Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Apple has a helper called Siri. Siri can talk to people and answer questions. In September 2026, Apple made a new Siri. It is much smarter than before.
The new Siri uses AI from Google. Google's AI is called Gemini. Apple and Google made a deal. People say the deal costs about $1 billion.
The old Siri could not talk for a long time. The new Siri is different. It can talk back and forth more than 20 times in one conversation. This is a big change.
The new Siri works on many Apple products. It works on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It also works on the Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro. Right now, people can try it in English.
- beta
- an early version of a product that people can test before it is finished
- assistant
- a computer program that helps a person do things
- deal
- an agreement between two people or companies
- conversation
- when two people talk back and forth
- smarter
- better at thinking or answering
- update
- a new and improved version of software
- launch
- to start something new for the public
- public
- all people, not just a few special people
Level 2 — Elementary
In September 2026, Apple released a public beta of a completely rebuilt Siri, its voice assistant. The new version is part of the iOS 27 software update and is available first in English. Anyone can now try it, not just software developers.
The biggest change is that the new Siri runs on Google's Gemini artificial intelligence models. Apple and Google made a deal for this to happen, and reports say the deal is worth about $1 billion. Apple explains that Gemini has made Siri much better at holding conversations.
Before this update, Siri could only manage short exchanges before losing track of what was being discussed. The new Siri is very different. It can support more than 20 back-and-forth conversation turns in a row, which is a huge jump compared to the old Siri.
This release is called Phase 2. An earlier Phase 1 update quietly appeared in beta in February 2026 and reached regular users in March and April 2026 through iOS 26.4. The improved Siri is spreading across Apple's whole family of devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.
- rebuilt
- made again from the beginning, in an improved way
- voice assistant
- a program that a person can talk to using their voice
- developer
- a person who builds software
- artificial intelligence
- computer technology that can perform tasks that normally need human thinking
- exchange
- a short back-and-forth conversation between two speakers
- release
- when a new version of a product is made available
- overhaul
- a complete rebuild or major change to something
- phase
- a stage in a longer process
Level 3 — Intermediate
Apple launched an English-language public beta of a completely rebuilt Siri in September 2026, bundling the overhauled assistant into its iOS 27 software update. For the first time, everyday users, rather than just developers, can experience the AI-powered version of Siri that Apple has been building toward for months.
The most significant technical change is that the new Siri is powered by Google's Gemini artificial intelligence models, the result of a deal between the two companies that has reportedly been valued at around $1 billion. Apple credits Gemini with substantially improving Siri's conversational abilities, allowing it to sustain much longer and more natural exchanges than before.
That improvement is concrete: the new Siri can support more than 20 back-and-forth conversation turns in a single exchange, a dramatic increase compared to the limited, often disjointed interactions users experienced with the previous version. This release, known internally as Phase 2, follows a quieter Phase 1 rollout that appeared in beta in February 2026 before reaching ordinary users through iOS 26.4 in March and April of that year.
Apple first revealed its plans to overhaul Siri at its WWDC developer conference in 2026, an announcement that came after the company's own in-house AI models had reportedly fallen short of the ambitions Apple had set for a smarter assistant. The rebuilt Siri is now expanding across Apple's entire ecosystem, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, marking what Apple describes as its biggest overhaul of Siri to date.
- bundling
- combining several things together into one package or release
- sustain
- to keep something going over time without it stopping
- disjointed
- not connected smoothly; lacking a clear flow
- in-house
- developed internally by a company rather than obtained from outside
- ecosystem
- a connected group of related products or devices made by one company
- ambitions
- strong goals or hopes for what something should achieve
- credits
- gives someone or something recognition for causing a positive result
- internally
- referring to something used or known within an organization
Level 4 — Advanced
Apple's September 2026 release of an English-language public beta for its rebuilt Siri marks a pivotal moment in the company's long, occasionally troubled effort to modernize its voice assistant. Bundled into the iOS 27 update, the beta represents the first occasion on which everyday consumers, rather than a narrower cohort of developers, have been able to interact with the AI-driven overhaul that Apple has spent much of the past year preparing.
Central to this transformation is the assistant's underlying architecture: the new Siri is powered by Google's Gemini artificial intelligence models, the product of an agreement between the two companies reportedly valued at approximately $1 billion. Apple has attributed a substantial leap in conversational competence to this partnership, arguing that Gemini has enabled Siri to sustain interactions of a length and coherence that were previously unattainable.
The scale of that leap is not merely rhetorical. Whereas earlier iterations of Siri struggled to maintain context beyond a handful of exchanges, the new version can now support more than 20 consecutive back-and-forth conversational turns, a figure that underscores just how constrained the assistant's prior architecture had been. This rollout, internally designated Phase 2, builds on a comparatively low-key Phase 1 update that surfaced in beta in February 2026 before reaching mainstream users through iOS 26.4 in March and April of that year.
Apple had first signaled its intent to overhaul Siri at its WWDC developer conference in 2026, an admission that followed reports that its own proprietary AI models had failed to meet the ambitions the company had set for a more capable assistant. That the solution ultimately arrived via a rival technology company speaks to the competitive pressures reshaping the AI landscape. The revamped Siri is now being extended across Apple's full hardware portfolio, spanning iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, in what the company characterizes as its most extensive overhaul of the assistant to date.
- pivotal
- of crucial importance in relation to the development of something
- cohort
- a defined group of people sharing a characteristic, studied or considered together
- architecture
- the fundamental underlying structure or design of a system
- attributed
- regarded as being caused by a particular source
- coherence
- the quality of being logically connected and consistent
- rhetorical
- relating to persuasive language rather than concrete substance
- iterations
- successive versions of something as it is developed or repeated
- portfolio
- the complete range of products or offerings held by a company
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