Apple is not content with Siri finally understanding people better than before. According to Bloomberg, the company is considering turning it into an AI agent. It would independently keep track of a goal, decide on the next step, and complete the task without the user having to constantly prompt it. The first such capabilities could appear as early as next year. Bloomberg noted that if Apple does indeed decide to take this path, it is not yet clear exactly how the new Siri will work. Apple has not officially confirmed any of this.
Siri is smarter, but still waits for instructions
The new Siri AI has come a long way. Apple reintroduced it at its WWDC developer conference in June, and users received it with the iOS 27 update. This happened more than two years after the company first promised an AI-powered Siri. Siri runs on Google's Gemini model.
Today's Siri can write an email or message, set a reminder or calendar event, and perform some actions in apps from other developers. It can do a little more in Apple's own apps. The latest test version of iOS 27.3 also adds more advanced actions directly within apps. It is a huge leap compared with the old Siri, but one thing remains the same. The assistant still handles one request at a time and waits for the user's instructions.
The competition is doing better
This is precisely where Apple is falling behind. Bloomberg cites OpenAI's Dots, Meta's Muse, and Elon Musk's xAI Grok as examples. These tools function as persistent assistants that run in the background and speak up when needed. People can entrust them with repetitive and tedious tasks. They can monitor changes across various services and alert users to them, or compile an overview of important work updates from connected apps. Some even launch their own virtual computers in which they carry out tasks. Dots and Muse have both been on the market since September.
“Dots, Muse, and Grok can keep track of goals, determine what needs to be done next, and continue working without the user having to initiate every individual step,” Gurman explained. According to his sources, Apple ultimately wants to move in the same direction, and Siri could become more like an agent as early as next year. Owners of iPhones, iPads, and Macs could then assign it entire tasks instead of merely asking it questions.
The pressure is also being driven by a change in the company's leadership. According to Gurman, Apple's new CEO John Ternus told Craig Federighi, who oversees software development, at a private meeting in recent weeks that Apple needs to accelerate its software roadmap. He believes the company must quickly move beyond merely making essential improvements to Siri.
The change is also evident in how Apple is preparing its upcoming iOS 28 and iPadOS 28 systems. Development has been divided into three phases called M1, M2, and M3, each lasting eight weeks. The first phase was previously divided into two four-week periods. Developers now have six weeks for programming, testing ideas, and building new features, and only combine everything during the final two weeks. This gives them more time to create before they have to assemble their work into a single whole. As usual, Apple will most likely unveil the new iOS 28 at WWDC next June.
Apple fans, however, did not receive the news with much enthusiasm. Some argued that the company should focus on fixing bugs instead, while others described Siri as still being an unfinished product. One reader remarked that the smart Siri would probably warn him in advance that it would be unable to set the timer he was about to ask for anyway.
Sources: independent.co.uk and theverge.com
