Apple unveiled an AI-powered Siri at WWDC 2026, its annual developer conference.
The new version is pitched as meaningfully smarter than the assistant Apple has shipped since 2011. Apple has spent the past couple of years building out Apple Intelligence — its umbrella for on-device and cloud AI features — and the Siri overhaul is the centerpiece of that effort. Details on exactly what the upgrade can do will become clearer as the software moves from keynote stage to public hands.
This matters because Siri's reputation problem is real and well-earned. Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and a growing field of standalone AI apps have made Apple's virtual assistant look like the option you use by default, not by preference. A credible upgrade strengthens the case that the iPhone is still the right place to do AI tasks — rather than a detour you take until you can open a better app.
Apple has announced Siri improvements before and the bar was still low enough to clear comfortably. Whether this version holds up when it leaves the demo and lands in a pocket is the only question worth asking.