Belated Happy 10th Birthday Siri! We count (on) you!

At an Apple Special Event on October 4th, 2011, Siri was born. Sorry, not actually ‘born,’ more like, ‘announced,’ now becoming part of the iPhone.

A year earlier, in April 2010, Steve Jobs finally managed to buy the Siri app, supposedly for over $200 million, and brought the Siri co-founders Adam Cheyer, Dag Kittlaus, and Tom Gruber on board. What happened next sounds like a troubled childhood:

• Dag Kittlaus left Apple already in October 2011.
• Adam Cheyer stayed until September 2012.
• John Giannandrea, Google’s AI chief, joined Apple in April 2018.
• Tom Gruber, the last of the original Siri group, left Apple in July 2018.
• In February 2019, Bill Stasior, former head of Apple’s Siri division, left Apple.

Of so many fathers, the one who fought hard to bring her to Apple, Steve Jobs, died only one day after Siri’s announcement, on October 5th, 2011.

Estimated reading time: 28 minutes

Siri Mentions in Apple Media Events since 2010/06

If you’re curious about Siri’s role at Apple but have no idea how to measure the importance of a voice assistant to a company like Apple, you get creative.

We decided to count the number of times Apple mentioned “Siri” at their Apple Media Events. Surprisingly this seems to correlate with Siri’s perceived performance here at smartenlight.

In this post, you will find: 

• Word clouds based on the transcriptions of the events,
• Links to the Apple event videos/keynotes,
• Siri, in the context in which she was mentioned,
• General announcements of the event, and
• a snarky conclusion =)

Pro-Tip: With a desktop browser, you can open the transcript on YouTube by clicking on the three dots underneath the video ‘…’ Search (CMD/CTRL+F) for the term you are interested in, e.g. ‘Siri’ and click on the results to directly jump to the section of the video.

Please note: available data is mainly processed automatically, which likely includes some errors. Some Apple Media Events are not online (indicated by -1 in the graph below). Filtering and normalization of the wordlists for the generation of Word Clouds could still be optimized, but hey, it’s Siri’s birthday!

2010/06 WWDC 2010 (June 7–11, 2010)

We are starting our journey a little earlier than Siri’s birthday. Of course, there are no Siri mentions here yet. She’s a secret.

On June 7th, 2010, Steve Jobs announces the iPhone 4. According to our word cloud, ‘apps’ were also a big ‘thing.’ Steve’s favorite stat of the day: App Store revenue crossed one billion. One more thing: FaceTime.

2011/03 Apple Special Event (March 2, 2011)

We’re still before Siri. Steve Jobs reveals the iPad 2, despite being on medical leave.

2011/06 WWDC 2011 (June 6–10, 2011)

Apple announces Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, iCloud, and iTunes Match.

2011/10 Apple Special Event (October 4, 2011)

Welcome, Siri! We found 38 mentions on your birthday. From now on, every time we see a heart in the word cloud, there will be more than 38 mentions!

Apple releases the iPhone 4s and a refreshed iPod Nano and iPod touch.

2012/03 Apple Special Event (March 7, 2012)

Only 3 Siri mentions. Tim Cook introduces iOS 5.1, a Japanese version of Siri, and the 3rd generation Apple TV and 3rd generation iPad.

2012/06 WWDC 2012 (June 11–15, 2012)

20 Siri mentions.

Apple announces Apple Maps, new models of the MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with Retina. Apple also announces OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6.

2012/09 Apple Special Event (September 12, 2012)

Apple announces the iPhone 5, made entirely of glass and aluminum, as the world’s thinnest smartphone.

2012/10 Apple Special Event (October 23, 2012)

No Siri mentions.

Tim Cook announces a new iPad mini, a fourth-generation iPad with a Retina display, a new iMac, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

2013/06 WWDC 2013 (June 10–14, 2013)

9 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces a redesigned Mac Pro and an updated MacBook Air, AirPort Time Capsule, and AirPort Extreme. Apple presents OS X Mavericks and iOS 7.

2013/09 Apple Special Event (September 10, 2013)

4 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and iOS 7 for September.

2013/10 Apple Special Event (October 22, 2013)

Only 1 Siri Mention. She’s now on the iPad Air.

Apple announces the iPad Air, the second-generation iPad mini, updates to the MacBook Pro and OS X Mavericks.

2014/06 WWDC 2014 (June 2–6, 2014)

7 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces OS X Yosemite, iOS 8, and Swift, a new programming language for Mac and iOS.

2014/09 Apple Special Event (September 9, 2014)

Apple announces iPhone 6, 6 Plus, the Apple Watch, and Apple Pay.

