According to CNBC, one of the most important product launches in Apple's history will debut in 2026, but this time it has nothing to do with hardware. Apple has promised investors that it will launch a new generation of AI voice assistant Siri next year. For Apple, this release of "more personalized Siri" carries great expectations. Because, since OpenAI launched ChatGPT at the end of 2022 to start the AI competition in the technology industry, Apple has been absent so far.
Apple CEO Cook
Apple doesn't usually disclose product roadmaps to the public, but in the case of Siri, it made an exception. Apple originally planned to launch a new AI assistant in 2025 and has already placed ads for the feature. But in March this year, Apple still announced that it would postpone the upgrade to "sometime next year."
As consumers become more accustomed to free-flowing conversations with chatbots like ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini, Apple is under pressure to catch up.
Hold back the ultimate move
Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, said Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed to investors in October that the company had made good progress in Siri research and development, "which has significantly increased market expectations for this product."
"They are basically saying: Don't bother us with AI this year. The results shown next year will definitely shock everyone." Munster said.
Apple Intelligence
Apple's stock price has risen 12% so far in 2025, with most of the gains coming in recent months as the iPhone 17 released in September gained investor favor. However, as an Android system developer, Google is standing at the center of the AI wave with its self-developed AI model and tensor processing unit (TPU). The company's stock price has soared by more than 60% this year.
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In 2025, everyone in Silicon Valley is talking about AI, except Apple.
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, AI was barely mentioned. Apple did emphasize the AI performance improvements of its new chips and launched a number of machine learning features, such as AirPods real-time translation and intelligent call screening, while opening up developers' ability to call Apple's basic models. However, compared to the scale of chatbots and generative AI products released by its peers, Apple has not launched any innovations of the same magnitude this time.
However, so far, consumers’ response to Apple’s AI system, Apple Intelligence, has been mixed. Although Apple's AI-based smart notification filtering and photo editing features have received praise, other AI features have encountered problems. For example, Apple briefly shut down the news app push notifications because the service was incorrectly rewritten by an AI function, but has now reopened it by default.
The most high-profile Apple Intelligence feature was an upgrade to Siri, but that improvement was delayed in the spring. Apple explained that its development cycle was longer than expected. Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, admitted in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in June that the company "doesn't want to disappoint consumers."
As the year draws to a close, Apple has shaken up its AI leadership, underscoring the company's adjustments to keep up with rivals' breakthrough technologies.
In early December this year, Apple announced that its head of machine learning and AI strategy, John Giannandrea, would retire in 2026. Much of his responsibilities will be shared between chief operating officer Sabih Khan, services business chief Eddy Cue and newly promoted executive Amar Subramanya. Subramanya previously worked at Google and Microsoft. Apple said software chief Craig Federighi's AI oversight responsibilities will also be expanded, with Subramanian reporting directly to him.
There's still time
Clearly, Apple is taking a very different path than its Silicon Valley peers. While other companies are betting on cloud AI that requires heavy investment in infrastructure, Apple has chosen to carve out its own track.
Although some investors worry that Apple has fallen behind in the field of AI, the company's most important business is experiencing unprecedented prosperity.
iPhone 17 has received an overwhelming response from the market. Apple expects holiday quarter revenue to grow 10%. According to data from Counterpoint Research, Apple is likely to maintain its No. 1 spot in smartphone shipments in 2025 and next year, surpassing Samsung.
Federighi takes on more AI responsibilities
Counterpoint analyst Yang Wang (transliteration) pointed out that Apple’s mediocre performance in the field of AI has not yet had an impact on iPhone sales, and the AI features launched by other technology companies have not yet significantly changed the daily use experience of smartphones.
"We believe this has not yet posed a major threat to Apple because competitors have not really demonstrated disruptive advantages." Wang Yang said.
No room for error
Analysts and consumers may not be aware of the threat to Apple, but company executives are. Cue, an Apple executive, testified at a trial in May this year that AI technology is developing so rapidly that users may no longer need iPhones in ten years.
This is because new hardware devices can use AI to create new interactive interfaces and functions that cannot be achieved by smartphones. Currently, some early AI devices have entered the market. Meta’s smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban can use AI to identify objects within the user’s field of vision. This month, Meta announced the acquisition of startup Limitless, whose AI pendant can record conversations and automatically generate summaries.
However, perhaps the biggest threat to Apple is its current AI partners. Earlier this year, OpenAI acquired io, an AI device startup founded by former Apple design guru Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion. Now, the design master who left Apple in 2019 and is widely regarded as the driving force behind epoch-making hardware such as the iPhone and iPad is assisting OpenAI in creating the next generation of consumer devices.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in November that the company had finally completed the development of its first device prototype. Although neither he nor Ive disclosed the specific product form, they made it clear that its hardware will pursue a more peaceful "ambience" than smartphones.
Just earlier this month, Altman admitted to the media that he believed OpenAI’s real competitor was not Google, but Apple. According to the Wall Street Journal, he made it clear that smartphones are not suitable for hosting AI companions or other new application scenarios.
However, Apple still has time to respond. Ive said in November that it would still take about two years before OpenAI's hardware is officially released to the public.
"Apple has more time to respond than people realize," analyst Munster said, "but in the near term, when the new version of Siri is launched, they have to deliver a perfect answer."