Most people know Siri as the helpful digital assistant on the iPhone, but very few know the real person behind the voice. The original Siri voice came from Susan Bennett, a professional voice actress whose work unexpectedly became a key part of Apple’s history. Her journey to becoming Siri happened long before the iPhone ever existed.
Susan Bennett is an experienced American voice-over artist. Before she ever became Siri, she spent years recording audio for commercials, customer service systems, GPS devices, and airport announcements. Her warm, clear tone made her popular in the voice industry and earned her consistent work long before any connection to Apple.
In 2005, Susan Bennett took on a major recording project for a company named ScanSoft. This job required her to spend four hours a day in a studio for an entire month, reading thousands of strange and disconnected phrases. These sentences sounded unusual, but they were designed to capture every sound in her voice so that engineers could build a digital version of it using advanced speech technology. During these long sessions, she had no idea that her voice would eventually become part of one of the world’s most famous smartphone features.
After the recordings were completed, ScanSoft merged with Nuance Communications, a company known for developing voice-recognition and speech-synthesis technology. Years later, Apple licensed Nuance’s voice database while building Siri. When the iPhone 4S was released in 2011, the synthetic voice created from Bennett’s recordings became the original Siri voice. This meant that millions of iPhone users suddenly heard her voice every time they activated Siri.
What makes her story even more surprising is that Susan Bennett did not know she was Siri until after the iPhone was released. A friend contacted her and asked if the voice belonged to her. When she listened closely, she immediately recognized her own rhythm, tone, and style. She discovered the truth at the same time the rest of the world did, not through an announcement from Apple. In 2013, she publicly confirmed that she was the original Siri, and voice experts supported her claim.
Over time, Susan Bennett’s Siri voice became iconic. Millions of people heard it daily while asking for directions, searching the internet, setting alarms, or simply talking to their phones. Her calm and friendly sound became a key part of the iPhone experience and helped shape the early identity of Apple’s digital assistant. Although later versions of Siri introduced new voices, many users still remember the original voice that started it all.
The story of Susan Bennett shows how unexpected opportunities can become part of global technology. Her month of recordings in 2005 turned into one of the most recognizable voices in the world, making her the original voice of Siri on every early iPhone and an unforgettable part of Apple’s history.
Follow for Updates!
Facebook: Newton Meshak
TikTok: @Mrrpoat