Apple’s virtual assistant Siri will soon be getting a new “gender-neutral” voice with the public release of iOS and iPadOS 15.4.
Theo Wayt for The New York Post:
The new voice — referred to simply as “Voice 5” in the iOS beta — sounds less explicitly male or female than previous English-speaking options, according to videos posted online.
The new voice is part of a push by Apple to add more diverse options for Siri’s voice. Last April, the company added two Siri voices that were recorded by black actors.
The company also stopped using a female voice as the default for Siri, instead asking users to choose between several male and female voice options.
Apple confirmed the new voice was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but did not offer further details.
“We’re excited to introduce a new Siri voice for English speakers, giving users more options to choose a voice that speaks to them,” Apple said in a statement to Axios. “Millions of people around the world rely on Siri every day to help get things done, so we work to make the experience feel as personalized as possible.”
MacDailyNews Note: Siri’s new “gender-neutral” voice will be available with iOS 15.4 is released to the general public sometime during the first half of March.
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Tim Cook’s Apple.
Nobody can use their AirPods Pro during Fitness+ workouts without losing their Apple Watch – Apple TV connections, but we can have a tomboy-sounding Siri that’s as stupid and useless as ever.
My Siri sounds like Mary Poppins
Now you know how we feel when we see your utterly useless comments. 🙂
Apple should change Siri’s name to Pat.
Brilliant!!!
It’s PAT. Truck Fump
Be careful to get the new Siri voice’s pronouns correct lest you be accused of a micro aggression.
I love my robot’s voice, so this is good news. Ambiguity is always a nice touch.
How about fixing the problems with ios and macos instead of worry about this woke s&%t
Agreed. Would you start off with some suggestions for macOS problems in need of correction? I have several too, but you introduced the idea so please go first.
You know, Apple might be big enough now to do two things at the same time.
I’m only going to address this with a comment to say it doesn’t deserve addressing with a comment. Apple have lost their way in a fashion that couldn’t even have been dreamed of ten years ago. Keep using the company to address your personal bugaboos, Tim. Just keep on doing that. You may have far too much wealth to ever fold because of it, and you may still be the lesser of evils in the tech landscape, but know that you have lost every last shred of your users’ respect. Every. Last. Shred. it’s called a human voice, you prejudiced, ignorant, useristic, greedy d***he – that’s all there is, and there ain’t no more. Enjoy your spoils.
Stop. Just please stop. This is getting out of control ridiculous. Now things aren’t even allowed to have a male or female voice? Especially when it’s possible already to CHOOSE WHICH YOU WANT? Stupid. I’m open minded but these WOKISTS are driving me to not be there anymore because they are over the top nuts.
Do I think it is silly? Yes. However, you do have male and female Siri voices, a number of them. Some customers may prefer this new voice. As to why, that’s their own thing.
This would be an issue for me if Apple said it was going to be the only voice. They didn’t and it isn’t. This is simply what all companies, especially tech, are doing.
.
I thought you rightie’s were all about “FREEDOM!”. Isn’t this about having a choice?
There are only 3 genders:
-Female
-Male
-Mentally ill
Years ago, YEARS ago I called for the firing of Tim Cook. This forum, the cognoscenti here ranted and raved against me with near unanimity. I knew that with enough time, I would be proven right. The cognoscenti supported Tim Cook because they saw the stock price go higher and higher. Never mind that all the pretenders here had make believe shares. They still thought a higher stock price was all that Tim Cook had to deliver.
I saw things differently. I saw that Tim Cook did nothing but ride Steve Jobs’ coattails. Pipeline Timmy had nothing to do with Apple’s success. It was the unmitigated genius of Steve Jobs that shot Apple to the Moon. Steve Ballmer could have taken Apple well past 1 trillion in market cap.
Now we are well past watching Tim Cook destroy Apple. There are endless reports of Apple engineers deeply unhappy with the company. How many MDN stories detailed name after name leaving the company? Far too many.
This is ALL the responsibility of Tim Cook. He has been an appalling CEO. He has been terrible to shareholders too. All those stock buy backs? Hundreds of billions wasted. My AAPL holdings are down massively this year. Had Pipeline Timmy given away returns via dividends, that money would be in my pocket today. Instead, Pipeline bought back shares. The money was incinerated. Every last dollar. All thanks to Pipeline.
Three years ago I called for the firing of Tim Cook and I do so again: FIRE TIM COOK!
You’re still wrong, bozo
It must be Justin Trudeau.
It must be Sherm66.
Equally true, and you can’t prove otherwise, you pathetic troll.
Nah it’s Trudeau
Except that it is 100% woke Trudeau. Never heard of Sherm before but he obviously knows what Trudeau is all about.
His virtue is a mile wide and 1/2″ deep.
Which is deeper than most people.
What does your griping have tondo with Apple or Siri?
I don’t have any problems with this. I turned off Siri over a year ago. It is infinitely better to eschew dumb electric talking speakers than whining about everyone Apple does, like the regular crowd here.
By the way, a significant number of women have contra alto voices, and men with high tenor. There is an infinite spectrum of natural voices. You know you wouldn’t easily know in a blind listening test. Binary/bipolar thinkers should stick to something that actually matters.
Why would anyone turn SIRI off? SIRI may not be a sentient AI, but the feature is immensely useful. I invoke SIRI dozens of times per day for everything from web searches to setting alarms, to launching apps. It does many things very, very well…
I think Siri should be able to have TWO voices at the same time.
When helping give directions or reminders, a woman’s voice (like your Mother’s)
“Take the right at the light after this one”, “Turn right on Reality BLVD”
“Way to go, you’ve beaten your old exercise time”
After that, it’s a male voice (like your Father’s)
“Slow the F*CK down and PAY ATTENTION. If a wreck don’t kill you I WILL!!!!”
“Get off your fat lazy ass!”
There! (mommy/daddy) issue solved….
I hope that eventually all voices come with an optional Inhaled Helium Effect.
WTF is gender neutral? 🤦🏼♂️
Isn’t that how planarians were described in biology class?