The other day Apple released iOS 26.3 RC (release candidate). This is the final draft of the build and barring a last second blockbuster bug, the final, stable version of
.3 will be the exact same as the release candidate. And that is very exciting because once you see that Apple is in the process of releasing the stable version of
.3. it means that the first beta release of iOS 26.4 is just days away. And that is something to look forward to because it is possible that
Beta testers could be a week away from testing Siri 2.0
Apple recently released iOS 26.3 Release Candidate. | Image credit-PhoneArena
For example, you might ask Siri “What time is Uncle Albert’s flight landing?” and Siri will go through all of this data to find you an answer. In September 2024, Apple released an ad for Personal Siri in which actress Bella Ramsey portrayed a High School student who sees a boy she previously met at a restaurant and couldn’t remember his name. She asks Siri to come up with his identity and after scouring her app, Siri has the answer. Once it became apparent that Personal Siri was delayed, the ad was pulled.
Siri is getting a new brain from the Wizard
I have been using Gemini as the assistant on my Pixel 6 Pro and it answers queries with in-depth responses that you would never get from Siri 1.0. If you have not used AI at all, you will be amazed. You won’t see a Google or Gemini logo, you’ll just notice how much smarter Siri is. No longer will Siri refer you to the web to answer your question. You will get a full summary instead. Apple is marketing this as Apple Foundation Model (AFM) v10.
With iOS 26.4, Siri will know and understand what is on your screen. For example, you can be looking at a text from your Aunt Mildred discussing a restaurant and ask Siri for directions to the eatery and Siri will respond.
Preparing your iPhone for the Beta release
The big Siri feature not arriving until iOS 27 is the one that turns Siri into a chatbot similar to ChatGPT or Gemini on Android. This will allow you to have back-and-forth text or voice conversations with Siri that are akin to having one continuous thread rather than a series of individual requests. Also in iOS 27, you’ll be able to say “Siri, take this photo of the car and put it in a professional-looking setting for a sales listing,” and it will be done.
So, iOS 26.4 will be released this spring and iOS 27 should drop in September. As we pointed out in the beginning of this article, in about a week or so, iOS 26,4 Beta 1 should be released as soon as one week from now and it just might include Siri 2.0. If you want to install the Beta on your iPhone, you need to subscribe to the iOS 26 Beta program which you can do by tapping on this link or by going to beta.apple.com from your browser. Press the blue lozenge to sign up to receive Beta updates.
Once you do that, go to Settings > General > Software Updates. On the top of the page, press Beta Updates and then choose iOS 26 Developer Beta. It will arrive a little before the iOS 26 Public Beta and you don’t have to pay to be an Apple developer. Make sure your data is backed up before you start. You also need to understand that Beta software is buggy and certain features you count on everyday may not work. However, for an incremental update like this one, you should be fine.
