Siri With a New Voice in iOS 15.4 beta
The beta of iOS 15.4 adds a 5th American voice for its Siri voice assistant. Apple’s user-facing interface calls it “Voice 5,” but iOS developer Steve Moser reports that its filename points to the new voice as “Quinn.” The voice has come after a year after Apple added its last 2 American Siri voices, and quit defaulting to using a female-sounding voice.
Axios also points out that the new voice sounds more gender-neutral than earlier Siri voices. Apple confirmed to the publication that it was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, though the company didn’t give any further details on the voice actor’s identity. Last year’s voices were recorded by Black actors as part of the company’s “long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion,” Apple said at the time.
You can listen to all the Siri options below. The audio clips start and end with the new Siri 5th voice.
A quick comparison of Siri’s new voice with the existing four options pic.twitter.com/A7uLQeLvQw
— jon.porter (@JonPorty) February 23, 2022
“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 told Axios in reference to the new fifth American voice. “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.”
