Apple aims to turn Siri into a more capable AI companion

Apple is trying to recast Siri from a voice command tool into a true AI companion that can move across apps, retrieve information and handle more of the work users now expect from a modern assistant. The effort sits at the center of Apple’s broader AI push, and the company is betting that its control over hardware, software and privacy can make up for a late start in consumer AI.

Apple laid that foundation at WWDC on June 10, 2024, when it introduced Apple Intelligence as a personal intelligence system combining generative models with personal context. The first Apple Intelligence features arrived in October 2024 through iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, and Apple has since said Siri is entering “a new era” with Apple Intelligence. In Apple’s developer documentation, Siri is described as becoming more natural, contextually relevant and personal.

The key to that overhaul is App Intents, the framework Apple says lets apps expose actions and content so Siri can take actions in and across apps, retrieve information and suggest app actions. That is the difference between a basic voice interface and a system that can actually carry out tasks inside Apple’s ecosystem. Apple also says Private Cloud Compute extends iPhone-like privacy protections to some cloud-based intelligence tasks, a selling point that could matter as consumers grow more wary of handing personal data to AI systems.

The challenge for Apple is that the company promised a more personalized Siri, then pushed it back on March 7, 2025, saying the features would take longer than expected. Coverage at the time said the delayed capabilities included deeper work with other apps, exactly the kind of integration Apple now says is central to Siri’s next phase. By May 2026, the delay had turned into legal and consumer fallout, with Apple agreeing to a $250 million settlement in a class action over Siri AI features. The settlement covered eligible iPhone purchasers who bought devices between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025, and court filings said claimants could receive up to $95 per device depending on claim volume and other factors.

That pressure makes Apple’s WWDC 2026, scheduled for June 8 to June 12, a critical test of whether Siri is finally ready to match the ambition. Apple has expanded Apple Intelligence across devices and languages, adding Live Translation, visual intelligence and intelligent actions in Shortcuts, but Siri remains the clearest measure of whether Apple’s privacy-first, tightly integrated model can create a real edge, or whether the company is still playing catch-up in consumer AI.