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What is Siri? All about the Apple voice assistant
In This Article
Siri is due for a major refresh with the arrival ofiOS 18andApple Intelligencein 2024.
Scroll down to learn everything you need to know about Apple’s famous voice assistant, including what it is, where you can find it and what’s going to be changing with Apple Intelligence on theiPhone 16 series.
What is Siri
Siri is a virtual assistant available on a wide variety of devices across Apple’s product range.
The assistant works by recognising and responding to spoken prompts that begin with “Siri” or “Hey Siri”. This can include both questions and voice commands, meaning you can ask Siri what the weather is like today or ask it to call your grandma – both completely hands-free.
As of 2015, Siri has supported individual voice recognition, meaning the assistant will only respond to the owner of that specific device.
What does Apple Intelligence mean for Siri?
It’s been 13 years since Siri first arrived on the iPhone with theiPhone 4Sand one could argue that the voice assistant has been overdue an AI refresh.
This came this summer in the form of Apple Intelligence, Apple’s answer to AI announced alongside iOS 18 during the company’s annualWWDC 24keynote.
Apple Intelligence will mark Siri’s biggest upgrade to date, making communicating with the voice assistant “more natural than ever”, according to Apple.
“With an all-new design, richer language understanding, and the ability to type to Siri whenever it’s convenient for you, communicating with Siri is more natural than ever. Equipped with awareness of your personal context, the ability to take action in and across apps, and product knowledge about your devices’ features and settings, Siri will be able to assist you like never before”, teases Apple on its Apple Intelligence page.
Key differences include a glowing light that borders the entire screen when Siri is activated and the option to type your prompt to Siri with a double tap when you don’t feel like speaking out loud.
Siri will also have a better understanding of context, taking your previous requests into account to better understand your most recent one, while onscreen awareness means the voice assistant will better understand your prompts based on the apps and information you have open on your screen.
Perhaps most notably, ChatGPT will be seamlessly integrated into Siri. This means that the voice assistant will be able to defer to the chatbot when faced with questions and queries it is less knowledgeable about.
What devices is Siri available on?
Siri made its first appearance alongside the iPhone 4S in 2011. Nowadays, you can reach the voice assistant on any iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Apple TV and Apple CarPlay.
That said, you will need certain specific devices to run any of the new AI features powered by Apple Intelligence. To access these additional features, you’ll need an iPhone powered by theA17 Prochip or beyond – such as theiPhone 15 Pro– or any iPad/Mac carrying theM1chip or later. This includes the following:
How to turn on Siri
The fastest and most convenient way to access Siri across most Apple devices is to say the word “Siri” or “Hey Siri” out loud. You can then follow up with your question, prompt or request. However, you may need to dive into your Settings and make sure this feature is enabled first.
Alternatively, you can press the dedicated button on your device to call upon the voice assistant with a touch or click.
On the iPhone, this involves holding the side button, while the Apple Watch allows you to press and hold the Digital Crown. MacBooks also have their own dedicated Siri button on either the Touch Bar or keyboard, while AirPods require you to press and hold or double tap to activate Siri without speaking out loud, depending on the generation you use.
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Hannah joined Trusted Reviews as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating with a degree in English from Royal Holloway, University of London. She’s also worked and studied in the US, holding positions …
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Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
