GoKawiil"Here's what I found on the web" can finally be put to rest. I put both the old and the new version of Apple's Siri assistant through a few real-world questions on my Apple Watch(es) to see how they stack up. Spoiler: I'm keeping the new one, thank you very much.
With the WatchOS 27 public beta rolling out this week, I wanted to take Siri AI for a spin where it matters most: the Apple Watch. Apple's digital assistant has long needed an upgrade, but nowhere have its shortcomings been more obvious than on your wrist. Previously, all the old Siri could do on the Apple Watch was return web results, leaving me to wait for pages to load on a tiny screen that wasn't designed for browsing.
To get started, I downloaded the Public Beta of iOS 27 on my iPhone first (it's fairly stable, but I still wouldn't recommend it on a primary device), then installed the WatchOS 27 beta on my Apple Watch Ultra 3 through the Watch app. From there, I made sure Siri AI was activated in my iPhone settings; it defaulted to the new version on the watch as well. I kept my Series 11 running on the latest version of WatchOS 26 with the old Siri.
Keep in mind that Siri AI and WatchOS 27 are early software and far from the final version that will be released this fall.
Read more: Win a New Apple Watch in CNET Big Guessing Game Contest
Test 1: Ferry schedule
I started with a question old Siri has failed me on before: "When's the next ferry from Vallejo to San Francisco?"
Old Siri: "Here's what I found on the web."
This response low-key triggers me. Waiting for a website to load on a tiny screen isn't helpful when I'm literally trying to catch a ferry.
Siri AI: "The next ferry to San Francisco leaves Vallejo at 4:10 p.m."
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