Apple Delays Siri Upgrade to Spring 2025 Due to Quality Issues

Apple has announced that the release of its upgraded Siri AI, initially scheduled for late 2024, has been postponed to the spring of 2025. This decision comes after internal testing revealed persistent quality issues that needed to be addressed. The upgraded Siri, which will be integrated into iOS 17.4, is expected to feature significant improvements in personalization and functionality.

The delay was confirmed by Apple's software engineering senior vice president, Craig Federighi, and global marketing vice president, Greg Joswiak, during a recent discussion following the WWDC24 keynote. They explained that the integration of Apple Intelligence into Siri required more time than initially anticipated. The company had previously promised to release the updated Siri by the end of 2024, but technical limitations and the need for a more robust architecture led to the delay.

Federighi detailed the challenges faced during the development process, highlighting the limitations of the current V1 architecture. He mentioned that while the V1 architecture allowed for some improvements, it fell short of meeting customer expectations. As a result, Apple decided to shift its focus to developing a more advanced V2 architecture, which is designed to provide a more comprehensive and seamless user experience.

The V2 architecture, described by Federighi as a "deeper end-to-end architecture," is intended to fully realize Siri's potential. This new architecture aims to leverage device-based large language models, private cloud computing infrastructure, and device-based semantic indexing to enhance Siri's capabilities. For example, Siri will be able to use personal knowledge from messages or emails to provide more accurate and relevant responses to user queries.

Despite the delay, Apple remains committed to delivering a high-quality product. Federighi assured that the company is continuously optimizing Siri's functionality to ensure it meets the highest standards. Joswiak confirmed that the upgraded Siri is expected to be released in the spring of 2025, aligning with the iOS 17.4 update.

This is not the first time Apple has faced setbacks in adapting to the new era of AI. Earlier this year, the company disabled the news summary feature in Apple Intelligence after users discovered that the AI system was distorting headlines and displaying inaccurate information. This incident involved prominent news applications such as The New York Times and BBC.

Apple is also in urgent need of mobilizing its vast developer ecosystem to lay the foundation for the next generation of Siri. The company has introduced a new coding module called "App Intents," which allows AI-powered Siri to utilize application functions. Currently, developers can only write and test these code modules without being able to preview their effects in a real Siri environment until a test version is released in the future.

The delay in Siri's upgrade highlights the challenges Apple faces in developing the next generation of voice assistants, which require cutting-edge AI technology to become more useful and conversational. Since the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT at the end of 2022, which marked the beginning of the generative AI era, this pressure has intensified. In addition to OpenAI, Apple also faces the risk of falling behind other competitors, such as Amazon, which announced an upgrade to its Alexa voice assistant last month but has not yet released it, and Google, which is developing similar functions through its Gemini assistant. However, all consumer-level voice assistants currently face issues with incorrect answers and task automation.

It is worth noting that some new Apple devices that support Apple Intelligence have already gained more natural conversational abilities, more eye-catching UI (full-screen illumination), and integration with ChatGPT. Additionally, Apple Intelligence features such as automatic text generation, image creation, photo editing, and notification summarization are now available for the latest iPhone models. However, these upgrades still fall short of Siri truly entering the generative AI era.

Apple's decision to postpone the Siri upgrade reflects its dedication to quality and innovation. By taking the time to address technical challenges and develop a more robust architecture, Apple aims to provide users with a superior AI assistant that meets their evolving needs. The company's decision to prioritize quality over speed demonstrates its commitment to delivering products that exceed customer expectations.