Khaberni - Although Apple is preparing for one of the biggest launches in its history, the anticipated event next year will not be a new device, but an entirely new version of the voice assistant Siri, in a move that could define the company's position in the accelerating artificial intelligence race.
Apple has promised investors the launch of a new generation of Siri "more personalized and intelligent" after years of almost complete absence from the competition that has been ignited since the launch of Chat GPT in late 2022.
But the irony is that the company, known for its extreme secrecy over its product map, has had to publicly acknowledge the project's delay.
After originally planning to launch the new Siri in 2025, Apple announced last March that it was postponing it to "next year", despite being promoted in advertisements, as reported by CNBC and reviewed by "Alarabiya Business".
Competitor pressure increases
At a time when users are accustomed to natural and seamless conversations with Chat GPT, Cloud, and Gemini, pressure is mounting on Apple to catch up.
CEO Tim Cook assured investors that work on Siri is making good progress, considering that expectations for what the company will deliver have risen significantly.
Despite Apple's stock rising by about 12% since the beginning of 2025, driven by the successful launch of iPhone 17, the gap in artificial intelligence remains clear compared to Google, which is at the heart of the boom thanks to its specialized models and chips, pushing its stock to rise by more than 60% this year.
Silicon Valley advances while Apple is cautious
In 2025, OpenAI launched the Sora 2 video generation model, Anthropic expanded the Cloud family, Amazon refreshed the "Alexa" assistant, and Microsoft pushed the concept of artificial intelligence agents capable of working for long hours, even Meta reorganized itself in preparation for its new model.
In contrast, Apple has not seen any major launch in artificial intelligence since unveiling Apple Intelligence in 2024, a package that included tools for image generation, rewriting texts, and summarizing notifications, with limited integration of Chat GPT.
Despite praising some features such as improving notifications and photo editing, other tools faced criticism, the most prominent being errors in rewriting news notifications, which led Apple to temporarily disable the feature.
As for the anticipated Siri updates, they have been postponed due to the need for further development to avoid user disappointment.
Managerial changes and messages to investors
In a clear sign of the file's sensitivity, Apple has reorganized its artificial intelligence leadership within the company.
It announced the retirement of John Giannandrea, the head of artificial intelligence strategy, in 2026, distributing his powers among several senior executives, in addition to appointing Amar Subramanya, a former prominent engineer at Gemini.
Observers believe that the public announcement of this unusual appointment reflects Apple's desire to reassure investors that it is serious about resetting its compass in this area.
A different strategy
Unlike its competitors, who collectively spent about $380 billion this year on data centers and Nvidia chips, Apple continues its conservative approach, relying on its own designed chips for reasons related to privacy.
The most important question remains: Will Apple rely on an external partner to operate the new Siri? Currently, Siri refers complex questions to Chat GPT, with previous hints at the possibility of integrating other models like Gemini in the future.
Although Cook has shown openness to major acquisition deals, the astronomical valuations of artificial intelligence companies make this option almost impossible, especially when compared to Apple's biggest deal in history, which was purchasing "Beats" for $3 billion.
Time is still on Apple's side
So far, the limitations of artificial intelligence have not affected iPhone sales, as Apple expects strong revenue growth, continuing its dominance of the smartphone market. But inside the company, executives are aware that artificial intelligence could completely reshape the future of devices.
The greatest risk may come from the partner itself; as OpenAI, in collaboration with the legendary designer Jony Ive, is working on new devices that could redefine the user experience beyond the smartphone.
Still, analysts believe that Apple has a limited but sufficient time window, provided one condition: when the new Siri arrives, it must perform flawlessly without excuses.
