AI-powered Siri is on the way – but is it worth using?

June 14, 2026 — 11:24am

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Apple has unveiled its Siri AI update – which will let your iPhone’s digital assistant search the web, sort through messages, look at photos, and access a bunch of apps to complete your requests – as part of this September’s iOS 27 software.

The announcement might not have done much to impress analysts and investors, who have been on Apple’s case to “catch up” with Google in generative AI for years. But regular iPhone users may be pleased that Apple has stuck to its usual modus operandi, turning chaotic tech into a polished utility, rather than moving fast and breaking things.

Apple’s own AI models are built on a foundation of Google technology, but the approach the companies take to integration is very different. As Google finds new ways to hoard the photos, text and audio you use to prompt Gemini to retrain it, or even feed the music that creators publish on YouTube into AI that can replicate it, Apple has promised not to store or look at anything. While Google adds new paid tiers that let Gemini act as a health coach or security guard, Apple is more measured and controlled. And free, for now.

There remain some fundamental ethical issues with generative AI that have gone largely unaddressed, and Apple’s approach merely stacks them neatly by the back door where they don’t need to be unpacked, which might rankle........

© Brisbane Times