Apple’s long-delayed AI upgrades for Siri are set to finally launch this year. Here’s the expected release date for the new and improved Siri.

Siri’s major AI overhaul expected in March with iOS 26.4

iOS 26.4 has long been reported by Bloomberg as the update that will launch Apple’s new and improved AI Siri. This timing has also been corroborated by code leaks from iOS 26.

Currently iOS 26.3 is in beta testing, but based on Apple’s history of software releases, we can get a good idea of when to expect iOS 26.4 to debut.

Here are release dates from the last few iOS x.4 updates:

• iOS 18.4: Monday, March 31
• iOS 17.4: Tuesday, March 5
• iOS 16.4: Monday, March 27

Based on this pattern, iOS 26.4 and the new Siri’s launch is expected in March—likely late in the month.

A late March release would follow 2025 and 2023’s timing. But 2024 brought a much earlier March debut for iOS 17.4, so it’s always possible Apple could release iOS 26.4 sooner than expected.

Ultimately, the timing will likely be influenced by the launch of the first beta.

iOS 18.4 and iOS 16.4 got their first betas in mid-February, while iOS 17.4 beta 1 debuted several weeks earlier in late January.

If we get iOS 26.4 beta 1 in January, perhaps an early March public launch will happen. But if it’s delayed until mid-February, a late March release is more likely.

New features coming to Siri

Siri is getting a major overhaul in iOS 26.4. Its years-old underlying architecture is being replaced by an LLM-based system.

Sometimes, underlying code changes for software features aren’t very noticeable to users. But the benefits of Siri’s transition are expected to be very evident.

The new LLM-based Siri should be able to intelligently assist users in a similar manner to chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini.

It will also enable several powerful features that were originally set for iOS 18 then got delayed. These include:

1. App Intents for hands-free computing
2. Personal context knowledge
3. Onscreen awareness

Apple has promised that its new Siri will be able to deliver all of this and more thanks to the new underlying architecture that’s coming.

Considering how long it’s been since Siri’s upgrades were first announced, there will be a lot of pent-up anticipation for what’s coming. Here’s hoping the extra time Apple is taking means it will truly deliver the Siri users deserve.

Source: 9to5mac