Apple OS X 10.12 said to feature Siri’s Mac debut

Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant, had a humble start on the iPhone. Job listings and patent applications pointed to the eventual debut, but we’re still waiting.

Beyond Siri 9to5Mac reports OS X will receive minor user-interface tweaks across core system application windows, along with performance-focused improvement.

Apple’s voice-enabled virtual assistant already has a home on the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, but according to Gurman the company is finally ready to release Siri to non-mobile (less-mobile for laptops?) platforms. From the looks of it, Siri might be the biggest feature that it adds to Apple’s Mac line.

The update will reportedly bring a new button to the Mac’s menu bar next to the Spotlight Search and Notification Center icons. Unlike Siri, dictation can be performed by the Mac itself, although there is an option to use Apple’s servers to remove some of the limitations. Gurman is reporting that the Apple assistant will be the highlight of OS X 10.12 when it’s unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

Our resident Apple users have had mixed feelings about Siri’s performance on iOS devices. After clicking, you’ll see a transparent Siri window (with a dark background) pop up in the same area of the screen, asking what you need help with (complete with the same dynamic sound wave graphics to correlate with voice input found on iOS). Hardly a feature Apple has ignored, the report notes that Apple has been testing Siri on the Mac for three years in order to get the functionality and implementation just right.