Siri’s dramatic decline forces Apple to rethink its voice assistant strategy

Apple’s virtual assistant Siri has deteriorated significantly over time, while user expectations and competitor capabilities have surged forward. This growing gap has prompted calls for Apple to either completely overhaul its approach to voice assistance or embrace deeper integration with third-party AI assistants, as the current system falls increasingly short despite its privileged position as the iPhone’s native voice assistant.

The big picture: Siri has transformed from groundbreaking technology in 2011 to a consistently frustrating experience that fails at even basic tasks, creating a widening gap between Apple’s voice assistant and more advanced AI alternatives.

• The quality of Siri’s performance has noticeably declined, with the assistant now struggling with fundamental queries like identifying the current month.
• The floor for what’s expected from voice assistants has risen dramatically while Siri’s capabilities have stagnated or regressed.
• Even though Apple plans AI upgrades through Apple Intelligence, the author argues the Siri brand may be too damaged to salvage.

Why this matters: Voice assistance remains essential for Apple’s ecosystem, particularly for hands-free interactions with CarPlay and AirPods, making Siri’s deterioration a strategic vulnerability.

• The gap between Siri’s capabilities and competing AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google Gemini continues to widen significantly.
• Without a competitive voice solution, Apple risks losing customers to hardware that offers deeper integration with more capable AI assistants.

Proposed solutions: The author suggests several drastic measures Apple could take to address the Siri problem rather than simply adding AI features to a fundamentally broken system.

• Discontinue the Siri brand entirely and transition to a more limited but reliable “Voice Control” feature set that focuses on executing basic commands.
• Allow system-level integration for third-party AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Amazon Alexa to fill the more advanced conversational void.
• Reposition Apple Intelligence around three clear pillars: Writing Tools, Notification Summaries, and creative generation tools.

Reading between the lines: The article reflects a significant shift in consumer loyalty, with the author admitting willingness to switch from iPhone to Android if it offered better AI assistant integration.

• The once-unthinkable scenario of Apple users abandoning the ecosystem over AI capabilities is becoming increasingly plausible.
• Apple’s traditional strengths in hardware and interface design may no longer compensate for deficiencies in AI-powered services.

Where we go from here: With WWDC 2025 approaching in less than four months, Apple faces mounting pressure to either dramatically improve Siri or open its ecosystem to competing voice assistants.

• If Apple doesn’t address these issues, standalone AI devices from competitors could find a stronger market position against Apple products.
• The company risks falling behind in the AI race despite its advantages in hardware integration and privacy-focused approach.