9to5Mac has published a report stating that Siri, the company’s virtual assistant found on iOS, watchOS, and tvOS devices, is finally coming to the Mac in version 10.12 of OS X which is set to debut this June during WWDC 2016.
Apple currently plans to use its next major release of the Mac operating system, known as OS X 10.12, this fall to continue to expand Siri across its product lines. Last year, Apple implemented Siri as cornerstone features of both the Apple Watch and new Apple TV, and for 2016, Siri is planned to finally make its way to the Mac.
According to the popular news site, Apple has reportedly been testing versions of OS X with Siri internally since “at least 2012”, but they have supposedly now just completed the polishing process of the UI for the new feature along with having developed a “clear vision” for Siri on the Mac which is very helpful as in recent years it’s appeared that Apple ran before they walked, if you will.
The way that Apple reportedly plans to incorporate Siri into the Mac may seem odd to some people as they might’ve had a different picture in their minds, however it does make plenty of sense at the same time. Here’s how 9to5Mac described the appearance and functionality of the digital assistant on OS X.
Instead of integrating Siri as a swipe menu akin to the Mac’s Notification Center or as a full screen view like on the iPhone and even the iPad Pro, Siri for the Mac will live in the Mac’s Menu Bar. Similar to the Spotlight magnifying glass icon for search and notifications icon for Notification Center, a Siri icon in the top right corner of the menu bar will activate the voice control feature.
When a user clicks the Siri button, a dark, transparent Siri interface will appear in the top right corner of the screen, as shown in our mockup by Michael Steeber. This interface will feature colorful sound waves to indicate speech input. The interface design in testing is not finalized and may still change before the summer introduction, according to sources.
Siri on the Mac will have its own pane in System Preferences and users are said to also have the option to choose a keyboard shortcut for activating the service. Like with recent versions of iOS, users will be able to enable Siri at the first startup of OS X 10.12, according to sources. If the Mac running the new OS X version is plugged into power, a “Hey Siri” command will work much like with recent iPhone and iPad models.
This comes as a very clear picture. Everything here makes plenty of sense, which is an indication of the site not just day dreaming. And while siting their “sources” as they always do when reporting about these types of rumors, this may very well be what Siri will be and act like in OS X 10.12.
The one thing I’m really looking forward to using on my Mac is the “Hey Siri” command. One of the main reasons why I installed Windows 10 on my Mac was to talk to Cortana, and I love it. But Windows 10 doesn’t run very well on my computer, and I get rather frustrated when it doesn’t. So knowing that I could be getting the same functionality in OS X as I do Windows 10, I’m a happy camper.
However, I do have one point to prove here: what’s gonna happen to older Macs? See, in 2011, Apple introduced the feature on the iPhone 4S, while my model Mac was introduced in 2010, which is leading me to believe that Apple will make OS X 10.12 available to all Macs that supported OS X 10.11 El Capitan but newer Macs 5 years old and younger will have access to Siri. This is something I am really debating on, but there’s a pretty good chance Apple will in fact act on this idea. But Apple, if you’re reading this, please make Sir available on older Macs too, like ones from 2010 (hint, hint!).
What are your thoughts on Siri for the Mac? Will you use it, or is it just another gimmick? Leave your opinion in the comments!
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