The market had generally expected Apple to release [the product/service] in March of this year.iOS 26.4 versionFinally, China is about to unveil "truly becoming smarter" (in collaboration with Google).Collaborative Gemini ModelThe new Siri. However, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to the media, these highly anticipated features may be delayed again due to new software issues discovered during testing, possibly not until iOS 26.5 in May, or even September.Major iOS 27 updateIt will then be officially released.
From 2024 to 2026, Siri's long transformation journey
This "brain transplant" of Siri can be traced back to WWDC in June 2024, when Apple claimed that the new version of Siri would have the ability of "on-screen awareness" and "personal context understanding", and could precisely control functions across apps (such as: "send this photo to the person in the red shirt").
原本這些功能預定在2025年初推出，後來延至2026年春季。而內部原本鎖定在2026年3月隨著iOS 26.4上線，但最新的測試結果似乎讓蘋果高層再次踩了煞車。
Reason for getting stuck: Too slow reaction time, can't understand human speech?
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the main reason for the delay was issues with stability and performance.
Excessive processing time: For voice assistants, latency is a fatal flaw. The current test version does not meet Apple's standards for processing complex commands.
Misunderstanding: Siri sometimes fails to correctly parse user queries, resulting in unexpected outcomes.
To avoid repeating the "mishaps" that Google or Microsoft experienced in their early AI releases, Apple has chosen a strategy of delaying rather than risking the release of a half-finished product.
Analysis of viewpoints
This is undoubtedly disappointing news for Apple fans, but for Apple, it is a difficult decision that they have to make.
At a time when OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini), and even Anthropic (Claude) are frantically iterating and updating their model versions, and even starting to add ads to monetize their products, Apple's pace seems out of place, and could even be described as "a step behind".
However, it's crucial to understand that Siri's role differs from that of a chatbot. A chatbot mispronouncing something might elicit a laugh, but Siri is an assistant deeply embedded within the phone's system. If it were to experience hallucinations or misunderstand actions like deleting emails or sending messages, the disastrous consequences would be unbearable for Apple.
"Slow and steady wins the race" has always been Apple's philosophy, but in the AI era, this moat is becoming a stumbling block. If, by the time of the iPhone 18 launch event in September, which coincides with iOS 27, Siri can still only set alarms and ask about the weather, then consumers' patience will likely run out.
It seems that iOS 26.4 will only have minor feature fixes; the real surprises may have to wait until WWDC 2026.
