After Google’s cheeky Pixel 10 ad last week poked fun at Apple’s Siri delays, it looks as though there is finally some promising voice assistant news for iPhone users.

Despite the company’s long-promised overhaul not arriving until next spring, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reveals that the upgraded Siri will use an enhanced App Intents system, enabling it to perform complex, cross-app commands entirely hands-free.

The upgrade aims to let Siri operate apps like a human user – editing and sending photos, commenting on Instagram posts, adding items to shopping carts, or booking rides with Uber – all without touching the screen.

Apple is currently testing the new Siri internally with both its own apps and select third-party services, including Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Uber, Temu, Threads and AllTrails. High-risk categories, such as banking and health apps, may be excluded at launch due to accuracy concerns.

The delay has already had knock-on effects, with Bloomberg sources claiming Apple’s upcoming smart display has been pushed back by a year because it relies heavily on the new voice capabilities. Engineers are reportedly struggling to ensure Siri’s precision across enough apps to make the launch compelling.

This feature is being billed as far more significant than earlier AI promises, such as Siri’s ability to pull personal details from emails or messages.

If it works as intended, it could finally fulfil the hands-free vision Apple set out when Siri debuted almost 15 years ago, and form the backbone for the company’s future AI-driven hardware, including a tabletop robot.

However, Apple is taking a cautious approach.

The rollout will be phased, and the upgraded Siri may not be universally available across all devices or apps on day one.

The stakes are high – while a wrong weather report is a mild annoyance, an incorrect banking command would be disastrous.

For now, the launch target is spring 2026, with Apple expected to heavily market the feature as part of a broader Siri overhaul.