On an earnings call with analysts yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the more advanced Siri is under active development, but it could still be a while before it arrives. He assured callers that Apple is “making progress,” but didn’t give any indication of a launch window. Cook spoke extensively about the Apple Intelligence features that have already been released on iOS 18, including Genmoji, Clean Up, ChatGPT integration, and more.
Cook went on to say, “With regard to the more personal Siri features we announced, we need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high-quality bar. We are making progress, and we look forward to getting these features into customers’ hands.”
In the earnings call, Richard Kramer of Arete Research asked Tim Cook directly about the Siri delays. In response, Cook reiterated, “We just need more time to complete the work so they meet our high-quality bar. There’s not a lot of other reason for it. It’s just taking a bit longer than we thought, but we are making progress and we’re extremely excited to get the more personal Siri features out there.” However, neither Cook nor CFO Kevan Parekh suggested a time to expect the features to roll out.
These features were originally intended to arrive in April, but statements from Apple employees indicate numerous problems and glitches that haven’t yet been resolved. As a stopgap, Apple collaborated with ChatGPT to offer its functionalities on the iPhone and Mac. The company is eager to get the features to a working point, especially as it has already been hit with one lawsuit for allegedly misleading customers with advertising that focused heavily around advanced AI.
Previous statements from Apple suggest the features will launch sometime this year, but these statements were the first updates since the delays were first announced in March. The personalized Siri features are set to include contextual commands and the ability to perform actions within your apps and device settings.
