Gurman: Apple Intelligence Powered Siri Won’t Arrive Until iOS 18.4

Mark Gurman, in his Power On column for Bloomberg:

For the first time, the digital assistant will have precise control over actions inside of Apple’s apps. That means you can ask Siri to, say, edit a photo and then ship it off to a friend. It also will have the ability to understand what you’re looking at on your display, helping Siri determine what you want to do based on the context. But neither of those upgrades will be ready when Apple Intelligence launches this fall, as I’ve previously reported.

Instead, I’m told, Siri features are likely to go into beta testing for developers in January and then debut publicly around the springtime — part of an iOS 18.4 upgrade that’s already in the works. Other Siri features, such as a new design and ChatGPT integration, will be coming later this year.

Recent dates for iOS x.4 updates:

  • iOS 17.4: 7 March 2024
  • iOS 16.4: 27 March 2023
  • iOS 15.4: 14 March 2022
  • iOS 14.4: 26 January 2021
  • iOS 13.4: 24 March 2020

If the usual pattern holds, it’s a safe guess that iOS 18.4 will arrive in mid-to-late March. (iOS 14.4 came in January, but 2020 was, needless to say, an unusual year.) This jibes with my take post-WWDC, when I wrote:

If generative AI weren’t seen as essential — both in terms of consumer marketing and investor confidence — I think much, if not most, of what Apple unveiled in “Apple Intelligence” wouldn’t even have been announced until next year’s WWDC, not last week’s WWDC. Again, none of the features in “Apple Intelligence” are even available in beta yet, and I think all or most of them will be available only under a “beta” label until next year.

★ Monday, 8 July 2024