In a new interview, Apple executives have narrowed the timeline of when to expect Siri’s delayed AI upgrades, confirming they will release in 2026 and no sooner. Here are the details.
Joz confirms Siri’s 2026 release date in new interview
When Apple first delayed the new Siri features that were supposed to ship in iOS 18, it did so with a fairly vague updated timeline.
The company said of the Siri upgrades: “we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”
That was back in March. The language of “the coming year” left many wondering: did that mean before the end of 2025? Or the next 12 months, perhaps?
During its WWDC keynote, Apple reiterated this same phrasing, with even more of a potential hedge. Craig Federighi, speaking of the forthcoming “more personal” update to Siri, said: “We look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year.”
But in a new interview with Craig Federighi and Greg ”Joz” Joswiak, Tom’s Guide’s Mark Spoonauer pushed Apple for a more specific timeline.
Spoonauer asked twice if saying ‘2026’ was okay for the anticipated release of Siri’s delayed upgrades.
After the first ask, Federighi launched into an explanation of what happened that led to the delays. But he didn’t quite answer the question.
So the question was repeated, and answered by Joz.
Spoonauer: So instead of an actual release date, is it okay to say 2026?
Joz: Yeah, that’s what we said, yeah.
Interestingly, Federighi looked over at Joz after being asked the question, indicating he was deferring to Apple’s marketing head to answer.
Top comment by Blurft
Craig insists it isn't vaporware, but it was "coming soon"...and then the conveniently-vague "in the coming year"...and now "next year." More than 18 months after it was announced and more than a year after it was used in an advertisement to sell iPhones.
I don't want Apple to ship something that doesn't work, but I think they owe everyone who bought an Apple Intelligence-capable device after they started advertising "Apple Intelligence, Available Now" both an apology and some kind of real compensation - and there's precedent for that! When Apple dropped the price of the original iPhone just a couple months after launch, they gave early buyers a $100 gift card. When Apple messed up the design of the antenna on the iPhone 4, they gave buyers a free case.
There must be consequences for this, or the lesson Apple is going to learn will be "We can say whatever we want and there are no repercussions." That only harms us, the consumers, in the end.
But unless the answer was a slip-up, it seems we can give up hope of Siri’s new features arriving later this fall as part of iOS 26, 26.1, or possibly even 26.2.
Instead, a release in the spring around iOS 26.4 seems more likely.
You can watch the full video interview below.
Are you disappointed by the delay for Siri’s new AI features? Let us know in the comments.
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