Why Assistant Needs an A5 and How it Was 'Many Iterations' Ahead of its Competitors - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Why Assistant Needs an A5 and How it Was 'Many Iterations' Ahead of its Competitors

by

assistantinterface
Mockup of Apple's expected Assistant interface

Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky provides some details and impressions of their original Siri Assistant technology in an interview with 9to5Mac. Siri was a virtual assistant application that was released for the iPhone back in February, 2010. While the app still remains in the App Store, the company was acquired by Apple back in April, 2010.

Apple is expected to finally launch their own version of this intelligent assistant interface alongside the new iPhone at tomorrow's media event. The new feature is expected to be exclusive to the new iPhone which carries a faster A5 processor.

Winarsky provides some details about why the software would require so much processing power. While the original version of the software does run on the iPhone 3GS, he says that "all kinds of optimizations and shortcuts" were done to get it to work on the device. Winarsky reports that it will likely run "much better" on a faster phone.

Winarsky is also not bashful about what the significance of Apple's adaptation of Siri technology would mean, calling it a "World-Changing" event:

Make no mistake: Apple’s ‘mainstreaming’ Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Personal Assistant is a groundbreaking event. I’d go so far as to say it is a World-Changing event. Right now a few people dabble in partial AI enabled apps like Google Voice Actions, Vlingo or Nuance Go. Siri was many iterations ahead of these technologies, or at least it was two years ago. This is REAL AI with REAL market use. If the rumors are true, Apple will enable millions upon millions of people to interact with machines with natural language. The PAL will get things done and this is only the tip of the iceberg. We’re talking another technology revolution. A new computing paradigm shift.

Many have compared the technology to Google's Voice Actions for Android, but Winarsky believes their technology was much more advanced.

This video provides a mockup of what is expected to be the workflow for Apple's Assistant technology:


Apple will be launching the new iPhone tomorrow, October 4th, and is believed to be launching this Assistant software as well.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Read Full Article • 104 comments

Top Rated Comments

H
HarryKeogh
195 months ago
But how will this technology assist people in their consumption of Internet porn?
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arn Avatar
arn
195 months ago
I wont use Assistant anywhere but home, IMO, I'd find it disturbing and awkward to use in public.

car?

arn
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crisss1205 Avatar
crisss1205
195 months ago
I wont use Assistant anywhere but home, IMO, I'd find it disturbing and awkward to use in public.

I feel this will provide a huge benefit to the blind community or people with special needs. I feel like Apple is going to play a video tomorrow that will make us all cry.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TennisandMusic Avatar
TennisandMusic
195 months ago
So we've now reached the day where people will talk to their phones, but text other humans.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
K
kinesin
195 months ago
Are they going to be pushing this speech stuff so much that:

iphone 4 = base model
iphone 4s = s for Speech, not speed this time.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iSee Avatar
iSee
195 months ago
Many iterations ahead...

Well, I do hope so.
But it's not like this guy is an unbiased observer. What would we expect him to say: "Oh, that stuff we were working on? Yeah, pretty much run-of-the-mill."
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments