A story suggesting Apple was having internal struggles and may delay anticipated new Siri features has been mildly countered with a statement from Apple — "on track to launch in 2026."

A story based on anonymous tipsters claiming internal testing of the refreshed Siri wasn't going well surfaced Wednesday, sparking dramatic reactions from analysts and the stock market. It didn't help that at the same moment, Apple was being targeted by the FTC Chair over alleged Apple News bias.

However, after CNBC reached out to Apple for comment, they got back a very simple "still on track to launch in 2026" statement. As AppleInsider mentioned in its coverage on that rumored delay, there were a lot of oddities in the reporting surrounding it.

Apple tends to keep its cards close to its chest, but every now and then, something big enough causes executives to share more than they normally do. Whether it has been via statements or earnings calls, executives have been hyping up the impending Siri relaunch.

It doesn't seem likely that Apple would still be hyping up the launch while having significant delays internally. The original report on delays cited issues reported in December or January, and even may have confused an internal feature flag for a potential delay indicator.

Somewhere in the middle

While Apple isn't doomed and its new Gemini-trained Apple Foundation Models are definitely launching soon, what form that takes is still unknown. In spite of the anonymous tips and leaks, the actual feature set that's expected in iOS 26.4 isn't known.

The personalized Apple Intelligence and Siri that can use app intents to perform device functions and infer relationships is coming. It's even expected to be more functional than what was shown during WWDC 2024.

A separate rumor says the planned subscription called Apple Health+ may have been broken up into smaller releases, which may be part of what's coming later. Rumors have also pointed to WWDC 2026 being focused heavily on an even more powerful version of Apple Foundation Models running Siri.

It never seemed like everything was going to arrive with a pretty bow with iOS 26.4, and even then, nothing has been promised or announced beyond "coming in 2026." Whatever internal deadlines are shifted, consumers and investors shouldn't be making decisions based on what some leakers with an axe to grind bring to the press.

Expect to hear about what's coming in iOS 26.4 soon, as the beta is imminent, and perhaps we can put some of this to rest.