'AI Laggard' Apple to Update OS with Korean Support for Siri App

OS update expected next week
Siri to work like a generative AI app
Personalized responses based on messages and more

Users in South Korea will be able to use the "Siri AI" assistant app, built into iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other devices, later this month.

According to the IT industry on October 21, Apple plans to release an operating system (OS) update later this month that will add Korean-language support to the next generation of Apple Intelligence. Industry watchers expect the OS update to arrive after October 23, the launch date of the iPhone Duo. Apple has so far offered beta services only in English for iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, released last month.

Siri AI logo. Apple.

The update will make Apple's voice assistant, Siri, a standalone app, allowing users to review their conversations with Siri at any time. Previously, Siri was integrated into the OS, and users had to hold down the power button or call up Siri by voice to give it a task. As a result, they could not review their conversations.

The "brain" behind Siri AI will also change. Unlike the previous version of Siri, which passed complex questions to OpenAI's ChatGPT for answers, the new version will answer users' questions and carry out their requests using Apple Foundation Models (AFM), trained on Google's Gemini. Depending on the complexity of a requested task, AFM will process it on-device or send it to Apple's servers. When requests are sent to Apple's servers, Private Cloud Compute technology will be used to reduce the risk of information leaks.

A question asked of Siri AI, which supports Korean. Reporter Lee Myunghwan

The update will also support personalized features. One of the key features is the ability to understand personal context by recognizing messages and emails exchanged on Apple devices such as iPhones, as well as photos, calendar events and saved files, and using them to respond. If a user asks, "Is there anyone who can't eat certain foods at the year-end party?" Siri AI will check message conversations to identify foods that attendees cannot eat. If the user then asks for menu recommendations, Siri AI can search the web and suggest options. Siri AI can also recognize conversations in other apps, provided those apps are supported. It can perform tasks on the user's behalf, such as drafting and sending messages or adding calendar events.

Screens showing the separate Siri app with Korean support open (left) and a request sent to Siri AI. Siri app screenshot.

However, Siri AI will only be available on relatively recent models. Supported devices include the iPhone 15 Pro series, released in 2023, and later models, including the iPhone 16 series, released the following year.

Attention is focused on how much Apple, branded an "AI laggard," will improve the maturity of its AI features with this update. Apple has previously been seen as trailing competitors such as Samsung in AI capabilities. In 2024, Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence and made a major announcement that it would launch "personalized Siri," an agentic AI feature based on personalization. But delays in implementing the feature led to a class-action lawsuit by consumers in the United States, which Apple settled with a payment. In the process, Apple also shifted its approach to AI model development, opting to use Google's Gemini rather than develop its own models.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.