We posted two reviews of new Apple products this week in the Apple HomeView and the new Apple TV 4K, and there was one common theme. Apple’s Siri AI still isn’t good enough.
In fact, I’d argue that there’s still such a large gap between Siri and other AI assistants like Gemini, ChatGPT, Alexa+ and Muse that people could start to defect to other brands if Apple doesn’t get its act together. And soon.
HomeView needs help
For example, my colleague Mike Prospero compared the new HomeView against Amazon’s Echo Show 8 with Alexa+, and he found that Apple’s assistant isn’t nearly as capable. Mike could easily order a pizza through Uber Eats with Amazon’s device while Apple’s Siri just offered to make a call. Siri is not the AI agent you’ve been looking for.
Meanwhile, Engadget pointed out that Siri AI gets dumber the moment your iPhone is not within range. It defaults to generic world-knowledge answers. And Joanna Stern noted in her review that Siri stumbled on multi-step household tasks and at one point refused to open her front door despite recognizing her face.
It also didn’t help that the HomeView Siri started “talking” to other phone-based Siris in the house.
To be clear, Siri AI has improved versus previous versions, but it’s still quite limited as an everyday assistant compared to Google Gemini, Alexa+, ChatGPT, and Muse. And I’d argue that the longer Siri continues to lag, the more Apple is leaving the door open for competitors to overtake Apple.
Apple TV + Siri = Meh
Apple Intelligence, such as it is, also graces the new Apple TV 4K, a streaming device that costs a whopping $299. Apple is justifying the premium partly by touting the fact that Siri is inside, which is supposed to help you find things to watch.
But things didn’t go very well in our testing. When Mike asked Siri to find scary movies for kids, Siri first responded “I’m not finding anything for that.” Then on the second attempt asking for scary movies good for kids the recommendations were nightmare fuel like “Poltergeist,” “Alien,” and “Seven.”
Meanwhile, the Google TV Streamer and Fire TV returned recommendations like “Coraline,” “Goosebumps 2,” “Hocus Pocus,” and “The Addams Family.”
Asking “What’s that movie with Audrey Hepburn that takes place in Rome” resulted in a bunch of Christmas movies, none with Hepburn. Though, Siri AI performed better with Tom Hanks action flicks.
Siri AI on iPhone still limited
Apple’s assistant has gotten better on the iPhone, especially with personal context. For example, I asked Siri AI to find the message from my daughter asking about earrings as a gift.
You can also perform multiple actions at once using your voice. I recently had it look up restaurants around Bryant Park that are rated 4 stars or higher but under $50 for lunch and then craft an outgoing message that includes the address for each and top dish. It worked seamlessly.
However, Siri AI is still missing two big things versus other assistants: live voice chat with video and powerful agentic features.
It’s not a good sign that I’ve now mapped Gemini Live to the Action button on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. That’s because I use Google’s voice assistant in combination with live video all of the time to ask questions and troubleshoot things around the house.
For example, I was able to fix a cantilever umbrella because Gemini could see what I was talking about and offer advice in real time. With Siri AI, you can share what’s on your screen but not a live video feed.
It’s getting to the point where I wish I could say “Hey, Gemini” to my iPhone.
Agentic AI is still in a nascent stage, but this is yet another area where Siri is still behind. In fact, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently reported that new CEO John Ternus has explicitly asked for the Siri AI team to speed things up here.
Right now you just can’t do things like book an Uber with Siri or perform complex tasks that Siri can work on in the background.
Apple could miss out on the next big thing(s)
Assuming AI continues to be a driving force in consumer electronics, Apple could fall further behind in mind share and eventually lose market share.
Just this week I tried Google’s new Intelligent Eyewear glasses, which start at $395 and essentially put Gemini on your face. You can use these specs, made by Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, to do everything from take calls and listen to music to get turn-by-turn directions and even real-time translation.
And because Gemini is truly live through the onboard camera, it can “see” what you see to answer questions or give advice on the fly. And, yes, they work with the iPhone.
Apple is reportedly working on its own Apple glasses, as well as an AI pendant and AirPods with cameras — all powered by Siri.
But I don’t think any of these new categories will take off for Apple unless Siri is up to snuff. Hey, Siri… the clock is ticking.
