Apple is planning a significant AI overhaul for Siri in iOS 18, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reporting that the update will enable Siri to control all individual features within apps for the first time, significantly expanding its functional range.
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature Highlights
Siri will be capable of:
- Opening specific documents
- Moving notes between folders
- Deleting emails
- Summarizing articles
- Emailing web links
- Opening specific news sites in Apple News
These enhancements will utilize AI to analyze user activity, automatically enabling relevant Siri features. Achieving this required Apple engineers to rearchitect Siri’s underlying software with Large Language Models (LLMs), similar to the technology behind chatbots like ChatGPT.
Apple is working on integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into iOS 18 and is also in discussions with Google about incorporating Gemini, although Siri’s functionality will likely rely on Apple’s own LLM developments.
Key Features and Limitations at Launch
- Initial Limitations: New Siri functionalities will initially be limited to Apple apps and will only respond to one command at a time.
- Future Capabilities: Apple aims to enable Siri to handle multiple commands simultaneously, such as capturing a photo and sending it in a message.
While these features will be introduced at WWDC 2024, they are not expected to launch with the initial release of iOS 18 in September. Instead, the overhaul is scheduled for a future iOS 18 update in 2025.
Processing and Privacy
- Basic AI Tasks: Processed on-device.
- Advanced Capabilities: Rely on Apple’s cloud servers.
- On-Device Requirements: iPhone 15 Pro or later for iOS 18, and an M1 chip or later for iPadOS 18 and macOS 15.
Recent rumors indicate a shift from on-device processing to cloud-based for some advanced functionalities. Apple’s AI servers will be powered by M2 Ultra and M4 chips and will use the Secure Enclave to ensure data privacy. Customers will receive an “intelligent report” detailing data security measures.
We will learn more about the AI functionalities coming to Siri at WWDC 2024, starting on Monday, June 10.