2014/10 Apple Special Event (October 16, 2014)

No Siri mentions.

Apple announces the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, and an updated iMac with a 5K Retina Display.

2015/03 Apple Special Event (March 9, 2015)

Apple announces the release date and pricing for the Apple Watch.

2015/06 WWDC 2015 (June 8-12, 2015)

36 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces iOS 9, the next version of OS X called OS X El Capitan and Apple Music.

2015/09 Apple Special Event (September 9, 2015)

There were Siri mentions, but we cannot count them.

Apple announces watchOS 2, an Apple TV update with App Store, Siri Remote, and tvOS. Furthermore, iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, iPad Mini 4, Pad Pro with Apple Pencil, and iOS 9 coming in September.

2016/03 Apple Special Event (March 21, 2016)

11 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces a new iPad Pro, iPhone SE, and updates to the Apple Watch.

2016/06 WWDC 2016 (June 13-17, 2016)

52 Siri Mentions! A Heart!

Apple announces new versions of iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS.

2016/09 Apple Special Event (September 7, 2016)

11 Siri mentions. Apple managed to upload the transcription from the March Event into the September Event and almost tricked us. Let’s assume that it’s around 11 mentions since we cannot check.

Apple announces the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the AirPods, and iOS 10.

2016/10 Apple Special Event (October 27, 2016)

https://youtu.be/EA8vDBY6bCs

16 Siri Mentions

Apple announces a new generation of the MacBook Pro.

2017/06 WWDC 2017 (June 5–9, 2017)

49 Siri Mentions! Apple announces the HomePod!

Apple announces a second-generation iPad Pro, updates to MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and a new iMac Pro.

2017/09 Apple Special Event (September 12, 2017)

10 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces the Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV 4K, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhone X, iOS 11, and watchOS 4.

2018/03 Apple Special Event (March 27, 2018)

No Siri mentions.

Apple announces iPad for education.

2018/06 WWDC 2018 (June 4–8, 2018)

55 Siri Mentions! Wor(l)d record!

Apple announces iOS 12, macOS Mojave, watchOS 5, and updates to tvOS.

2018/09 Apple Special Event (September 12, 2018)

8 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces the Apple Watch Series 4, iPhone XS and XS Max, and the iPhone XR.

2018/10 Apple Special Event (October 30, 2018)

4 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces a new MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and the third-generation iPad Pro.

2019/03 Apple Special Event (March 25, 2019)

2 Siri Mentions.

Apple announces Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+.

2019/06 WWDC 2019 (June 3–7, 2019)

24 Siri mentions.

Apple announces iOS 13, iPadOS, macOS Catalina, tvOS 13, watchOS 6, a redesigned Mac Pro, the Pro Display, and the new SwiftUI.

2019/09 Apple Special Event (September 10, 2019)

1 Siri mention, in a video, to play an Elton John album. Bummer.

Apple announces Apple TV+ updates, Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, and the 7th generation iPad.

2019/12 Apple Special Event (December 2, 2019)

Apple announces best App Store apps and games of 2019 following a private New York City event (9to5mac.com).

Apple honors the best apps and games of 2019.

2020/06 WWDC 2020 (June 22–26, 2020)

25 Siri mentions no heart. Siri now knows 20x more facts than just three years ago. She gets an all-new compact design that finally allows us to use the screen while talking to her. Siri can answer a broader range of questions. She can now send audio messages, provide cycling directions and share our ETA from Apple Maps. Siri can directly translate between many languages, with support for over 65 language pairs.

For an overview of the changes in the Home and Shortcuts app, please see our post: iOS 14 – A Siri, HomeKit, Home App, and Shortcuts Overview.

Apple announces iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, macOS Big Sur, and the transition to Apple Silicon.

2020/09 Apple Event (September 15, 2020)

“Time flies.” No Siri mentions.

Apple announces the Apple Watch Series 6, a new iPad Air, and the release of iOS 14 the next day.

2020/10 Apple Event (October 13, 2020)

“Hi, Speed.” 28 Siri mentions. The HomePod gets a little brother in a spherical shape: the HomePod mini at $99. Apple announces upcoming support for other music services, like Amazon Music. A new intercom feature will connect HomePods with iPhones, iPads, and CarPlay.

Apple also announces iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max.

2020/11 Apple Event (November 10, 2020)

“One more thing.” No Siri mentions.

Apple presents the new Apple Silicon chip, the Apple M1. It will power new models of the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. macOS Big Sur will be released on November 12th.

