Gurman: Apple May Announce Drop of 'Hey Siri' Trigger Phrase at WWDC

Apple may announce a major change to Siri that would move away from the "Hey ‌Siri‌" trigger phrase currently required to invoke the virtual assistant hands-free at next week's WWDC keynote, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

siri phil schiller
In a new tweet, Gurman reiterated that the change to the ‌Siri‌ trigger phrase may be among next week's announcements. In November, Gurman reported that Apple is working on a way for ‌Siri‌ to be able to understand and respond to commands without the need to use "Hey ‌Siri‌" as a trigger-phrase. Instead, users will simply need to say "‌Siri‌."

The company is working on an initiative to drop the "Hey in the trigger phrase so that a user only needs to say "Siri"—along with a command. While that might seem like a small change, making the switch is a technical challenge that requires a significant amount of AI training and underlying engineering work.

The complexity involves Siri being able to understand the singular phrase "Siri" in multiple different accents and dialects. Having two words — "Hey Siri" — increases the likelihood of the system properly picking up the signal.

The change would bring ‌Siri‌ closer to Amazon's voice assistant, which can be triggered simply by beginning a command with "Alexa." At the time, Gurman added that Apple is also working on deeper ‌Siri‌ integrations with third-party apps and services to provide better assistance thanks to additional context.

Gurman initially said that the changes to ‌Siri‌ are expected to roll out sometime in 2023 or 2024, but his latest tweet suggests that it remains a distinct possibility for WWDC next week. Apple's mixed-reality headset is rumored to feature voice controls, so improvements to ‌Siri‌ would likely go hand-in-hand with the announcement of the new device.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on MacBook, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple's 2026 Smart Home Revamp: All the Rumors

Wednesday November 5, 2025 3:54 pm PST by
It's been over a decade since Apple's HomeKit smart home platform launched, and it is overdue for an update. HomeKit and the Home app can no longer keep up with AI-powered solutions from other companies like Google and Amazon, but that's set to change with a smart home revamp that Apple has planned for 2026. Home Hub Apple is working on a home hub or "command center" that will serve as a...

Top Rated Comments

iBreatheApple Avatar
32 months ago
Siri can’t even understand basic phrases she understood two years ago, so… Good luck. I’m really getting cynical with it. Siri feels nearly a decade behind the competition in terms of usefulness of practical day-to-day inquiries.
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haydn! Avatar
32 months ago
Siri’s problems are not in how you get its attention… it’s everything after that. ?‍♂️
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tofupunch Avatar
32 months ago
How about we make Siri more reliable, useful, etc. in any quantifiable way before we add complexity to the trigger phrase...??‍♂️
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
32 months ago
It’s worth keeping in mind it’s not the number of words but the syllables that is important. Alexa has 3, Hey Siri has 3, these can be more easily identified and is the reason Amazon chose the Alexa name. Given Siri only has 2 makes this much harder.

Also please please please can we have different phrases for different devices. So tired of wanting to talk to my HomePod and my phone or Mac then picks it up. So annoying.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wikiverse Avatar
32 months ago
Great news! Now Siri can be more like my wife: Triggered more frequently when I say words like 'Serious' instead of her name, interrupt me and then provide absolutely no useful information whatsoever.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smoothride Avatar
32 months ago
Lemme guess. You’ll need the shiny new iPhone 15 just to be able to do that!???
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)