Apple has offered a first look at an all-new version of its Siri assistant, which has been preinstalled on every iPhone sold since October 2011. A lot has changed in the 15 years since Siri made its debut, with fierce competition from the likes of Google Gemini, Amazon's Alexa, and ChatGPT, to name just a few.
Siri AI is a complete reboot — rebuilt from the ground-up to take advantage of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) combined with new capabilities to search the hundreds of thousands of messages, emails, photos, videos, and notes stored on your devices to answer (almost) any question imaginable.
Whether you want recipe suggestions based on an event you're planning in a group chat, additional context on a photograph you've found online, or help with a first draft that pulls together photographs from a specific date... Siri AI relies on all-new AI models, context from information stored on your device, and up-to-date information from across the web to put together a comprehensive answer.
It'll work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, when it rolls-out as a free software update this autumn, Apple promises.
As well as a slew of new capabilities, Siri AI arrives with a brand-new design
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As well as a new name, Siri AI arrives with a sleek new design, replacing the rainbow glow that swirls around the edge of your screen with a crystal ball-like animation that expands from the Dynamic Island — that pill-shaped area at the top of your iPhone screen that displays background processes and Face ID checks.
On Mac, Siri AI is integrated into Spotlight, the system-wide search that's been part of the desktop operating system for the last 21 years. Your Mac will automatically work-out if you're looking to launch an application, find a file, or typing-out a complex request that needs an answer from Siri AI.
You can use the "Hey Siri" wake phrase to summon the assistant from its slumber on any Apple device.
Apple is bringing a new Siri app to all devices, where you can revisit past conversations with the AI
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There's also a new Siri app that'll be available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, where you can revisit past conversations with the AI. Everything will be securely synchronised across devices, so you can summon the talkactive AI assistant on one device and finish on another.
For the first time, Siri AI can scour information saved on your device to tailor its response to you. For example, if you know that a friend recently texted you their new address, but you can't face scrolling back through thousands of messages, you can ask Siri AI to surface the information for you. Because Siri AI has been built for natural back-and-forth conversation, you could follow up with a question like "how long would it take me to drive and see him?" without reiterating where or who you're talking about, and Siri AI will plot out the route.
Unlike the current iteration of the AI assistant available on Apple devices worldwide, Siri AI is aware of what you're looking at on-screen, letting you ask questions about a photograph, email, or webpage. Siri AI can also tap into an expansive catalogue of knowledge to get 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.
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There's also a new Siri Mode built into the Camera app, so you can split a bill with friends or family by pointing the viewfinder at a receipt, or get nutritional insights by aiming the lens at a plate of food.
Apple will let you customise the speed and expressiveness of its new Siri AI. You've been able to personalise aspects of Siri since 2013 with the release of iOS 7, which added the ability to switch between male and female voices. But the new update includes sliders to customise pace and expressive qualities in the voice. You can pick an accent.
Siri Mode will be added to the Camera app in iOS and iPadOS, letting you quickly divide up the items on a receipt or surface nutritional information about a dish
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Discussing the arrival of Siri AI, Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, said: "We’re excited to introduce Siri AI, a dramatically more capable and conversational assistant designed to help users find information and get things done throughout the day.
"With access to broad world knowledge for up-to-date answers on virtually any topic, along with onscreen awareness and personal context understanding, Siri AI can help users take action across apps more naturally than ever."
Apple has baked its new Siri AI smarts into the default iOS keyboard, which offers improved predictive suggestions when typing in real-time.
When writing in Mail and Messages, Siri will comb back through previous examples of your writing to learn how you typically respond to a specific person, including the tone and punctuation. For example, if you usually send brief notes with bullet points to your line manager, that's exactly what Siri will suggest.
The rebooted Siri can suggest tips and tweaks to improve your writing. Apple has built in the ability to learn from past examples, so Siri AI will tailor its recommendations based on the intended recipient
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Siri will automatically proofread everything as you type, offering tips and suggestions to improve your written work. Until now, you had to specifically request that the Artificial Intelligence proofread your writing. Apple says its checks will work across all of its operating systems as well as third-party apps.
The rebooted Siri AI will be available as part of the next major operating system updates coming to Apple devices. If everything goes to plan, Apple will release its new software upgraded to billions of devices in September.