Apple’s iOS 16 Launch: What Was Surprisingly Missing?

Siri's Underwhelming Performance Casts a Shadow Over Apple's AI Ambitions

At this year's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025, expectations were high for announcements related to Apple's latest technological innovations. However, the conspicuous absence of any significant updates or improvements regarding Siri, Apple's flagship AI voice assistant, left industry experts and users alike feeling disappointed and puzzled. This omission underscores a deeper issue: despite being a pioneer in voice AI since its debut over a decade ago, Siri remains a glaring weakness in Apple's otherwise robust ecosystem.

Initially launched to great fanfare, Siri was among the first mainstream virtual assistants, capturing attention with its promise of seamless voice-controlled interactions. Yet, over the years, it struggled to evolve beyond rudimentary functions such as setting alarms, sending messages, or fetching basic information. While competitors like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant rapidly advanced, Siri's capabilities stagnated, especially in understanding complex queries, engaging in natural, multi-turn conversations, or proactively assisting users based on contextual awareness.

The situation was further highlighted last year when Apple announced an upgraded Siri at WWDC, promising enhanced intelligence and responsiveness. However, this upgrade failed to materialize as expected, emphasizing the company's ongoing difficulties in developing cutting-edge AI solutions. Meanwhile, the rapid progression of AI technology — notably with the advent of large language models such as Google Gemini and ChatGPT — has widened the gap between Apple and its rivals. While Google is showcasing the capabilities of Gemini, and OpenAI continues to innovate with ChatGPT, Apple appears to be falling behind.

Furthermore, Microsoft's Copilot suite has been gaining recognition for its powerful AI integrations, transforming industries and workflows. Yet, Apple seems to lack the same momentum in AI research and application development. Instead of investing heavily in AI breakthroughs, Apple appears more focused on designing aesthetically appealing devices and maintaining high prices, which contributes to its lagging position in the AI domain.

Recent Developments and Industry Expectations

Despite these updates, the demand from users is clear: they want intelligent, responsive third-party applications capable of delivering more nuanced and sophisticated interactions than Siri currently offers. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to develop or promote such applications, leaving its AI ecosystem underwhelming.

Is the decline of Siri and Apple's AI dominance inevitable? If the upcoming version of Siri fails to deliver substantial improvements, Apple may need to reconsider its entire AI strategy. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to modern technology, Apple's inability to keep pace could threaten its competitive standing in the smartphone and software markets.

Looking ahead, next year's WWDC will mark Siri's 15th anniversary — a milestone that raises questions about whether Apple will unveil a truly revolutionary AI assistant by then. However, current indications suggest that the new Siri will not be ready until 2026. Should Apple continue to lag behind in AI innovation, it risks losing relevance in an industry increasingly driven by intelligent, adaptive, and conversational AI solutions — a future where even the most expensive devices might become obsolete without meaningful AI integration.