At a glance, the most notable change to Siri in iOS 18 is its new design. The floating orb has been replaced with a rainbow glow around the edge of the device. This signals that Siri is now powered by Apple Intelligence, but the biggest AI features for Siri haven’t rolled out yet. That’s about to change in the next few iOS 18 updates.
Apple lists 13 new Siri features in iOS 18. Most of these have already shipped, but it may not feel like the big iOS 18 update for Siri has arrived.
I think that’s because the biggest AI-related Siri feature so far is handing off a request to ChatGPT. I’m a big ChatGPT user, but using Siri isn’t one of my top three ways of interacting with ChatGPT.
These are the 10 new Siri features that are included in iOS 18 so far:
More Resilient Request Handling
If you stumble over words or change your mind mid-sentence, Siri will still follow along.
For example, you might say:
“Siri, set an alarm—wait no, sorry, I meant a timer for 10 minutes—actually, let’s make that 15.”
Siri will adjust accordingly without needing a new command.
Maintains Conversational Context
Siri remembers recent requests to make follow-up interactions easier.
For example, if you ask, “When are the Warriors playing next?” and then say, “Add that to my calendar,” Siri will understand what “that” refers to.
Glowing Edge Light
A new glowing edge light wraps around the screen when you speak to Siri. This responsive animation follows your voice and allows you to keep scrolling, typing, or navigating your device while using Siri.
Predictive Text in Siri Keyboard
As you type a request to Siri, predictive text will help complete your request faster. This model is designed specifically to speed up Siri interactions.
More Natural Voice
Siri now sounds more natural, expressive, and clear. The voice is synthesized entirely on-device using Apple Intelligence’s new language models.
Product Knowledge
Siri can answer thousands of questions about Apple product features and settings by referencing Apple support documentation and large language models.
Type to Siri
You can now type to Siri at any time. All voice commands can also be input via text, and you can switch between text and voice seamlessly.
Suggestions in Siri Keyboard
Siri now provides suggested requests above the keyboard, offering ultrafast access to common actions.
More Visually Rich Responses
Siri responses now match the look and feel of the app they reference. For example, when asking about the weather, the response will appear as if it were directly from the Weather app.
ChatGPT Integration
Siri can tap into ChatGPT to assist with certain requests when it determines ChatGPT may provide a more helpful answer.
Additionally, you can ask about photos, documents (including PDFs and presentations), and more. You’ll always be asked before any information is sent to ChatGPT. Siri will then present the response in a seamless manner.
If it feels like Siri is mostly just the same in iOS 18, that’s because the three biggest upgrades are still being developed.
While we’ve expected these Siri features to arrive in iOS 18.4 beta as soon as this week, we now expect some to be held back until iOS 18.5.
At any rate, these are the three Siri upgrades remaining for iOS 18:
Personal Context Understanding
With the on-device semantic index powered by Apple Intelligence, Siri can understand emails, messages, photos, calendar events, files, and more. This allows Siri to provide answers tailored to you.
For example, when you ask, “What was that movie that Jamie told me I should check out?” Siri will retrieve the relevant message from last week. Similarly, if you say, “Add my passport number here,” Siri can extract the number from a saved photo of your passport and insert it for you.
Onscreen Awareness
Siri can now understand and interact with content on your screen. If a friend texts you about a new coffee shop in your neighborhood, you can simply ask, “How long would it take me to walk there from home?” and Siri will process your request based on the message.
In-App Actions
Siri can perform hundreds of new actions across both first- and third-party apps.
• While editing a photo, you can say, “Make this photo warmer,” and Siri will adjust the settings in the Photos app.
• Siri can also operate across apps—after editing, you can say, “Add this to my ratatouille recipe note,” and Siri will seamlessly move from Photos to Notes to complete the task.
9to5Mac’s Take
Which of these features will arrive in iOS 18.4 beta? We should find out soon. But how well they work is another question.
It feels like a make-or-break moment for Siri, and these three remaining iOS 18 features are key indicators of Apple’s ability to leverage AI with Siri.
These three Siri features are AI uses that only Apple can provide — not because of Apple’s AI talent, but because of Apple’s position as the platform operator.
Apple needs to finalize these ambitious features before making any big promises for Siri and Apple Intelligence with iOS 19. WWDC 2025 is less than four months away.
Siri should be the best voice assistant available on the iPhone.
It’s the only one with deep device and operating system integration. That’s even more reason for Apple to be a strong player in AI and not just a platform for innovative technologies.
If Siri can’t keep up, a strong case will mount for Apple to support changing the default voice assistant and allowing competing voice assistants to hook into iOS. Otherwise, standalone AI devices will actually have a reason to exist.
Limited integration with temporary ChatGPT requests isn’t enough. In time, the iPhone could look less appealing to someone who values having the best AI-powered voice assistant more than blue iMessage bubbles.
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