Could Apple Ditch Siri Name in Major AI Rebrand at WWDC?

Apple will highlight its AI strategy at Monday's WWDC 2025 keynote, with its much-talked-about "Liquid Glass" software redesign playing a secondary role in announcements, claims industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Should Apple Kill Siri Feature
Reports leading up to WWDC have indicated that iOS 26 will feature a major design overhaul inspired by visionOS, the operating system for Apple's Vision Pro headset. The redesign has been described as the biggest update to iOS since iOS 7, and it will be the main focus of the event.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has even suggested that Apple will use the "Liquid Glass" redesign to distract from its failure to roll out promised Apple Intelligence features – like a more personalised, context-aware Siri, which was heavily promoted at last year's developer conference and in the months thereafter, but turned out to be vaporware since it did not work as advertised in internal testing.

However, in a last-minute "key points to watch at WWDC" post on X, Kuo has argued that above all at this year's event, Apple will make pains to explain how upcoming AI features will work on devices ("though no major breakthroughs are expected") and that the company will even offer a development timeline for their launch.

According to Kuo, Apple's on-device AI focus will "likely" include "rebranding Apple Intelligence/Siri," demonstrations of AI integration at the OS level to improve user experience, the rollout of tools for third-party developers to incorporate AI into their apps (which we're already expecting), and a strengthening of privacy protections.

Lastly, Kuo says Apple will tout partnerships with other AI service providers, similar to its current deal with OpenAI to leverage ChatGPT via Siri. This is probably an allusion to Apple's reported partnership with Google to make Gemini an optional Siri extension, with ‌Siri‌ able to hand requests over to Gemini for more in-depth AI-powered answers.

Move Over Siri?

Kuo's predictions raise some intriguing questions. The argument has been put forward that the Siri brand is tarnished, and introducing a new AI chatbot powered by large language models under a new brand would signify a clean break from the past. But if Apple were to rebrand Apple Intelligence/Siri, this could be interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement that its original AI strategy has failed.

There is also the danger that Siri is already indelibly intertwined with Apple Intelligence in the public consciousness. Given the amount of marketing that has been spent on Apple Intelligence, or "AI for the rest of us," as Apple calls it, it's fair to react to Kuo's claim about a rebranding with some skepticism.

If Apple does have plans to rebrand Siri to launch the AI chatbot it has been working on – said to be on par with recent ChatGPT models – then a new name and persona for the virtual assistant could potentially revitalize its image. But Apple would have to ensure that any new product lives up to its promises, otherwise another misstep could be potentially disastrous.

Either way, we'll learn more about Apple's plans very soon.

Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Apple will live stream the event on its website, on YouTube, and in the TV app. If you're not able to watch live, we'll have a live blog and coverage of the announcements here at MacRumors, plus we'll be live tweeting the event on the MacRumorsLive account.

Popular Stories

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
Craig Federighi No

John Gruber Reacts to Apple Declining His Interview After His Criticism

Wednesday June 18, 2025 8:10 pm PDT by
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...
iPhone 17 Base Model Rumored to Come in New Green and Purple Colors Feature

iPhone 17 Base Model Rumored to Come in New Purple and Green Colors

Friday June 20, 2025 7:24 am PDT by
Apple is testing new Purple and Green color options for the iPhone 17 base model, according to new information shared by a leaker known as Majin Bu. In a blog post today, Majin Bu said that only one of the two new colors might make the final cut, with Purple apparently being the more likely choice. The base model iPhone 16 is available in five colors: Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, White, and...

Top Rated Comments

sunapple Avatar
2 weeks ago
Simply name it Apple. Hey Apple! Apple! Hey! HEY APPLE.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacUserFella Avatar
2 weeks ago
The Siri name has become too iconic tho
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F23 Avatar
2 weeks ago
Introducing Ivy, based on our beloved Jony Ive, Ivy is our new smart assistant that can help you set timers and tell you the weather when you ask to turn the lights on.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
2 weeks ago
If they change the name I hope they let you change the trigger word, it’s going to take a lot to untrain me from saying “hey Siri”.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacGizmo Avatar
2 weeks ago
Double-edged sword. There's too much invested in the name Siri to change it, but it's so tarnished in the public's eyes that I see little likelihood that people give it a second chance.

In my experience, I find Siri to be 99% useless. It's inaccurate, rarely understands anything you ask it, and more often than not just wants to send you to a web page for answers when it does.

There's little chance I ever take it seriously in the future, no matter what they say they've done with it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
2 weeks ago
Hey Siri, I hear you’re going bye bye

Siri: You have no timers set
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)