Apple's AI Siri Revamp Missing from iOS 26.4 Release Candidate

Apple's AI Siri Revamp Missing from iOS 26.4 Release Candidate

Apple released the iOS 26.4 release candidate this week, but the long-awaited AI-powered Siri revamp is nowhere to be found.

What Was Expected

Apple had targeted March 2026 for the new Siri, which was supposed to ship with iOS 26.4. The updated assistant would understand context in ways that feel genuinely intelligent, pulling flight information from Mail, extracting reservation details from Messages, and working across apps.

The Gemini Deal

Google's Gemini models will power the Siri upgrade under a multi-year deal reportedly costing Apple around $1 billion per year. This represents a major shift from Apple building its own language models to relying on a Google partnership.

Current Status

Bloomberg reported that the update has run into snags during internal testing. Some features are now expected in the May iOS 26.5 update, while others may not arrive until iOS 27 in September.

Why It Matters

Apple's competitors have pulled ahead in AI assistants. Google's Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and other AI tools already handle many of the tasks Apple promised for the new Siri. Each delay widens the gap.