iOS 27 test: AI finally takes control of the iPhone

With the Release Candidate of iOS 27 rolling out right after the iPhone Duo event, we’re just days away from Apple officially releasing iOS 27 to the public on Monday, September 14. With the foldable iPhone Duo now official and the new iPhone 18 Pro models finally revealed, we now have a clearer picture of the true capabilities of this upcoming software update.

Over the past few months, we’ve been using iOS 27 on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, putting this update through its paces all over the world, from mainland China to Paris to Budapest to Berlin. Not only have we noticed significant improvements since the first beta, but also how the new features and changes will reinvigorate Apple’s smartphone lineup. While the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models will get powerful new Siri AI features, Apple says older models will become snappier with tons of bug fixes, improved AirDrop reliability, and apps opening faster than ever.

After months of testing, we found out how new features improve the iPhone experience, how the update affects battery life, and who should update this software once it’s available for iPhone 11 and beyond. Here’s everything you need to know about iOS 27, Apple’s biggest move in AI yet.

Visually, iOS 27 looks like iOS 26, but it’s much more refined. Some apps have improved contrast and appear more vivid. Even the Clear option for Liquid Glass, which in iOS 26 was washed out and hard to see with certain backgrounds, has evolved. The entire iOS 26 update cycle seemed to focus on fixes and changes to Liquid Glass, but it took until iOS 27 arrived to bring the new design language up to the company’s typical standards.

Liquid Glass has been Apple’s push toward a more unified design language across all of its operating systems, and unlike the days of Steve Jobs, the company is willing to compromise to appease users. For example, users can decide whether they want a glassy, ​​translucent experience or a tinted look closer to iOS 18. In general, refraction is more uniform across the entire operating system with the latest update. It’s also important to note that the company requires iOS 27 apps to be easily resized to any display format, which we now know was an effort to maximize compatibility with the foldable iPhone Duo.

Not only does iOS 27 look great, but owners of older iPhones should notice that apps open faster. With the modern powerhouse that is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it’s impossible to say that Instagram, iMessage, and other apps suddenly opened considerably faster, as the experience remains consistent with what was already present in iOS 26.

Apple’s long-delayed promise about Apple Intelligence is finally a reality, even if it’s still in beta. Rolling out to users around the world in iOS 27 – excluding those with a European Apple account – the new Siri AI appears to be everything the company envisioned and, perhaps, a little more. It’s a huge step forward from Siri having trouble setting a timer, sharing a weather report, or knowing what month it is.

The truth is that Siri AI is incredibly useful and a new boost for the company’s own services. The personal assistant shines when accessing Messages, Notes, Mail, and other proprietary Apple apps. Nine times out of ten, Siri was able to help me find a very specific message, document, podcast link, or even something I didn’t completely remember. The personal assistant is conversational, gives me information about my trip, can answer almost any question, and translates on the fly. I’ve used it before to figure out exactly what time I should wake up to eat breakfast before leaving a hotel for the airport.

Of course, Siri isn’t always perfect, and sometimes it forgets that it can use Google. For example, if I request translation of an unsupported language like Hungarian, the personal assistant quickly tells me that it is unable to do so. However, just remind Siri that it can browse the Internet to find the online translation. Other features that impressed me include asking Siri to replace a sentence with translated copy, add information to a form, and proactively make my day easier by rearranging my schedule to avoid conflicts.

Every Apple Intelligence feature has been upgraded. Creating Genmoji, for example, is very proactive when sending messages, even if Apple suggests weird images. Image generation is also faster on Image Playground, Writing Tools is a constant reminder that you might not know how to construct a sentence correctly, and the AI-powered image editing tools impressed me in the same way Pixelmator did years ago with the way it used the iPad’s machine learning capabilities to remove objects from photos.

iOS 27 features an improved cleanup tool that’s much more effective at removing unwanted objects and people in the background of your photos. The Expand tool is great for adding to your photo to fill the frame, and it also works surprisingly well. Finally, the ability to use Spatial Crop, which lets you change the angle of a photo, almost makes me wonder if we should have so much extra control over our shots.

While there’s a lot to be excited about, and anyone with an iPhone 15 Pro or newer model will have a host of new features to explore — after joining the waitlist for new AI features, anyway — it’s also somewhat odd to celebrate the efforts of a trillion-dollar company that’s only now catching up with demand for AI. Although I consider Apple Intelligence to be one of the best AI applications on the market, Apple took its time getting here. That said, there’s no shame in asking Google for help – I just wish Apple would have done it sooner.

Besides the full adoption of AI, iOS 27 is basically a minor upgrade. There are no notable new features for Apple Music, most Apple apps look similar, and highly anticipated additions, like the ability to update passwords with one click, aren’t ready yet. Instead, Apple decided to deliver an update focused on fixing bugs, polishing up code, and creating a more vivid experience.

For an iPhone 17 Pro Max user, it’s honestly difficult to tell the difference between iOS 26 and iOS 27. After all, each beta introduces new bugs, however, with the iOS 27 Release Candidate now installed on my device, I can say that the software is more stable than ever. For iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 owners, their devices should be even faster than iOS 26.

Of course, battery life is always a major concern when updates arrive. I charged my iPhone twice a day throughout the summer, due to a mix of Parisian heatwaves, testing all the Siri AI features, and a seemingly dry vapor chamber (that’s not really how it works, but my iPhone 17 Pro Max seems hotter around the camera set). However, for those who haven’t used the iOS 27 beta, Apple did something smart: indexed Siri and its apps for the iOS 27 release. This means that the iOS 26.6 update has already done most of the work, so iOS 27 should work even better than usual from day one. For me, each weekly update means a new indexing cycle.

iOS 27 is a welcome upgrade for any iPhone owner, even those without the latest models and those who don’t want to upgrade to an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo. While an iPhone 11 owner might not find many new features in iOS 27, they will benefit from more reliable AirDrop, faster speeds, and some battery improvements. For those with an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, the highlight is Apple Intelligence, which truly transforms the iPhone experience.

Personally, I really like how the new Siri lives on Dynamic Island and how notifications are placed right next to the clock. That said, iPhone users will have to retrain their brains a bit, as the top right corner is dedicated to Control Center, the top left corner is for notifications, and everything else at the top of the screen is Siri AI and Spotlight.

Overall, I’m happy with iOS 27 and can’t wait to see what the new update cycle brings. iOS 27.1 remains a mystery at the moment: it could add even more AI features or just make small changes. We’ve also put together a checklist for preparing your iPhone for iOS 27, which is worth reading before the September 14 launch. Overall, this is one of the most polished software updates Apple has offered in recent years.