Apple Inc.’s top executive overseeing its Siri virtual assistant told staff that delays to key features have been ugly and embarrassing, and a decision to publicly promote the technology before it was ready made matters worse.

Siri has undergone some improvements thanks to Apple Intelligence, such as a new visual cue for when the assistant is active on the iPhone. When talking to the assistant on an iPhone 15 Pro or later, you can correct yourself in mid-sentence without confusing Siri and you can ask follow-up questions.

Apple says the highly-anticipated AI overhaul that would give Siri to more contextual awareness and get work done across different apps will arrive next year.

However, our hopes were greatly diminished with iOS 18.4 arriving as developer and public betas without a new Siri. This is especially true after so many reports and rumors hinted that Apple was planning to release the new Siri – at least the first taste of it – in the spring.

Per the inside account of Apple’s issues, Robby Walker, a senior director in Apple’s Siri division, held an all-hands meeting for the team and acknowledged that things were…not great. He acknowledged that team members might feel angry,

The whole details of a Siri team meeting chaired by senior director Robby Walker, who is in charge of the division, made the harsh remarks and is available at Bloomberg. He referred to the delay as an “ugly” scenario and expressed empathy for staff members who could be feeling exhausted or irritated by Apple’s choices and Siri’s still-unimpressive reputation further stating that the team was going through a difficult time.