Why Siri Still Struggles in 2025—Despite the AI Boom

Siri vs AI: How Apple Fell Behind in the Voice Assistant Wars

Once upon a time, back in 2011, Apple’s Siri was the coolest thing you could do with your phone. Ask it the weather? Done. Set a timer? Easy. Siri was a game-changer, a glimmer of what voice assistants could become. Steve Jobs himself saw its potential, imagining a future where we talked to our devices naturally, like real-life Star Trek. But fast forward to 2025, and Siri still stumbles on simple requests—and that future still feels like it’s buffering.

So... what the hell happened?

In an era where OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Amazon’s Alexa are flexing next-gen AI muscles, Siri feels more like a vintage car struggling to merge onto a high-speed freeway. Let’s dive into why Siri is still lagging behind, why Apple is scrambling to catch up, and whether it can actually course-correct in time.

Siri Had a Head Start—Then It Stalled

Siri didn’t just arrive; it launched. It was the poster child for Apple’s futuristic vision, bundled with the iPhone 4S in 2011. The tech world was buzzing. This was the first mass-market voice assistant. It had charm, snark, and potential.

But Apple didn’t really build on that momentum. While Google and Amazon aggressively pushed their voice assistant platforms—adding functionality, improving natural language processing, and investing in huge AI teams—Siri got... minor tweaks. No real breakthroughs. No major evolution. It was the iPhone of voice assistants—beautiful, safe, but limited.

By the time ChatGPT arrived in 2022 and revolutionized how people interacted with AI, Siri felt outdated. And now? Even with flashy updates and Apple Intelligence being teased, most users agree:

“Siri just doesn’t work the way it should in 2025.”

The Cost of Falling Behind

Apple’s slow crawl in the AI space hasn’t gone unnoticed. While Microsoft and Google restructured their entire ecosystems around large language models (LLMs), Apple stuck to its hardware-first playbook. The result?

• Apple stock fell more than 16% in the past six months, while rivals soared.
• Delayed rollouts of new Siri features, including those promised at WWDC 2024.
• Growing user frustration, especially with Siri’s inability to handle basic queries like “Is Zach LaVine playing tonight?”

It’s more than just a bad look—it’s a strategic misstep in the most critical tech race of the decade.

What Went Wrong?

Let’s break down Siri’s struggles:

1. Apple's AI Strategy Was Too Cautious

While competitors embraced generative AI at breakneck speed, Apple hesitated. It wasn't until mid-2024 that Apple officially joined the party with Apple Intelligence—a generative AI platform baked into iOS. But it was late and buggy.

2. No In-House LLM

Unlike Google and OpenAI, Apple didn’t build its own large language model early. Instead, it partnered with OpenAI (in the U.S.) and Alibaba (in China), which outsourced the magic and sacrificed control.

3. Delayed Siri Upgrade

Apple promised a ChatGPT-style Siri with iOS 18... then pushed it back. Now, we might not see the real upgrade until iOS 19 or later.

4. Privacy vs Power

Apple prioritizes on-device processing and user privacy—a noble mission, but it means they can't use massive user datasets like Google or Meta can to train their models.

5. Limited Hardware Support

Apple Intelligence only runs on newer chips (A17 Pro or M1 and up), meaning millions of iPhone users are excluded from the most advanced features.

Apple Intelligence: Too Little, Too Late?

When Apple did roll out Apple Intelligence in 2024, it came with a lot of hype. Summarize notifications! Smart replies! Smarter Siri! But then... it hallucinated headlines. Misinterpreted alerts. Mismatched users’ app activity. Even BBC news stories were summarized incorrectly.

Worse? Apple had to walk features back and faced media backlash over "fake news" being pushed via notifications. Not exactly the intelligent assistant we were promised.

What Users Say

The Optimists:

“The new Siri in iOS 18 is great. Real-time responses, better interface, and finally—it’s a little smarter!”

The Realists:

“Hey Siri? Yeah... she still can’t spell my name. Or tell me if my flight’s delayed.”

Across TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube, users constantly call out Siri’s outdated behavior. It’s not that it’s terrible—it’s that it feels like a voice assistant from 2016 trying to live in 2025.

Why Apple Can't Just Flip a Switch

You might ask: “Why doesn’t Apple just catch up already?” Easy, right?

Not so fast.

- No Hyperscale Cloud

Apple has no Google Cloud, no Azure, no AWS. That matters. Most next-gen AI relies on vast server farms to train, deploy, and iterate models. Apple’s decision to build private clouds limits their scale and flexibility.

- Fragmented AI Team

Internal restructuring and delays meant Apple was slow to hire top AI researchers and LLM engineers.

- Hardware-Centric Culture

Apple’s DNA is about beautiful, polished hardware. Software—especially something as unpredictable as generative AI—just hasn’t been their comfort zone.

Can Apple Catch Up?

Yes. But it’s going to take a serious push.

Apple still holds the golden keys:

• 2.4 billion active devices
• Trusted brand reputation
• Custom silicon (A17, M chips)
• Deep developer ecosystem

They’ve also announced a $500 billion U.S. investment—part of which includes building AI-focused factories and chips under Project ACDC (yep, real name).

But Apple needs to stop being cautious and start leading.

The Jony Ive + OpenAI Threat

In a shocking twist, Apple’s former design king Jony Ive has teamed up with OpenAI to build a mysterious new AI device. Rumors suggest it could be a Siri competitor—or something even more disruptive.

Apple’s stock dipped on the announcement. Because if Ive and Altman are building the AI iPhone of the future... Siri may finally face a true existential threat.

What to Expect Next

At WWDC 2025, we’ll likely hear:

• A refined, more “conversational” Siri (finally).
• Expansion of Apple Intelligence to more devices.
• More OpenAI integrations for things Apple can’t yet handle in-house.

But there’s one catch: Apple won’t rush it. Tim Cook’s priority isn’t Wall Street—it’s user trust. So if Siri still can’t find your calendar invite without reading the wrong message out loud? You might have to wait a bit longer.

Siri may have been the voice assistant that started it all, but in today’s AI-powered world, being first doesn’t mean being best. As Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT redefine what AI can do, Siri still struggles with basic tasks, leaving many users frustrated. Apple’s late entry into the generative AI race with Apple Intelligence shows that the company recognizes the urgency—but rollout delays, limited device compatibility, and reliance on third-party models reveal deeper structural challenges.

Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Apple has the ecosystem, the hardware advantage, and the global reach to make a serious comeback—if it can execute on its AI vision. A smarter, more responsive, and truly helpful Siri is possible. But the clock is ticking.

Apple’s next big AI leap won’t just define Siri’s future—it could determine how relevant the iPhone remains in an AI-driven tech landscape. Will Apple catch up, or continue to trail the leaders? One thing’s for sure: we’ll be watching—quietly whispering “Hey Siri,” and hoping for a smarter answer.

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