Apple is apparently still struggling to make progress with Apple Intelligence – or, more precisely, with improvements to its Siri voice assistance system, which celebrates its 14th birthday in fall 2025. Various features that have been announced for iOS 18 will therefore be postponed until May (and iOS 18.5). A "more dialog-oriented" Siri is also allegedly only to be expected with iOS 20 and not with iOS 19. Both claims were made by well-known Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman and published in his newsletter at the weekend, citing informed sources.

Apple is said to have initially planned to complete the most important work on announced Siri features with iOS 18.4. However, it no longer looks like that. This involves a total of three functions. Apple had already revealed in the summer at the launch of iOS 18 that Siri would be given on-screen awareness, i.e. the ability to read what is on the screen. The assistant should also be able to have more personal context about the user, for example to know who their friends are and what they did a few weeks ago. Finally, Siri should be able to perform in-app actions, for example to edit images or send messages by voice command, which is currently only possible if apps have been prepared accordingly. This will still be the case with iOS 18.5, but Apple is opening up its APIs further.

Gurman now believes that the new Siri features will appear in iOS 18.5 –, information that has been circulating through the rumor mill for some time. The update will also bring Apple Intelligence to China for the first time – with local partners. Beta tests of iOS 18.5 are expected as early as April –, particularly because developers need to get used to the new features and integrate them into their apps. iOS 18.4, which includes German Apple Intelligence, was already quite late.

Even more important than the three new features mentioned in iOS 18.5, however, would be if Siri finally became more conversational. The voice assistant currently refers users to ChatGPT for more information, but Apple is planning to make Siri more conversational. Gurman at least claims that this is not expected to happen until next year. Apple is reportedly unable to pack the new features into iOS 19, which was previously planned.

Before Apple can push full speed ahead with the development of Siri, which should finally work more like ChatGPT or the new Alexa, "Apple has to get the underlying system right". But that's "not going to be easy," Gurman said, "which is why people in Apple's AI department now believe that a truly modernized, conversational version of Siri won't reach customers until iOS 20, in 2027 at best." However, it was the Bloomberg reporter himself who claimed that the new Siri would appear with iOS 19 – Apple itself has not yet commented on the subject.

(bsc)