Leaked screens show Siri in Apple's upcoming OS X 10.12 with always-on 'Hey Siri'

New images published on Wednesday appear to support rumors that Apple will finally bring Siri to the Mac in the next major version of OS X, premiering at WWDC 2016 in June.

A Dock icon shows the familiar Siri waveform, while a Menu Bar icon simply uses the word "Siri," according to MacRumors, which said it obtained the images from a reliable source on Apple's software plans. One or both icons could potentially be placeholders, changing before the next OS X upgrade releases in the fall, or even Apple's WWDC keynote.

The site added that Siri for the Mac will also support always-on commands via "Hey Siri." That option is allegedly turned off by default however, requiring people to go into the Preferences menu to toggle it.

Siri's absence on OS X has been conspicuous. The platform launched for iOS in 2011, and in fact arrived on the Apple TV last year via tvOS. Feature-wise, it's uncertain what might make the Mac incarnation unique.

Alongside iOS 10, the next big OS X upgrade should be a centerpiece of the WWDC keynote, scheduled for June 13. Apart from adding Siri support, Apple may also be planning to rename the platform back to "MacOS", in keeping with the names of its other operating systems.

58 Comments

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

About 8 years ago

I really do hope you can turn it off. As someone who has never felt the need to talk to their computer since my boss found me swearing like a trooper when cabling up a prototype MicroVax System I don't even use Siri on my phone.
I'd expect that this would be a major turn off for a lot of users if you couldn't disable it.
To be honest, I am struggling to see this as a USP/can't do without feature. I am sure that there are better things Apple could be adding to the OS than this.

rogifan_new 4297 comments · 9 Years

Google announced Google Assistant at I/O today. From what I'm seeing in my Twitter feed it sounds impressive. home.google.com

All snark aside, I'm perplexed at how Apple let Siri languish for so long to the point where someone like Amazon could come in and start to own the space. And now Google is following suit. Considering how important privacy is to so many Apple had/has the perfect opportunity to create a solution for people who aren't comfortable using Google services. God I hope we get more than just current Siri on the Mac at WWDC. I hope Apple wows us with something we weren't expecting. Perhaps that includes big changes to iMessage too?

mike1 3431 comments · 10 Years

rotateleftbyte said:

I really do hope you can turn it off. As someone who has never felt the need to talk to their computer since my boss found me swearing like a trooper when cabling up a prototype MicroVax System I don't even use Siri on my phone.
I'd expect that this would be a major turn off for a lot of users if you couldn't disable it.
To be honest, I am struggling to see this as a USP/can't do without feature. I am sure that there are better things Apple could be adding to the OS than this.

From the second paragraph. "That option is allegedly turned off by default however, requiring people to go into the Preferences menu to toggle it."

knowitall 1648 comments · 11 Years

It cannot be 'renamed back' because it was never 'MacOS'.

isteelers 738 comments · 12 Years

rogifan_new said:

Google announced Google Assistant at I/O today. From what I'm seeing in my Twitter feed it sounds impressive. home.google.com

All snark aside, I'm perplexed at how Apple let Siri languish for so long to the point where someone like Amazon could come in and start to own the space. And now Google is following suit. Considering how important privacy is to so many Apple had/has the perfect opportunity to create a solution for people who aren't comfortable using Google services. God I hope we get more than just current Siri on the Mac at WWDC. I hope Apple wows us with something we weren't expecting.

Amazon is hardly starting to own the space. Google will always follow as you stated above, as will Microsoft and Amazon. They followed the iPhone, iPad, Siri, Apple Pay etc. etc. Those companies will always follow as Apple sets the trends in every sandbox they play in.