Apple readies Gemini-powered Siri revamp for WWDC 2026

Apple heads into WWDC 2026 on June 8 under intense pressure to deliver, with reports indicating it will preview a long-delayed, major Siri overhaul in iOS 27. The revamped assistant — internally codenamed 'Campo' — is expected to be far more conversational and chatbot-like, capable of handling multi-step tasks across apps, and reportedly leverages Google's Gemini as its underlying model.

The Gemini partnership is the striking detail: Apple reportedly concluded Google's AI offered the most capable foundation, an admission of how far its in-house efforts lagged. The new features will require iPhone 15 Pro or later, and Apple Intelligence is expected to expand across iOS 27 with new AI photo-editing tools and a health-focused AI agent. WWDC is framed as Apple's biggest AI test yet.

The competitive backdrop is unforgiving — ChatGPT just hit 1 billion users, Google is giving away Gemini reasoning for free, and Microsoft and Meta are shipping agents. Apple's bet, per The Motley Fool, is that its restraint on spending billions for data centers looks wise, and that it can win on integration and on-device privacy rather than model leadership.

The skeptical view dominates: Apple promised a smarter Siri at WWDC 2024 and slipped repeatedly, so credibility is on the line. Outsourcing the brain to Gemini also raises strategic-dependence and privacy questions. The watch item June 8 is whether 'Campo' ships this year or is another preview of a future that keeps receding.