The iPhone 4S’ Siri voice assistant will finally land on the iPad this fall with the release of the iOS 6 operating system, 9to5Mac is reporting this morning.
The launch of the newest version of the iPad tablet went incredibly well for Apple, and we think it’s the best mass-market tablet available hands-down. But many were disappointed when the latest iPad model launched without support for the Siri voice assistant. Because the third edition of the iPad wasn’t lacking in power, there frankly was no excuse not to include Siri. Frankly, it looks like Apple kept Siri as an iPhone 4S exclusive to help with its celebrity-filled marketing.
But if 9to5Mac’s reporting turns out right (and it’s pretty easy to believe), the iPad will offer its own kind of Siri voice assistant in the coming months. Instead of taking up the whole screen like it does on the iPhone 4S, Siri will pop up from the bottom of the screen and keep a portion of the 9.7-inch panel free.
The report indicates that Siri will likely launch for just the new iPad, which would certainly bum out iPad 2 owners (like me) and those who still have the first iPad. That would jive with Apple’s decision to keep Siri off of the iPhone 4 and earlier models.
Apple will no doubt debut iOS 6 at its upcoming WWDC conference, which will kick off on June 11. Keep your eyes peeled here next week for live coverage of that event.