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Is Siri Doomed? Inside Apple’s AI Crisis and the Uphill Battle for iOS 19

Apple’s Siri is in trouble—and a leaked all-hands meeting reveals just how deep the cracks go. Despite promising groundbreaking AI upgrades at WWDC 2024, Apple has delayed key Siri features indefinitely, leaving employees frustrated and customers questioning whether the voice assistant can ever catch up to rivals like Google and Amazon. Let’s dive in.

🚨 The Problem: Siri’s ‘Ugly’ Delays and Internal Chaos

📅 iOS 19 Uncertainty: Features like Siri understanding personal context and taking on-screen actions—promised for 2024—are now targeting iOS 19 in 2025, but senior director Robby Walker admits even that timeline isn’t guaranteed.
🔥 Employee Burnout: Walker called the situation “ugly” in a staff meeting, acknowledging team exhaustion and Apple’s conflicting priorities with other projects.
🤼 Marketing vs. Engineering: Apple’s marketing team reportedly pushed to showcase unready Siri features at WWDC, worsening public disappointment when delays hit.
🛑 33% Failure Rate: Internal tests revealed delayed features malfunctioned up to a third of the time, forcing Apple to pull iPhone 16 ads promoting them.

✅ Apple’s Proposed Fixes: Accountability and ‘Quality Over Speed’

👥 Executive Ownership: Software chief Craig Federighi and AI head John Giannandrea are taking “intense personal accountability” for Siri’s stagnation, per Walker.
🎯 Prioritizing Stability: Walker insists Apple won’t release half-baked features just to match competitors: “Our competitors might have launched them in this state or worse.”
🔄 Incremental Updates: Apple plans to ship delayed features “and more” gradually, starting with iOS 18.2’s redesigned Siri interface (rolling out now).

A close up of a cell phone with a keyboard on it — Photo by appshunter.io / Unsplash

⚠️ Challenges: Why Siri’s Comeback Isn’t Guaranteed

🧱 Technical Debt: Siri’s outdated architecture—largely unchanged since its 2011 debut—makes integrating modern AI models like ChatGPT-style LLMs a massive lift.
📱 Ecosystem Complexity: Apple’ reliance on on-device processing (for privacy) limits Siri’s cloud-based AI potential, unlike Google’s Assistant.
🤔 Public Trust: After years of unmet promises (remember the 2018 “Siri Shortcuts” hype?), customers may doubt Apple’s ability to deliver a “fully rounded-out Siri.”

🚀 Final Thoughts: Can Apple Salvage Siri?

Apple’s path forward hinges on three factors:

📈 Quality Control: If iOS 19’s AI features launch with near-zero errors, Siri could regain credibility.
🤖 Ecosystem Advantage: Deep integration with iPhone, HomePod, and Vision Pro could still give Siri an edge over fragmented Android assistants.
🗣️ Transparency: Overpromising at WWDC backfired—Apple must underpromise and overdeliver in 2025.

What’s your take? Is Siri’s AI delay a temporary stumble—or a sign Apple’s lost its innovation edge?

Let us know on X (Former Twitter)

Sources: Chris Welch. Leaked Apple meeting shows how dire the Siri situation really is, March 15, 2025. https://www.theverge.com/news/629940/apple-siri-robby-walker-delayed-ai-features