Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.4 to developers and pubic beta testers this week, and the new update includes no new Apple Intelligence Siri features.
Several reports from analysts and reporters, including Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicated iOS 26.4 was the target release for new personalized features. In January, Gurman indicated Apple was targeting a February date for the more personalized version of its virtual assistant.
However, last week, Gurman said the Siri update wouldn’t be coming in iOS 26.4 after all, due to development and testing issues and the new version of Siri has reportedly been delayed until (at least) iOS 26.5 or iOS 27.
Gurman said the Siri features will be spread across several upcoming iOS releases, which indicates some or all of the new Siri features could debut in iOS 26.5, or possibly iOS 27, which will be unveiled in June 2026 at WWDC.
Apple promised a more personalized Siri that would use Apple intelligence since the unveiling of iOS 18 back in June 2024. At the time, it was believed that all of the new features would make it into iOS 18 by spring 2025. However, once spring arrived, Apple admitted that the new version of Siri was taking more time, and we wouldn’t see full functionality until a year later.
Apple has reportedly run into unforeseen problems in testing Siri, which often improperly processing queries and takes too long to respond to requests. However, Apple says its revamped version of Siri will still launch in 2026.
Gurman says his sources tell him that Apple has told engineers to perform additional testing with iOS 26.5, indicating a delay until at least when that software version is released to the public.
Internally, iOS 26.5 includes notices describing the Siri features, as well as a “preview” toggle for turning on the Siri personalization feature.
While employees involved in testing says iOS 26.5 has all of the features Apple had promised, not all of the features are working properly.
Siri is also said to occasionally use ChatGPT for information in place of the Gemini-powered technology the company recently made a deal with Google to use, even when the new version of Siri is capable of handling a user’s request.
