What The Tech: New Siri with Artificial Intelligence
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Tech Reporter
Apple’s biggest announcement at its Worldwide Developers Conference wasn’t a new iPhone, Apple Watch, or Mac. It was a promise. A promise Apple first made two years ago.
At WWDC 2026, Apple unveiled a new Siri powered by artificial intelligence, a major overhaul of the voice assistant that many critics say has fallen behind competitors like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini. The company first demonstrated many of these capabilities back in 2024, but the rollout was
delayed as Apple worked to improve the technology.
Now Apple says the new Siri is finally ready for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other devices later this year.
What Can the New Siri Do?
The upgraded Siri is designed to be far more capable than the version most iPhone users know today. Instead of simply answering basic questions or setting timers, Siri will be able to understand what’s happening on your screen and take action across apps. During Apple’s presentation, the company showed Siri identifying a location from a photo found on social media. Siri then provided directions to the location and even added a stop along the
route.
In another demonstration, Siri found a recipe in a text message and saved it for later. Apple also showed Siri helping plan a World Cup watch party.
The assistant searched for game schedules, suggested recipes based on the teams’ home countries, created invitations, and sent everything to a group text conversation. The goal is to make Siri feel more like a true digital assistant rather than a voice command tool.
A More Conversational Siri
One of the biggest changes is how users interact with Siri.
Apple says conversations will feel more natural and less robotic. Instead of repeatedly saying “Hey Siri” before every request, users can continue a conversation much like they would with ChatGPT or Gemini.
The assistant will also be able to answer follow-up questions, understand context, and work across multiple apps without requiring users to switch between them. Apple is even introducing a standalone Siri app that serves as a hub for many of the new AI features.
Apple Playing Catch-Up
While the demonstrations were impressive, many of the features won’t be entirely new to people who already use ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI assistants. That’s one reason this year’s announcement felt different.
Rather than introducing something completely new, Apple was largely showing features it first promised in 2024.
The company has faced criticism for moving more slowly than competitors in the AI race while Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others rapidly expanded their AI capabilities. Still, Apple’s advantage may be integration. Because Siri is built directly into the operating
system, it can work across apps, messages, photos, calendars, and contacts without requiring users to jump between services.
When Will It Be Available?
Apple says the new Siri will arrive as part of its software updates coming this fall, likely around the same time as the next iPhone release. Developers and beta testers will get access earlier.
For Apple users, the question isn’t whether Siri looks more capable. Based on the demonstrations, it clearly does.
The bigger question is whether Apple can finally deliver the intelligent assistant it promised two years ago.
We’ll find out this fall.
