Apple unveiled its 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference with a significant announcement: a UI overhaul referred to as Liquid Glass for iOS 26. This innovative design is described as translucent, fluid, and “expressive,” according to Apple. Nearly every feature now incorporates Apple Intelligence or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Nevertheless, Siri, Apple’s pioneering AI assistant, was glaringly missing from the updates. “As we’ve shared, we’re continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal,” remarked Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, during the keynote. “This work required additional time to meet our high-quality standards, and we are eager to share more about it in the upcoming year.”

When Apple rolled out its Apple Intelligence branding a year ago, the goal was to enhance Siri with AI by merging its legacy system with Apple Intelligence for improved query handling. However, as reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s venture into AI has been more cautious than groundbreaking.

Consequently, Siri has been somewhat marginalized in Apple’s internal AI initiatives. This is evidenced by the manner in which iOS 18 has rolled out its intelligence enhancements in fragmented phases over the past year.

In March, Gurman observed that Apple was still “lagging significantly” on major Siri updates, with a more conversational, AI-driven version unlikely to materialize before 2027.

Thus, while iOS received a stylish new interface, Siri continues to be on pause.

*Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging copyright infringement in training and operating its AI systems.*