Apple is rebuilding Siri from the ground up with Google Gemini AI, bringing on-screen awareness, cross-app actions, and conversational intelligence to iPhone this spring with iOS 26.4.
Siri is getting its biggest upgrade ever. Apple has partnered with Google in a deal worth $1 billion per year to rebuild Siri using Gemini AI models. The result is a fundamentally new assistant launching with iOS 26.4 in spring 2026. Here is everything we know about what the new Siri can do and when you can try it.
The Google Gemini Partnership
In January 2026, Apple and Google announced a multi-year collaboration to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence with Google's Gemini models. This is not a simple chatbot integration. Apple is using a 1.2-trillion-parameter Gemini model running on Apple's own Private Cloud Compute servers.
This means your data stays within Apple's privacy infrastructure. Gemini handles the heavy reasoning and planning tasks, while on-device Apple silicon continues to process sensitive personal data locally. The partnership gives Siri the conversational depth it has been missing while maintaining Apple's privacy standards.
On-Screen Awareness
The new Siri can see and understand what is on your screen. This is one of the most requested AI features, and it changes how you interact with your iPhone.
For example, if a friend texts you their new address, you can say "Add this address to their contact card," and Siri reads the address directly from the message on screen. If you are looking at a restaurant in Safari, you can ask Siri to "make a reservation here for Friday at 7" without copying any information manually.
On-screen awareness works across apps including Messages, Safari, Mail, Photos, and any third-party app that adopts Apple's developer APIs for making content available to Siri.
Cross-App Actions
The upgraded Siri can chain up to 10 sequential actions from a single natural language request. This turns Siri from a simple command executor into a genuine workflow assistant.
Real examples of what this looks like:
- "Find restaurants near my meeting location that accommodate my dietary restrictions and book a table for after my calendar shows I'm free"
- "Make this photo pop, then drop it in my Travel note in the Notes app"
- "Book me on the next available flight to New York, add it to my calendar, and text Sarah my arrival time"
Each of these executes as a single workflow rather than requiring you to issue three or four separate commands. Siri figures out the order of operations and handles the handoffs between apps automatically.
Smarter Conversations
Current Siri forgets what you said two sentences ago. The new Siri maintains full conversational context, so you can have natural back-and-forth exchanges.
You can ask a follow-up question without repeating yourself. Say "What's the weather in Paris this weekend?" and then follow up with "What about Rome?" and Siri understands you are still asking about weekend weather. This sounds basic, but it is a fundamental change from how Siri works today.
The Gemini-powered reasoning also means Siri can handle multi-step logic. It can compare options, weigh criteria, and give you reasoned answers instead of just pulling up a web search.
Proactive Intelligence
Beyond responding to commands, the new Siri will proactively suggest actions based on your habits and context. If you always message your partner when you leave work, Siri might draft that message for you. If you have a flight tomorrow, Siri can surface your boarding pass and check-in status without being asked.
These suggestions appear as subtle notifications and quick actions rather than intrusive alerts. You stay in control of what Siri acts on.
Which iPhones Get the New Siri?
The full Gemini-powered Siri experience requires Apple Intelligence hardware. That means:
- iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e
- iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, and all iPhone 17 Pro models
Older iPhones will continue to use the current version of Siri. If you are on an iPhone 14 or earlier, the Siri upgrade is a strong reason to consider upgrading your hardware.
Privacy: How Apple Keeps Your Data Safe
Apple has been clear about the privacy architecture. Personal data like contacts, messages, and location is processed on-device using Apple silicon. When Siri needs the power of Gemini for complex reasoning tasks, the request goes to Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, not Google's infrastructure.
Apple designed this system so that even Google cannot access user data. The Gemini model runs in Apple's secure environment, processes the request, and returns the result. No user data is stored or used for training. This is the same privacy framework that powers existing Apple Intelligence features like writing tools and notification summaries.
When Does the New Siri Launch?
The rebuilt Siri, internally codenamed Glenwood, is arriving with iOS 26.4. Based on the current beta timeline:
- iOS 26.4 Beta 4: Released March 9, 2026
- Release Candidate: Expected around March 16, 2026
- Public release: Expected between March 23 and March 30, 2026
Once iOS 26.4 is available, go to Settings, then General, then Software Update to install. The new Siri features will activate automatically on supported devices.
What This Means for iPhone Users
For years, Siri lagged behind Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa in conversational ability. The Gemini partnership closes that gap in a single update. On-screen awareness, cross-app actions, and contextual conversations transform Siri from a voice command tool into an AI assistant that genuinely understands what you need.
If you have been ignoring Siri because it felt limited, iOS 26.4 is the update that makes it worth trying again. And with Apple's privacy-first approach, you get powerful AI without giving up control of your personal data.
