Apple could resolve the Siri issue with one straightforward action

The situation surrounding Siri continues to deteriorate, with notable criticism from a prominent commentator, alongside Apple executives acknowledging the embarrassment over delayed features.

Although there’s no way for Apple to completely erase the current embarrassment, an internal report from a Siri team meeting hinted at a possible strategy to lessen the impact…

The Siri Dilemma

Recently, Apple had to acknowledge that the rollout of three new Siri features is taking “longer than anticipated” – with no clarification or new expected timelines. As previously discussed, these features are crucial for making Siri genuinely intelligent:

• Personal context (like answering “When is my mom’s flight arriving?”)
• On-screen awareness (for instance, “Add this address to her contact card”)
• In-app actions (such as “Enhance this photo and include it in my Miami 2025 note”)

The company also discreetly removed an advertisement for the iPhone 16 that showcased these features and added disclaimers to its website.

Many have criticized Apple for marketing features that it hasn’t yet delivered, and even John Gruber, who previously supported Apple, has expressed frustration.

With uncertainty surrounding whether these promised features will debut in iOS 19, the issue is unlikely to resolve quickly.

However, There’s a Way to Alleviate the Consequences

The primary criticism directed at Apple is that it resembles a startup showcasing features that do not yet exist through concept videos.

Nevertheless, a Bloomberg report suggests that this might not be entirely accurate.

Walker stated that the decision to push back the features was due to quality concerns, noting that the technology only functions properly two-thirds to 80% of the time—meaning it fails one out of every three attempts. He emphasized that the team “is working to improve those rates, ensuring users receive a reliable experience.”

While it’s possible that the “up to” qualifier carries significant weight, offering a range of two-thirds to four-fifths implies it operates correctly most of the time.

Don’t get me wrong: that reliability rate is absolutely not satisfactory for a released product or even a public beta. But considering that public sentiment now views these features as purely theoretical, demonstrating their existence—even if imperfectly—could yield positive results for Apple.

Here’s My Recommendation for Apple

Invite select media members for private demonstrations of the new Siri features.

Provide genuine, real-world demonstrations that highlight the capabilities of the features functioning 67%-80% of the time. Allow the press to witness that the new Siri is something beyond just a concept video.

Also, be transparent about failures when the features don’t work, explain why they cannot be released yet, and share what the company is doing to solve these issues.

I understand Apple’s reluctance to showcase work-in-progress developments. The company prefers to keep things under wraps until the final product is ready, creating a ‘magical’ reveal moment. However, with the new Siri, that opportunity has passed. The company has already made its reveal, which may have been a misstep driven by desperation or over-optimism, but it’s too late to turn back.

Currently, even previously sympathetic voices are expressing skepticism and dissatisfaction. At this juncture, the best course of action is to demonstrate that the new Siri is not just a conceptual idea but an actual feature that operates most of the time, even if it’s not yet ready for general release.

By taking this approach, Apple could restore the credibility it has lost.