Wait, did Siri's voice just change?
Maybe you’ve noticed: Siri doesn’t quite sound like Siri anymore.
It’s not the most dramatic shift. Rather, it's a different lilt to its tone or a slight tonal drift. However, it's just enough to make you pause and ask, "Hey, Siri, did your voice change?"
Occasionally, Google search trends light up with people wondering whether Siri's voice is different — or, rather, whether the voice assistant's many voices are different. Maybe we’re all just spiraling into collective audio gaslighting.
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Across the internet, users are reporting that Siri’s voice has turned flat, unnatural, stern, and oddly disengaged. Gone is the upbeat, more conversational tone we’re used to. The shift seems to hit hardest with the Australian, Irish, and American voices. So, what’s going on?
There’s no need to panic. The wave of online chatter that kicked off in December points back to one culprit: the iOS 18 update and its new Apple Intelligence features. That subtle tonal shift you’re picking up on? It’s likely tied to how Siri now operates with the latest software updates.
With the iPhone 16 and iOS 18 rollout, Apple quietly tweaked Siri’s voice and natural language processing, particularly in how it meshes with the newly introduced Apple Intelligence. At the time, Apple called it "The start of a new era for Siri." And in the iOS 18 release notes, Apple said, "Siri sounds more natural, expressive, and clear, and is now synthesized entirely on device by Apple Intelligence new language models."
Of course, how Siri's new voice sounds to your ear is very subjective.
As one user put it in a December 2024 Apple Support Community forum thread, "Managed to get original Siri back by disabling Apple intelligence. Will happily go without AI," said user VRBe. Another user replied, "Yep, that worked. I disabled Apple Intelligence, and Siri’s voice is back to the way it was pre iOS 18. I’ll use Apple Intelligence, as soon as you put the voice back to the way it was."
Digging deeper into that thread, two additional users noted that disabling Apple Intelligence (yes, it’s opt-out) brings back the pre-iOS 18 version of Siri’s voice. The December iOS 18.2 update may have also reset Siri’s voice to its default setting: American, Voice 1.
To shut off Apple Intelligence, head to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > and toggle off Apple Intelligence. Simple as that. Mashable reached out to Apple for clarification on the changes to Siri's voice, but as of now, there has been no official word. In the meantime, that toggle might be your best bet.
Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.
In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].
