, Siri will be given a shot of steroids. This means Siri now understands personal context. For example, if you want to find something lost in an email or message, Siri will be able to find it.
Siri will also jump in to make recommendations. Digital Trends offers this example:
“Apple is also leaning heavily into what it calls onscreen awareness. If you’re looking at a message about a potluck dinner, Siri can jump in with suggestions for what to bring and even help draft a recipe into Notes.”
The new Siri will also answer questions rather than immediately push you to a browser. Ask Siri about virtually everything and you will get an audio answer.
Privacy
Apple has ultra-powerful chips on all its devices, something its competitors don’t. That means a lot of AI functions can run on the device instead of relying on the cloud all the time. All your data will remain on the device rather than being used in a data centre. That’s good for privacy.
Siri will live across devices
Start a conversation on your iPhone, continue on your iPad, and then finish up on your Mac. There are plans to bring this to Apple Watch, too.
Siri will also be aware of what’s displayed on your device’s screen. Point an iPhone at an item and it’ll return relevant information.
Siri will help you write
The new Siri will have a built-in writing assistant that can adapt to your personal style and tone. Proofreading and spellchecking is included, but it had better work than the abominations that we have now typing on iPhones.
iOS 27 is on its way
It’ll probably be here for the fall. Rumours are that it will be optimized to handle a new folding iPhone.
Mac OS
The new version will be called Golden Gate and will include plenty of Siri enhancements. Siri will now be a part of Spotlight search, too.
My wish is that all the OS get their acts together when it comes to functionality: Search bars in roughly the same places across all apps; a reemphasis on the ability to intuitively use any app based on how it’s laid out and works; de-enshittification of the keyboard on iPhone and iPad;
Liquid Glass
The love-it-or-hate-it Liquid Glass display will be refined to “ensure exceptional readability.” Good.
Apple Music
There was a quick mention of “refreshed artist pages” and another referring to “refreshed album pages.” Other phrases that popped up were “improved reliability of Apple Music Streaming” and “faster Apple Music playback start.”
Users could also be looking algorithm enhancements.
As for announcements of new hardware…
…there was none. Not even a whiff about smart glasses.
Bottom line?
This is not the old Siri. More talking to your devices. Siri will eliminate steps when you want to do something. Less personal data leaking to places you don’t want it to go.
The question is, will it work?
