It’s not Apple’s best hour, as the corporate goes by way of probably the most humiliating intervals of its latest historical past. Apple needed to admit a number of days in the past that the smarter Siri it marketed as coming this yr to iPhone through Apple Intelligence is delayed indefinitely. It’s unclear how lengthy it’ll take for that Siri improve to return to iPhone 16 and different supported units.
The belief that the smarter Siri in Apple Intelligence is simply vaporware prompted loads of backlash from Apple followers sad with how Apple dealt with the delay.
I mentioned on the time that I nonetheless need the Siri imaginative and prescient Apple unveiled at WWDC 2024, however I need Apple to be trustworthy about what it will probably and may’t do. Sure, Apple is properly behind ChatGPT and Gemini, contemplating this large setback, nevertheless it has time to catch up and ship the product it marketed. Private AI assistants are the way forward for computer systems, and Apple will finally get there.
Now that we’re used to the concept of Apple Intelligence being an enormous letdown, we are able to return to utilizing iPhones as if Apple Intelligence doesn’t exist. With out the good Siri that ought to have been right here, Apple Intelligence is absolutely nothing to write down dwelling about. I’ll proceed to disregard it, although it’s lastly out there in Europe. It gives nothing I would like proper now.
Nevertheless, it appears like Siri, out there outdoors of Apple Intelligence, is someway getting dumber. Folks have observed the iPhone assistant can’t reply easy questions like “What month is it?” and that’s unhealthy information for Apple.
Siri was the important thing iPhone 4s function that Apple unveiled all the way in which again in 2011. That was practically 15 years in the past. It was extraordinary, teasing the type of iPhone performance that appeared taken out of a sci-fi film. You would subject easy voice instructions to the assistant, and Siri would offer help.
Since then, rivals have overtaken Siri’s capabilities, with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Google Assistant being two good examples, regardless of Apple bettering its personal voice assistant.
In 2025, you’d anticipate Siri to know your query once you ask it what month it’s and reply it. Or, a minimum of, Siri may begin an online seek for your question, which is what it used to do up to now when it couldn’t fairly catch what you requested.
That’s not the case. Siri says it doesn’t perceive your query once you ask it what month it’s. Apple fanatic John Gruber, who made waves final week mentioning the deeply deceptive Apple Intelligence Siri growth and advertising and marketing, discovered a Reddit thread the place a number of customers posted their expertise asking Siri what month it’s.
Gruber says he reproduced Siri’s “I’m sorry, I don’t perceive” on his iPhone 16 Professional working iOS 18.4 beta 4. I requested Siri the identical query on my iPhone 16 Professional Max and bought the identical bewildering reply.
Reality be advised, I don’t know whether or not Siri ever knew what month it was. I by no means requested that query as a result of it’s not one thing I would like help with. I normally know what month it’s. However a cellphone voice assistant ought to, on the very least, know what month it’s.
I even tried to textual content Siri the identical query and bought the identical response. Dumb Siri can’t reply a primary query. It does know the date, in order that’s one thing. However it will probably’t extract the month from there.
One Reddit person tried to ask, “What month is it at the moment?” and bought the reply, “It’s 2025.” My Siri didn’t perceive this query both.
That is simply embarrassing for Apple, particularly in mild of the Apple Intelligence fiasco. I can’t wait to see how and when Apple will tackle these issues publicly.
