Apple CEO Ternus Pushes Faster AI as Agentic Siri Could Arrive as Early as 2027

Apple chief executive John Ternus has told software chief Craig Federighi to speed up the company software roadmap, and Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman believes Siri could work more like an agent as early as 2027, according to the Power On newsletter published on Sunday 8 November 2026. Apple has not commented on the report and has announced no timeline, so the 2027 date is a reporter forecast, not a launch plan.

An agentic assistant is an assistant that tracks a goal and keeps working on it across apps without being asked for every step. That is the shift Gurman describes: Siri would stop waiting for one command at a time and start carrying a task forward, checking progress and acting when the next step is ready. The idea is already visible at rivals, and Gurman names OpenAI Dots, Meta Muse and xAI Grok as examples of agents that pursue goals rather than answering single prompts.

The report centres on a closed-door meeting between Ternus and Federighi. According to Gurman, Ternus told Federighi that Apple needs to accelerate its software roadmap and move quickly beyond merely making necessary improvements to Siri.

That intervention arrives after a difficult period for Siri. Apple shipped Siri AI in beta with iOS 27 on 14 September 2026, and added five more languages with iOS 27.2 in October. On 3 November, Apple opened a developer preview that lets apps bring their actions into Siri through App Intents, with the wider rollout expected in iOS 27.3 betas. The assistant is therefore already changing, but the reported plan goes further than the features already in testing.

Illustration: Apple Park, Apple's circular headquarters building, seen through trees with a blue tint

What Gurman says is coming next

Gurman expects two nearer steps before any fully agentic Siri. First, Siri should gain finer control of Apple own apps with iOS 27.3, expected in December 2026, covering actions such as cropping images in Photos or organising tabs in Safari. Second, control of third-party apps is expected in spring 2027, which would let Siri place a food order through Grubhub or book a restaurant table through OpenTable. Those are reported expectations, not Apple announcements, and dates could still move.

The bigger prize sits beyond those steps. Gurman believes Apple could make Siri more like an agent as early as 2027, with the assistant following goals and continuing work without step-by-step prompts. Apple has already delayed Siri upgrades once before, in 2025, when promised features slipped, so readers should treat the earliest date as the optimistic end of a range. Nothing in the reporting says Apple has a finished agentic product, and Gurman notes the exact implementation has not been settled.

The report also says Apple is changing how it builds software. For iOS 28, iPadOS 28 and macOS 28, the first development milestone reportedly shifted from four weeks of coding plus four weeks of integration, known as convergence, to six weeks of coding and exploration plus two weeks of convergence. That gives engineers about 50 percent more coding time inside the same eight-week milestone, with less time to merge the pieces together. Gurman links the change to improved coding agents, which are AI tools that help write and change code, and employees are reported to like the extra room to experiment.

The revised split has been reported only for the first milestone, and Apple has not said whether it will apply to later ones. The total milestone still lasts eight weeks, so Apple has not added time to the schedule. The next milestone begins on 9 November, when Apple starts to finalise what iOS 28 will include, and a beta is expected in June 2027 with a public release in September 2027.

Illustration: A hand holding a  smartphone in blue light, with  the Apple logo visible

Why Ternus is pushing now

The competitive pressure is easy to see. OpenAI, Meta and xAI are all shipping agents that plan multi-step work, use tools and keep going without constant direction. Apple, by contrast, has been careful about privacy, security and the wider effects of AI, and Federighi has historically voiced concerns about those issues. Gurman reports that Ternus is frustrated by what he sees as hesitation to match the enthusiasm of rivals, and that the chief executive wants Apple to move with more urgency while Federighi delivered a functional version of personalised Siri AI on a tight schedule for iOS 27.

That tension between speed and caution is the real story inside Apple. A faster roadmap could bring useful features sooner, but an agent that acts across apps needs broad access to messages, calendars, photos and third-party services, and every extra permission is a new place where a mistake could leak data or take an unwanted action. Apple has not explained how it would handle those permissions.

There is also a leadership question hanging over Siri. Mike Rockwell, who built Vision Pro and took over Siri in March 2025, is still seriously considering leaving his role, possibly next year, according to Gurman. That does not mean he will leave, and Gurman reports no sign that Federighi is leaving, adding that Federighi has made succession planning a very low priority. Even so, a possible departure at the top of Siri would add uncertainty at the exact moment Ternus wants the team to move faster.

Apple watchers should also note the caution raised by AppleInsider, which said the Gurman report contradicts itself in places and should be taken with a grain of salt. Gurman has a strong record on Apple internal plans, but this is still a report based on unnamed sources about intentions, not a product announcement.

Illustration: Developers working at laptops in a blue-tinted office

What this means for iPhone owners

For iPhone owners, the near-term picture is clearer than the long-term one. The iOS 27.3 update in December should make Siri more useful inside Apple own apps, and the spring 2027 step should extend that control to third-party apps. Those changes are concrete enough to watch for in beta releases, and they will show whether Apple can give Siri real control of apps without breaking the reliability users expect.

The agentic Siri is a different kind of promise. If it arrives in 2027, it could change how people use their phones, letting them state a goal such as planning a trip and letting Siri handle the steps across apps. If it slips, Apple will face the same criticism it faced in 2025, when Siri features arrived late.

Developers should watch the App Intents preview that opened on 3 November, because third-party app control depends on apps exposing their actions to Siri. The more apps that support those actions, the more useful an agentic Siri becomes.

Milestone	Reported timing	Status
Siri AI beta with iOS 27	14 September 2026	Shipped
Five more languages, iOS 27.2	October 2026	Shipped
Developer App Intents preview	3 November 2026	Preview open
First-party app control, iOS 27.3	December 2026	Expected, reported
Third-party app control	Spring 2027	Expected, reported
Agentic Siri	As early as 2027	Gurman belief, not announced

Readers who follow Apple AI closely can compare this push with the wider race covered in our Claude Duet is here report, which looks at how agents are moving from chat into real work. The hardware side of Apple plans is covered in our Apple M6 Macs are here article, and the rival model race is covered in our Google Gemini 4 Carbon is here report.

Key Takeaways

• Bloomberg Mark Gurman reported on 8 November 2026 that Apple CEO John Ternus told Craig Federighi to accelerate the software roadmap and move beyond routine Siri improvements.
• Gurman believes Siri could work more like an agent as early as 2027, tracking goals and working without step-by-step prompts, but Apple has not confirmed any timeline.
• Reported nearer steps are first-party app control in iOS 27.3 in December 2026 and third-party app control in spring 2027.
• Apple is testing a new iOS 28 build cycle with six weeks of coding and two weeks of integration, giving engineers about 50 percent more coding time in the first milestone.
• Siri chief Mike Rockwell is reported to be still seriously considering leaving, possibly next year, and AppleInsider urges caution about the report.

Conclusion

John Ternus is sending a clear message inside Apple: Siri must become more than a better voice assistant, and it must get there faster. The reported 2027 date for an agentic Siri is exciting, but it remains a forecast from one reporter, not a promise from Apple. Watch the December and spring app-control steps first, because they will show whether Apple can turn that ambition into software people can actually use.

Sources

MacRumors, Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28, 8 November 2026

Techworthit summary of Bloomberg Power On reporting, 8 November 2026

TechFeatured, Apple Wants Siri to Act Like a Real AI Agent, 8 November 2026