- New report says more personal Siri will launch with iOS 26.4
- This upgraded Siri will use fundamental models built on Gemini
- This comes just days after Apple confirmed a partnership with Google
Just nine days after Apple partnered with Google to use Gemini models and Google’s cloud technology to base its next generation of Apple Foundation models, it looks like the AI-powered Siri that the Cupertino-based giant first promised us in 2024 could be arriving much sooner than any of us thought.
According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, rumors are growing about the AI-powered Siri rollout launching in spring 2026 – now writing that it’s “planned for iOS 26.4,” which is likely due in the coming weeks or months. Currently, Apple is offering iOS 26.3 to registered developers and those enrolled in the public beta program.
The report notes that iOS 26.4 will deliver features Apple first promised at WWDC 2024 as part of Apple Intelligence – things like Siri having a deeper personal understanding of you, based on what it can see on your screen, and being much smarter. This means that it could also extract topical information in a jiffy, making it a much more impactful and meaningful user experience.
Most important, though, is the timing here – this report, which comes alongside a rumor that Apple will launch an AI chatbot with iOS 27, one that directly competes with Google Gemini and ChatGPT, notes that this Siri update likely wouldn’t be possible without partnering with Google for this fundamental foundation.
The AI-powered iOS 26.4 version of Siri “will rely on a Google-developed system, known internally as Apple Foundation Models version 10,” the report said before noting that it works with 1.2 trillion parameters.
Clearly, having access to Gemini models to build and maintain Apple’s core models has sped things up and could mean Apple will be able to deliver the smarter, more personal Siri it’s long been promising, much sooner rather than later.
As for the arrival date of iOS 26.4, it will probably be in the spring, after the beginning of March and before the end of May. That means it would likely arrive before WWDC 2026, scheduled for June.
Of course, Apple could save this news for a bit of consumer buzz at WWDC and ship version 26.4 to all users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device, and therefore access to the new Siri, right after the keynote ends.
It would be a moment of surprise and delight, but it would also sideline the usual public beta and developer testing periods. Either way, though, with Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude all pushing what we want from AI tools and many of them becoming more personal, we’ll have to wait and see if Apple’s actually smarter Siri is worth the wait, and how it prepares us for the other big rumor: a Siri chatbot in iOS 27.
Time will tell, but the major Siri update is still a long time coming.
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