Overview
- The fuller upgrade once targeted for iOS 26.4 in March will now be staggered, with some capabilities moving to iOS 26.5 in May and others to iOS 27 in September, according to Bloomberg and other outlets.
- Internal testing flagged processing lag, incorrect or slow responses, and a bug that cuts users off if they speak quickly, prompting the change in schedule.
- Siri’s personal‑context queries and voice‑based in‑app actions are running behind, and internal iOS 26.5 builds include a notice and a “preview” toggle for the personalized features.
- Some test builds reportedly fall back to ChatGPT despite the new backend, while Apple has confirmed it will use Google’s Gemini to power Apple Foundation Models within its privacy‑focused hybrid architecture.
- A more chatbot‑style assistant is planned for iOS 27, and internal builds also include testing of a web search synthesizer and custom image generation.