Siri gets a long-awaited makeover

TL;DR: Apple is expected to finally deliver on a major Siri overhaul (the one it first promised two years ago) at its upcoming developer’s conference (WWDC), which kicks off Monday, June 8. Today, Bloomberg published recreated screenshots of the new Siri based on its reporting (you can see them here). As it turns out, it looks and operates similarly to other chatbot apps like Claude and ChatGPT, but in dark mode.

What happened: Apple has been teasing new AI features since iOS 18 released in 2024. Nine updates later, the new Siri is (almost) here. With a sweeping new design and standalone app, Siri will reportedly have a chatbot-style interface and Dynamic Island integration (the pill-shaped area at the top of iPhones), along with a “Search or Ask” functionality.

Siri’s glow-up: According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the Siri app has a dark interface by default and an “Ask Siri” field at the bottom for text prompts, along with the option to voice the prompts or attach images and files (which should be intuitive to anyone who uses other chatbots). Past conversations can be displayed as a list or as bubbles. Users can also use Siri by swiping down from the top center of the screen to launch the “Search or Ask” feature that will show frequently used apps, recent web searches, the weather, and shortcuts, as well as a new AI search system.

The overall design appears to be in line with the Liquid Glass update Apple introduced last year, which is either beautiful or a migraine waiting to happen, depending on who you ask.

Frenemies with benefits: Apple’s making a significant concession in the AI race with the new Siri design—users will reportedly be able to pick from a drop-down menu of external AI services (which you can see in one of the illustrations). This will let them reroute their queries in the “Search or Ask” feature to chatbots like Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude (and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which it has an existing partnership with).

Gemini will also power future AI features and is laying the groundwork for Apple’s AI models, amid some beef with OpenAI, which is reportedly so dissatisfied with Apple over a ChatGPT integration that it’s exploring legal action against the iPhone maker.

Bottom line: Siri has been clowned on for years for its lackluster AI features while rivals soared ahead. The recreated screenshots suggest Apple finally has something real to show at WWDC. —LC

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