Apple is gearing up to release a new version of iOS 18, with the 18.4 update. This brings a bunch of fixes to iPhones, but namely, brings some major upgrades to Siri, Apple’s voice assistant.
Siri has effectively been merged with Apple Intelligence, Cupertino’s take on building an AI-driven assistant into its devices. Part of this is still to come, as Apple’s rollout of its AI features has been bogged down by delays, with the next steps happening in 18.4.
Three major features coming to Siri in iOS 18.4:
The major three features coming to iOS and Siri are the following:
Personal context:
Apple describes this as, essentially, Siri reading everything you’ve written or shared from your device (or account, if it carries over between Apple Intelligence devices), and then being able to search for it when requested. It can also use this knowledge to aid in providing its services.
iOS already has a basic version of this, but it’s on a per-app basis and mostly tied with seeking information exactly as typed, rather than looking at context.
On-screen awareness:
Apple’s major update allows Siri to “see” what’s on the screen and use that data to complete specific tasks. An example given is adding an address that was texted to you. This eliminates keystrokes, as the feature is already manually available if you press and hold the address or phone number down.
This has been a major requested feature across multiple AI platforms. OpenAI recently demoed its own AI agents based on ChatGPT that are able to “use” a computer through language-based inputs.
Taking action in apps:
Another feature that will use your data and information that the AI is already scanning for. This will let you instruct Apple Intelligence to do things like email or edit a photo based on a text or voice prompt.
Apple Intelligence struggles as AI bubble nears needle
It hasn’t been an easy ride for Apple. Its Intelligence software is both its own trained AI and a wrapped-up ChatGPT. This has led to some awkward moments since it landed on Apple’s devices.
Siri and Apple recently landed in hot water over the system’s generated news summaries and more. The AI was either merging, mixing up, or hallucinating stories based on the notifications sent from news outlets like the BBC.
Despite the massive push by Apple in some markets, it hasn’t driven iPhone, Mac, or iPad sales at all. In fact, recent sales forecasts have indicated that iPhone demand has dropped as sales slip by 2%.
With DeepSeek R1 proving that mass quantities of money US companies are spending aren’t necessary for AI to thrive, the industry is about to reckon with another upheaval.