Apple employees have 'concerns' over Siri performance in early iOS 26.4 builds (9to5mac.com)

Apple plans to ship an AI‑infused Siri in iOS 26.4 next spring after a yearlong delay, but internal testers and some engineers reportedly have concerns about the assistant’s current performance, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says. The rollout is still roughly six months away, so Apple has runway to improve things, but the situation has raised alarm internally — including speculation that more senior AI staff could leave if Siri ships poorly — and underscores broader struggles inside Apple’s AI push since WWDC24’s Apple Intelligence announcements. Technically, the new Siri was meant to add personal context, on‑screen awareness, and the ability to take actions inside apps, making it a device‑wide assistant rather than a simple voice interface. Apple is running a “bake‑off” with two engineering tracks: one using on‑device models (privacy‑focused but resource‑constrained) and another using Google’s Gemini on Private Cloud Compute (potent but cloud‑dependent). Early builds likely lean on Apple’s on‑device stacks and are reportedly underperforming, which could force Apple to rely on third‑party cloud models — a choice that would shift tradeoffs around latency, capability, privacy, and Apple’s positioning as an on‑device AI leader. The next six months will determine whether Apple can close the gap or must pivot its strategy.