New iOS 18 leak hints at AI improvements to Siri and Spotlight ahead of expected WWDC debut

Siri on iOS
(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

If Apple sticks to its tried and tested release cadence we can expect the company to announce the iPhone's next big software update soon. The iOS 18 news continues to roll in as we edge ever nearer to its likely WWDC unveiling on June 10, and a new leak might have given us a better idea of what we can expect.

There have been plenty of rumors relating to iOS 18 and the supposed AI features that it will bring to the iPhone. Details had been hard to come by, but more information is starting to bubble to the surface the closer we get to WWDC, and the latest leak hints at improvements coming to both Siri and Spotlight.

Siri and Spotlight are two aspects of the iPhone that have proven to be problematic for some, with both offering incorrect results when asked to do the simplest of things. But it could all change though, and it can't come soon enough.

Much-needed upgrades

Expanding on its recent report into iOS 18 Safari upgrades, AppleInsider today says that AI features are set to power up other aspects of the iPhone experience, too.

We're told that "Spotlight will get much better with more intelligent results and sorting, while Siri is set to take advantage of Apple's large language model work to make dealing with messages quicker and easier than ever.

Discussing a Safari feature that will be capable of summarizing entire web pages, the report says that "Siri is also due to receive a similar update, according to people familiar with Apple's plans, as the company intends to integrate the digital assistant more closely with its built-in Messages application." It goes on to explain that the feature will "reportedly [be] capable of generating responses that relay the content of messages in a simplified way."

Apple's WWDC unveiling of iOS 18 will only be a preview of what's to come, though. The update will undergo months of beta testing before it is ready for the public — expect to see iOS 18 arrive on iPhones everywhere in September. The software will also come preinstalled on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models that are set to be announced in the same month.

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Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.