Apple reportedly pushing back Gemini-powered Siri features beyond iOS 26.4

Despite inking a deal with Google to use Gemini AI as the brains behind upgraded Siri, Apple is reportedly facing internal challenges in getting the final product ready for prime time. The reported delays could stretch into iOS 27 this fall. Apple first announced a more capable version of Siri in 2024; that update hasn’t shipped yet.

Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg:

After planning to include the new capabilities in iOS 26.4 — an operating system update slated for March — Apple is now working to spread them out over future versions, according to people familiar with the matter. That would mean possibly postponing at least some features until at least iOS 26.5, due in May, and iOS 27, which comes out in September.

Gurman notes that while Apple hasn’t promised a ship date more specific than this year, the company has been eyeing iOS 26.4 around March as the release target. Instead, the company is now considering iOS 26.5 as a likely target:

One feature is especially likely to slip: the expanded ability for Siri to tap into personal data. That technology would let users ask the assistant to, say, search old text messages to locate a podcast shared by a friend and immediately play it.

The report also says that “voice-based control of in-app actions” is running behind. Both features should still arrive as part of an update to iOS 26.

Earlier today, Apple released iOS 26.3 with a number of bug fixes and security improvements. Apple was expected to include the first signs of Gemini-powered Siri in iOS 26.4, likely coming in beta later this month, but it sounds like we’ll need to wait another cycle for those features.

Apple only officially reached its deal to work with Google’s Gemini AI models in January. Prior to reaching that agreement, Apple was considering its own models as well as options from Anthropic before settling on Google as a technology provider.

The company originally announced the more capable Siri in June 2024 as a feature coming to iOS 18 before delaying the introduction to sometime this year.

Beyond the initial Siri upgrades that will be powered by Gemini, Gurman has also reported that Apple will treat Siri more like a chatbot in iOS 27.

You can read the story in full at Bloomberg.

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