It’s been a busy couple days for in-depth journalistic explorations of Apple’s recent Siri and AI struggles. Following yesterday’s The Information report, today The New York Times has its own deep dive. One of the biggest takeaways? Apple’s planning to launch its new iOS 19 Siri upgrades sooner than we expected.
Apple targeting fall iOS 19 launch for Siri upgrades
Ever since Apple officially delayed its previously announced Siri AI features, there’s been little clarity on when to expect the upgrades. The general consensus has been that it might take a while.
In the delay, Apple committed to launching the features “in the coming year.” For a company that often uses the term, “later this year,” its choice of words implied spring 2026 might be the plan. Mark Gurman’s reporting indicated a similar timeframe.
But today we get some good news via a new report.
Tripp Mickle writes at The New York Times:
Apple hasn’t canceled its revamped Siri. The company plans to release a virtual assistant in the fall capable of doing things like editing and sending a photo to a friend on request, three people with knowledge of its plans said.
It’s not entirely clear whether Mickle is referring to all previously announced Siri features, or just the ones specifically mentioned that revolve around App Intents.
The AI features Siri’s currently missing do seem interconnected, so I lean toward believing they’ll all launch at once. But it’s always possible Apple could ship the updates more gradually.
Either way, this is welcome news following a heap of troubling reports around internal Siri turmoil at Apple.
Paired with yesterday’s report of Apple engineers now being allowed to use third-party LLMs for Siri features, the buzz around Siri seems to be taking a positive turn.
Do you expect Apple will actually ship Siri’s new features this fall in iOS 19? Let us know in the comments.
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