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After 2 years of delay, Siri finally gets a brain transplant at WWDC 2026.
Yesterday at WWDC 2026 in Cupertino, Apple did two things at once. Tim Cook delivered his final WWDC keynote as Apple CEO, closing a chapter before John Ternus takes over in September. And right alongside that farewell, Apple dropped the biggest Siri update in its 15-year history.
Siri AI is an entirely new version of Siri, built from the ground up and powered by Apple Intelligence. Let’s see what you’re actually getting.
1. Personal Context Understanding
The old Siri had no idea what was in your emails, messages, or photos.
The new Siri AI draws on personal context understanding to help you find what you need across messages, emails, photos, and more. You can ask it to find a restaurant a friend texted you about, pull up a hotel confirmation from an old email, or surface photos from a recent trip. This personal context also extends to third-party apps when developers integrate with Spotlight.
2. On-screen Awareness
Using onscreen awareness, Siri AI can answer questions related to whatever is on your screen. For example, if you get a text about a potluck, you can brainstorm with Siri what to bring, then add a recipe directly to the Notes app.
3. Web Search
Siri AI can fetch up-to-date information from the web on virtually any topic and generate a helpful answer, such as when and where to see the next solar eclipse or when a musician is coming to town. You can extend almost any response into a back-and-forth conversation and ask follow-up questions.
4. Dedicated Siri App
A dedicated Siri app lets you revisit past conversations or start new ones, and it uses iCloud to sync your conversation history across all your Apple devices privately. It is like having a chat history, the way you would with any modern AI assistant.
5. New Ways to Open Siri
On iPhone, beyond saying “Hey Siri,” you can hit the side button or swipe down from the Dynamic Island to start a conversation. On iPad and Mac, Siri AI is built into Spotlight. You can also control-click any image, file, or text on your screen to ask Siri about it. On Apple Vision Pro, Siri AI appears as a 3D visualization that you can place anywhere in your space and activate simply by looking at it and speaking.
On Apple Watch, you can start a Siri AI conversation right from your wrist, or a Smart Stack suggestion can automatically appear to help you continue a recent conversation. It also works through AirPods and CarPlay.
6. Siri Is Now Inside Your Camera
Visual intelligence is now a feature of Siri AI. Point your camera at food, and Siri can describe the dish and give you nutrition information. Point it at an object, and Siri can tell you what it is.
The Google Deal
Apple’s Foundation Models on Cloud are the product of a collaboration with Google. The AFM Cloud Pro model, built for the most demanding tasks, is similar in quality to Gemini Frontier models and will run on Nvidia GPUs in Google’s cloud. Apple is still handling privacy on its end, but Gemini models are doing the heavy lifting for complex tasks.
What Devices Will Get Siri AI
Siri AI requires an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 model. Standard iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and older models do not qualify. Within that, the most advanced Siri AI features are exclusive to the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, as these are the only iPhones with 12GB of unified memory, which is required to run Apple’s most powerful on-device AI model. The standard iPhone 17 is not included, even though it is a current model.
When Can You Actually Use Siri AI
Siri AI is available for developer testing starting today. It will roll out as a beta to regular users later this year. Also, Siri AI and the new Apple Intelligence features will not be available in China while Apple works through regulatory requirements.
The Last Thing Worth Noting
It was Tim Cook’s last annual developer conference as Apple CEO, and he delivered a farewell message at the end of the keynote. He reportedly wiped a tear on stage. Whether or not you follow Apple’s leadership closely, this WWDC carried more weight than most. Cook is handing over an Apple that is finally, truly, in the AI race.
Siri AI is not perfect yet. It is in developer beta. Real-world performance will tell the real story. But on paper, this is the Siri upgrade people have been waiting for since 2024.
