Apple's big Siri update still isn't ready for primetime

Apple kicked off its 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference with a glossy flourish: a sweeping UI redesign called Liquid Glass for the newly christened iOS 26. It’s translucent, fluid, and "expressive," Apple says. Nearly every new feature is now stitched together with some form of Apple Intelligence or, in some cases, OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

However, amid all the name-dropping of LLMs and neural networks, one thing was conspicuously missing: Siri. Apple’s OG AI assistant. Apparently, she’s still not ready for her makeover.

"As we've shared, we're continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal," said Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, during the keynote. "This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year."

When Apple first introduced its Apple Intelligence branding almost exactly a year ago, it was supposed to usher in a smarter, sharper Siri — a reimagined voice assistant powered by AI that combined its legacy system with Apple Intelligence to handle more advanced queries. But, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported, Apple’s entry into the AI race has been more reluctant than revolutionary.

Because of this, Siri has become something of a collateral victim in what can only be described as Apple’s internal AI scramble. You can see the fallout in how iOS 18 has handled its so-called intelligence upgrades, rolled out in fragmented waves over the last year or so.

Back in March, Gurman noted Apple was still "running way behind" on delivering any substantial updates to Siri, with its more conversational, AI-enhanced version unlikely to land before 2027.

So, yes, iOS just got a sleek new skin, but Siri is still stuck in the waiting room.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed upon Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.