Earlier quoted context omitted.
All ML on device definitely seems like a goal for Apple[1]. However, right now Siri doesn't work in airplane mode. Maybe its still too power hungry to run locally? Maybe they still need the data from the requests server side to improve the model? I hope both Siri and Maps, and especially their integration, i.e. "Siri navigate to ____." "Siri find restaurants nearby (or along the way)" works on device in the near futu…
Siri’s voice translation works in your phone but the answers it needs are all calculated from the server (on the whole). Maps, for example, are all stored server side and route calculation are server side processes as well, as are the locations of restaurants. There’s a difference been decoding voice requests and being able to answer any questions you may have; you wouldn’t expect Google web search or Wikipedia to wo…
I expect that it will one day soon work offline. Likely not a full web search.
By 202X, while offline my device should have:
1. Enough storage for voice to text models, translation models, local Maps data auto-downloaded when I have reception (including restaurants, reviews, image thumbnails, etc), Wikipedia, wallets (car keys, credit cards, concert/movie tickets, email, daily news, music/podcasts/YouTube that I’ve subscribed to. All of this should be automatically synced when I have reception (podcasts and music already do es this).
2. Enough compute to translate voice to text (and between languages), set a simple timer/alarm, unlock my car, search through Wikipedia, search for restaurants, directions between points on the map (without using traffic data), open an App or play downloaded music/podcasts/YouTube (including the option to chrome-cast without wifi - using BlueTooth (or similar with high bandwidth), NFC/UWB for simple pairing).
3. Auto-upgrade to use the network when it’s available, like use current traffic data for directions, hi-res images/audio/video.
Bonus: When offline, Apps like Spotify, Gmail, etc should also run some local search options for downloaded data.
Bonus: When offline/online, restaurants should have NFC/UWB servers for their menu. My iPhone should just “download” the menu from the POS system. No need for “signal” or wifi.