2021-04-20 Apple Event (April 20, 2021)

“Spring loaded.” 5 Siri mentions. Most of them are about the new Siri Remote for the new Apple TV 4K and one, where Siri on an iPad Pro plays line judge on the tennis court.

Apple announces a new iPad Pro and iMac with the M1 processor, Apple TV 4K, AirTag, and a new purple color for iPhone 12 and 12 Mini.

2021-06-07 WWDC 2021 (June 7–11, 2021)

WWDC with 25 Siri mentions. Siri now supposedly learned enough from our user recordings and can slowly move to our devices with on-device recognition. New Siri voices can announce time-sensitive notifications and location-based reminders once we reach a location. Apple demonstrates that on-device speech recognition works faster than the cloud, so we have six more Siri mentions, but they left out “Hey Siri” by pressing the button (yes, that’s faster!).

HomePod / mini will control our Apple TV. HomeKit accessory makers can integrate Siri into their devices, and Apple designed it so that our Siri requests flow to the HomePod without going to any third-party servers. Siri Shortcuts will come to macOS.

Apple announces iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, watch OS 8 and macOS Monterey.

2021-09-14 Apple Event (September 14, 2021)

“California streaming” with 3 Siri mentions. Siri’s on-device speech recognition and improved speech-to-text with the A15 chip.

Apple announces a new iPad with the A13 chip, an iPad mini, the iPhone 13 /mini/Pro/Max with the A15 chip, and the Apple Watch Series 7.

2021-10-18 Apple Event (October 18, 2021)

“Unleashed.” with 14 Siri mentions. Siri gets her own Apple Music subscription plan with new Apple curated playlists for hundreds of moods and activities. HomePod mini is now available in yellow, orange and blue.

The events main topic are Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max processors, which power the new redesigned MacBook Pro 14″ and 16″. No more touchbar, but with legacy ports like MagSafe, SDXC card reader and a new HDMI port. The audio system comes with studio quality mics and 6 speakers that support 3D Audio. The new AirPods 3 also support spatial audio, include Adaptive EQ that adjust music to our ears and have a longer battery life.

Pro-Tip: With a desktop browser, you can open the transcript on YouTube by clicking on the three dots underneath the video ‘…’ Search (CMD/CTRL+F) for the term you are interested in, e.g. ‘Siri’ and click on the results to directly jump to the section of the video.

Conclusion

We’ve counted a total of 461 Siri mentions in 34 Apple Media Events we found online. This sounds like a lot, but let’s not forget that we’re looking at more than ten years of Apple Events.

As huge Siri fans, you usually hear us praising the strengths of our oldest digital assistant. But a decade of almost daily usage inspired us to create the quirky artwork at the top of this post. There are contexts where you count to 10 as a gentleman’s rule: “When a boxer is knocked down in a fight, the referee will count over them and the boxer must rise to their feet, unaided, by the count of ten or else deemed to have been knocked out.”

Siri’s weaknesses are obvious:

1. Siri lacks a vision. Here’s an excellent article by Johnny Evans: Apple’s Siri needs to become a ‘bicycle for the mind.’ And here’s the bicycle analogy explained by Steve Jobs 40(!) years ago:

2. Siri is schizophrenic. When you try e.g. Apple Music on an iMac, HomePod, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or AirPods, you’ll find many Siris. Some Siris on some devices can perform specific tasks and some Siris on other devices fail for no apparent reason. So rather than having to memorize which requests work where, it would be great to have one Siri, or at least a bit of logic behind different behaviors.

3. Siri is getting old. She has lost her reliability and is adding unnecessary dialogues. Especially with HomeKit we nowadays frequently run into Siri responding “I’m on it!” only to fail with “your devices are not responding”. When we try again, it works as it used to work, when she was younger. Or, if we forget to request “all lights” when we ask her to “turn off the lights”, she nowadays comes back with a list of all rooms. Siri, we know how to specify the room in our request. Or, now that she supports other music services than Apple Music, she checks back from time to time, lists all music services, and asks which to use. A simple settings page would be more intelligent than this babbling granny.

With Apple’s Event two days ago there is hope that Siri gets back on her feet again. Siri’s exclusive Apple Music Voice plan will definitely drive more users to use Siri for music, so there’s a chance that Apple fixes the schizophrenic part of her personality. The reliability might come back next year when the new smart home standard “Matter” starts to matter.

We look forward to a new year with many more Siri mentions!

Happy Birthday, Siri!
We count on you!

P.S.: You can find more Siri posts here: Apple Siri
P.P.S: And here’s Apple’s official Siri page (excellent overview of Siri’s features)