Apple took the stage at WWDC 2026 to reveal Siri AI, a completely reworked version of its voice assistant that the company says is more conversational and capable than ever before. The announcement comes two years after Apple first detailed its Apple Intelligence plans and a smarter Siri that ultimately failed to materialize as promised.
A smarter, more personal Siri
Apple describes Siri AI as an entirely new version of the assistant. It features a more expressive voice that users can customize by adjusting pace, expressivity, and even accent. The assistant works systemwide, reading content displayed on the screen and interacting directly with apps.
Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, emphasized that the assistant was built with privacy at every step. Queries are processed either on the device itself or in the cloud using Apple's Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.
Cross-device availability and new access methods
Siri AI is rolling out across Apple's entire ecosystem, supporting iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. On the iPhone, users can now summon Siri by swiping down from the Dynamic Island, in addition to existing methods. On Macs, the assistant is accessible from Spotlight. Vision Pro users can simply look at a new floating orb visualization to start a conversation without saying "Hey, Siri."
The assistant also gets its own dedicated app, which resembles popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. It offers a conversational interface for text or voice interactions and maintains a saved history that syncs across devices via iCloud, allowing users to begin a conversation on one device and continue on another.
Under the hood: Apple Foundation Models and Google collaboration
Siri AI is built on new Apple Foundation Models, which the company developed in collaboration with Google. These models enable the assistant to interact with apps, answer questions based on on-screen content, suggest actions from image content captured by the camera, and help manage messages and calendar tasks.
While these capabilities largely mirror what is already available on Android devices through Google's Gemini or third-party AI chatbots, Apple's implementation marks its most significant push yet into consumer AI.
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Photos app gets AI editing tools
Alongside Siri, Apple overhauled the Photos app with several AI-powered editing features. A revamped Clean Up tool removes unwanted objects from images. A new Extend tool generates content to expand the edges of a photo. More novel is Spatial Reframing, which lets users drag to reposition the "camera" within a photo, effectively changing the angle or framing of the subject. Apple says this works with nearly all photos in a user's library, including those taken on other cameras.
Apple's late arrival, framed as intentional
Federighi addressed Apple's delayed entry into the AI space by positioning it as a deliberate choice. "Some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI, without clear regard for the people, all of us, that it's ultimately meant to serve," he said during the keynote. "We believe that truly helpful AI must be centered around you and your needs."
Availability and device restrictions
Siri AI is available to developers immediately and will enter a public beta later this year. However, not all users will get access right away. Apple says the new Siri will not initially be available in the European Union on iOS or iPadOS, though it will be available on other platforms. It will not launch in China at all due to regulatory issues. The assistant launches in English only, but Apple says it intends to quickly expand to additional languages.
Hardware requirements are also restrictive. While Siri AI will be accessible on products that already support existing Apple Intelligence features, the most powerful on-device AI features will be limited to select models: the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, iPads with at least an M4 chip, and Macs with at least an M3 and 12GB of RAM or more.
Background: A rocky road to AI
Apple's previous effort to deliver ambitious AI features at WWDC 2024 fell short. The company recently agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers about Apple Intelligence's availability and performance. Catching up in the AI race has become a clear priority for Apple and incoming CEO John Ternus. Earlier this year, Apple struck a deal with Google to use Gemini to power new Apple Intelligence and Siri features, allowing Apple to focus on its AI products rather than the underlying models.