Every once in a while, we’re reminded of how shockingly bad Siri is. For years, iPhone users have been complaining of how the digital helper struggles with the most basic tasks, from adding items to a shopping list to digging up info on your device.
Despite Apple integrating AI into the system level of its iPhones with the launch of Apple Intelligence, frustrated users claim Siri still fumbles many queries.
Its latest faux pas? The assistant can’t tell what month it is. Yes, in the year 2025, when we have powerful AI models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini at our fingertips, Siri still can’t read a calendar.
• Read more:iphone-ai-promises-siri-update-backlash-b1216775.html"> Apple comes under fire for broken iPhone AI promises and delayed Siri update
Over on Reddit, an iPhone user asked Siri: “What month is it?” to which the bot replied: “Sorry, I don’t understand”.
After seeing the flood of complaints from irked users who were met with the same response, we put it to the test ourselves. Sure enough, they were right: Siri really doesn’t know what month it is.
There’s something uniquely infuriating about pricey, modern tech buckling at the simplest tasks. It’s not quite as sinister as HAL 9000 uttering “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that,” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but somehow Siri’s “Sorry, I don’t understand” feels just as maddening, in its own way.
In a bid to elicit a different reply, a Redditor even changed the question to: “What month is it currently?” and got the answer: “It is 2025”.
Apple’s troubles with Siri are well documented. Behind the scenes, its attempts to improve the bot have reportedly been bogged down by internal chaos and cautious decision-making.
Former employees alleged that petty turf wars and a lack of ambition turned the once-promising assistant into an afterthought. Engineers struggled to access basic usage data, proposals for smarter AI were shot down over privacy concerns, and Apple’s insistence on pre-written responses kept Siri from evolving like rival AI models.
A promising 2019 project to rebuild Siri from the ground up was scrapped in favour of a less ambitious privacy-focused update, and even Apple’s own Vision Pro headset team reportedly found Siri too unreliable to control the device.
The digital assistant found itself back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons recently when Apple announced the delay of its highly anticipated AI update. Originally set to arrive with iOS 18.4 this April, the overhaul promised to make Siri smarter and more ChatGPT-like. However, iPhone users will now have to wait (possibly until 2027) for the full upgrade.
In the meantime, at least Siri can ask ChatGPT for help when it’s floundering (as long as you have an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, that is). Though, with how things are going, we might be waiting a while before Siri can help itself.
