APREX · EST. 2026
Apple is preparing one of the biggest overhauls of Siri in years. According to TechCrunch, new renders have leaked, revealing the company's plans for iOS 27 — including a redesigned Siri experience and an entirely new, standalone Siri app clearly aimed at challenging players like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Standalone App and New Interface
The leaked renderings suggest that Apple is no longer content with Siri being an assistant activated by a button or voice command. Instead, Siri will get a dedicated app format where users can interact with the AI in a much more structured and conversational way — closer to the chatbot interface that has made ChatGPT popular.
This represents a significant shift in Apple's AI strategy. The company has traditionally integrated Siri tightly into the operating system, while competitors have built independent products. With a standalone app, Apple can offer a more cohesive AI experience across devices.
Apple is moving from offering a voice assistant to building a full-fledged AI product that competes directly in the market for conversation-driven services.
Privacy as a Competitive Advantage
Apple has long championed privacy, and this also characterizes its approach to Apple Intelligence. Much of the AI processing happens directly on the device — with what the company calls a local model of three billion parameters. For more demanding tasks, the "Private Cloud Compute" (PCC) system is used, where data is processed on Apple servers powered by Apple silicon and, according to the company, is not stored.
Apple emphasizes that independent security researchers can inspect the code running in the PCC system to verify its privacy promises, and that users can generate a report of which requests the device has sent to the cloud.
Not Without Concerns
Despite Apple's focus on privacy, the picture is not entirely cloud-free. The Israeli cybersecurity company Lumia Security presented research at Black Hat USA 2025 that allegedly shows Siri sending sensitive user data to Apple's servers beyond what its privacy policy indicates — and outside the PCC system. Apple has disputed these characterizations and refers to existing guidelines and SiriKit functionality.
Experts also point out that integration with third-party AI like ChatGPT creates its own challenges. Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has been among the most vocal critics, claiming that Apple has no control over what happens to data after it is shared with OpenAI. Apple, for its part, says that data sent to OpenAI is not stored by the company.
Furthermore, for businesses in regulated industries — such as fintech and healthcare — the possibility of off-device processing can create compliance challenges under regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.
Experts Divided in Opinion
Experts are not unanimous in their assessment of Apple's approach. Gal Ringel, co-founder and CEO of the privacy company Mine, has praised Apple, believing the company "paves the way for companies looking to balance privacy and innovation." Krishna Vishnubhotla from Zimperium specifically highlighted the independent inspection capability in PCC as a "remarkable advancement."
But Cliff Steinhauer from the National Cybersecurity Alliance is more cautious: Apple says many of the right things, but it remains to be seen whether practice actually aligns with the promises.
At the same time, security expert Jonathan Schrade warns that hardware-based confidentiality computing is a complex field with a long history of exploitable vulnerabilities — and that the effectiveness of Apple's solutions will depend on concrete implementation.
What Happens Next?
Apple has not yet publicly confirmed details about iOS 27 or the new Siri app. WWDC 2026 is the natural arena where the company traditionally presents the next version of iOS, and it is there we will likely get official confirmation — or denial — of what the leaked renderings suggest.
Source material: TechCrunch (May 28, 2026).