Apples recent Siri delays have stirred up a mess of bad press, and reportedly led to an all-hands meeting where an exec called the affair ugly and embarrassing. But per another key quote from that meeting, theres no doubt Apple saved itself a world of trouble with the move.Reliability of new Siri features was reportedly very poorDelaying new iOS features isnt a great look. Especially when you get called out by the press with some very strong language.But you know whats indisputably worse? Shipping important features that just dont work.And per leaked notes from Apples recent all-hands meeting about the Siri delays, thats exactly the bullet the company avoided.Per Mark Gurman:Walker said the decision to delay the features was made because of quality issues and that the company has found the technology only works properly up to two-thirds to 80% of the time. He said the group can make more progress to get those percentages up, so that users get something they can really count on.iOS features that only work two-thirds of the time simply cannot be shipped.Even if some features worked 80% of the time, thats clearly still not good enough.I cant think of a scenario where it would be tolerable for Apple to ship features like that.But with these Siri features in particular, it would be especially bad. For two reasons:Apple announced these features last June, so if they arrived nearly a year later and still didnt work, that would be especially embarrassingMore importantly though, the critical nature of these Siri features would make faulty performance especially problematicCritical nature of Siri upgrades makes delay the best moveRegarding this latter point, the whole premise of the new Siri is that its supposed to function like a truly intelligent assistant.Awareness of your personal contextthe texts youve received, your calendar, and moreis supposed to mean you can rely on Siri for more important things.But if Siri flubbed on those details two-thirds of the time, or even just 20% of the time, the consequences could be dire. As John Gruber points out, inspired by Apples WWDC example of asking Siri about your moms flight info:If Siri answers, Your moms flight is arriving at 4:30 this afternoon, and its currently showing an on-time arrival, you really want that information to be correct if youve promised to pick her up at the airport. Youll be annoyed if you drive to the airport and it turns out shes not actually landing until 7:30. And youll be in real trouble if shes landing at 1:30 and you show up three hours later, having banked on Siris answer being accurate.Scenarios like this show the tremendous potential of the upgraded Siri to act like a true assistant. But also how devastating it would be for Apple if these new features shipped and didnt really work.Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo legend, is often attributed the quote: A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.Games and OS updates arent quite the same. And some dispute whether Miyamoto actually said that. In any case though, the point is clear.A delayed Siri, we all hope, will eventually be good. But a rushed update would have been very, very bad for Apple and its users.Do you think Apple made the right call in delaying Siris upgrades? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel