- Apple’s Siri assistant is due a sizeable upgrade this summer
- Apple has unveiled AI features for its Voice Control accessibility tool
- This could hint at agentic powers coming to Siri in iOS 27
Apple is widely expected to relaunch Siri at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 8, powering up the virtual assistant with long-overdue artificial intelligence (AI) smarts. We don’t know exactly how all of those new features will work yet, but Apple might have just given us a fascinating demo that hints at potential agentic capabilities for Apple’s devices.
That clue came as part of Apple’s recent round-up of new accessibility features powered by Apple Intelligence. Apple described the announcement as a “preview,” which suggests the features might arrive as part of iOS 27 later this year.
While Apple revealed many upcoming features, one has caught the eye more than the others. It’s called Voice Control, and as the name suggests, it lets you operate your Apple device simply by speaking to it. This feature itself isn’t new, and previously, you had to be quite specific, remembering the exact name or location of the on-screen element you wanted to control.
But with Apple Intelligence soon to be part of the equation, everything will change. As Apple explained, Voice Control will be empowered by natural language, making it “more intuitive than ever.” The iOS 27 update will allow for more flexibility with how you use Voice Control: saying things like “tap the guide about best restaurants” or “tap the purple folder” will work where they wouldn’t have done before. And that could have a massive impact on Siri.
The original promise of Apple Intelligence
Right now, Siri feels pretty limited in what it can do, especially when you compare it to some of the best AI agents that can carry out tasks on your behalf. But if Apple’s accessibility preview is anything to go by, that might change soon.
Imagine being able to tell Siri exactly what you want without having to worry about using the exact terms and phrases that it understands, then seeing Siri go off and complete those jobs for you. It’s the original promise of Apple Intelligence when it was unveiled back in 2024, when Apple told us that Siri will be able to learn your personal context, work within apps and understand what’s on your screen. None of those capabilities are here yet, but as the Voice Control upgrade implies, they could be just around the corner.
We’ll know for sure when WWDC kicks off on June 8, but I’ve got a good feeling about what’s to come. If Apple’s accessibility news piece is anything to go by, we might finally get the AI-powered Siri we were promised almost two years ago.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
