iOS 27’s New AI Voice Control Feature Hints at a Major Siri Upgrade Coming

Every May, Apple previews new accessibility features available on devices like iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The announcement usually comes a few days before World Accessibility Awareness Day and offers a preview of what will be included in the next major releases of Apple’s software platforms, such as iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

This year, one of the new features introduced by Apple is natural language support for the voice control function on the iPhone and iPad.

Voice Control is getting an Apple Intelligence upgrade that will make the feature “more intuitive than ever,” according to Apple. Specifically, iPhone and iPad users will be able to describe on-screen buttons and controls in natural language, instead of having to memorize labels, numbers, or exact descriptions like before.

For example, users will be able to say things like “tap the best restaurants guide” in Apple Maps or “tap the purple folder” in the Files app.

AI-powered voice control hints at the more personalized version of Siri that Apple first announced at WWDC 2024. At the time, Apple said Siri would gain more on-screen visibility, essentially turning the assistant into an AI agent that can understand natural language and act on your behalf.

Apple’s own example was an iPhone user asking Siri about his mother’s flight booking and lunch plans based on information retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps. It was later reported that Siri would be able to do things like comment on an Instagram post or scroll through a shopping app and add something to your cart.

Overall, the revamped Siri should have better understanding of a user’s personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. In March 2025, Apple announced that these capabilities would be delayed until later this year. The new and improved Siri is expected to be a flagship feature of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, which will be revealed on June 8 and is expected to be released to the public in September.

The more personalized Siri will likely require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, a Mac with an M1 chip or newer, or an iPad with an A17 Pro or M1 chip or newer.