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Apple may have scaled back a few of its original AI features for Siri

Apple's AI vision for Siri is bigger than one update; expect an incremental rollout now, with a dramatically smarter, chatbot-style assistant coming later this year.

By Shikhar Mehrotra Published January 27, 2026

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone — Digital Trends

Apple will roll out the new AI-based capabilities for Siri (based on Google’s Gemini AI) in phases. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the Cupertino giant is gearing up to demonstrate the revamped Siri “in the second half of February.”

Whether Apple gives the demonstration in the form of an in-person event or a controlled briefing is something that Gurman isn’t sure about. However, since it’s a big unveiling for Apple, the company might host a small event.

A phased Siri update begins with iOS 26.4

Following the Siri demonstration, which included features like contextually aware responses (based on users’ personal data) and access to on-screen content, Apple should release them with iOS 26.4.

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For those catching up, iOS 26.4 has been rumored to enter beta testing in February, with a public rollout expected in either March or April (but not later than that). As mentioned in the report, the Siri version that ships with iOS 26.4 is based on “Apple Foundation Models version 10.”

The company’s foundation models would be based on a customized version of Gemini that “runs at roughly 1.2 trillion parameters.” Initially, Apple will host the new AI-based features on its Private Cloud Compute servers.

However, the rollout of a couple of new AI-based features with Siri is only the first phase. At the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2026, Apple plans to “unveil a fully reimagined Siri,” codenamed “Campos,” with a fresh interface and architecture “for the chatbot era.”

The fully reimagined Siri is reserved for iOS 27

This version of Siri, based on “Apple Foundation Models version 11,” will be much more conversational, capable of live conversation (similar to Gemini Live), and provide a more chatbot-like experience than ever. Per Gurman, this model will be far more capable than the one we’ll see with iOS 26.4.

Instead of running this version on Apple’s Private Computer servers, the companies are discussing processing it “directly” on Google’s servers (with the high-power tensor processing units).

Hence, don’t expect to see all the AI smarts Apple promised for Siri next month, as the company will reserve a massive chunk of it for a big iOS 27 unveil. The new operating system, like every year, should go official with the iPhone 18 Pro launch expected in September 2026.

Shikhar Mehrotra

News Writer

For more than five years, Shikhar has consistently simplified developments in the field of consumer tech and presented them…

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