Apple first introduced the idea of a smarter version of Siri at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference. Siri with Apple Intelligence was supposed to launch as part of iOS 18, but the underlying architecture wasn’t good enough and Apple was forced to delay the feature. Now we are expecting a new version of Siri in iOS 27 with long-awaited smart features.
Siri’s new capabilities
Based on Apple’s promises and rumors about what will happen in the new version of iOS, Siri in iOS 27 will look nothing like Siri in iOS 26. In 2024, Apple showed us three ways to improve Siri, but two years have passed and more work has been done, so we’re still expecting more than that. that Apple demonstrated at the time.
Siri will be able to draw on user data and information from Apple devices, with access to personal data to perform tasks. The assistant will also be able to do more with apps, and it will be able to speak what’s on the screen to answer questions.
Personal background
Siri will be able to access emails, messages, files, photos and more, learn everything about you to help you accomplish your tasks and keep track of what’s been sent to you. Apple offered some examples of how personal context works:
- Show me the files Eric sent me last week.
- Find the email in which Eric mentioned ice skating.
- Find the books that Eric recommended to me.
- Where is the recipe that Eric sent me?
- What is my passport number?
Screen Awareness
Screen awareness will allow Siri to see what’s on your screen and perform actions involving whatever you’re looking at. If someone texts you an address, you can tell Siri to add it to their contact card. Or if you’re looking at a photo and want to send it to someone, you can ask Siri to do it for you.
Application integration
Siri will be able to do more within and between apps, performing actions and completing tasks that simply aren’t possible with the personal assistant at the moment. We don’t have a complete picture of what Siri will be capable of, but Apple has given some examples of what to expect.
- Move files from one application to another.
- Edit a photo then share it with someone.
- Get directions home and send the ETA in the Messages app.
- Writing then sending an email.
Siri will be able to perform tasks in Apple apps and third-party apps, with developers able to expose app capabilities to Siri.
Siri as a chatbot
Apple is turning Siri into a full-featured chatbot that users can interact with in the same way as Claude or ChatGPT. The Siri chatbot will be integrated into Apple’s operating systems at a system level, and there will also be a Siri app for back-and-forth conversations.
Siri will be able to do the same things as other chatbots. It will be able to search the web for answers to questions and provide summaries, evaluate and summarize uploaded documents, and even generate images and content so you can do things like get help with writing or create an infographic.
Unlike ChatGPT and Claude, Siri will benefit from deeper integration of Apple devices and better access to user data. Current chatbots can’t access your messaging app, what you’ve written in notes, your photo library, or your messages, but Siri will have this information. Access to personal data will set Siri apart and give iPhone users some of the features that Android users have been able to enjoy thanks to Gemini’s integration with Google services.
Siri will be able to answer multi-part questions, remember what was asked before, maintain context between requests, and remember details about the user.
The design of Siri
With the chatbot transition from Siri, Apple will make several design changes related to Siri. Siri will largely live on the dynamic island and there will be new ways to access Siri.
Swiping your finger from the center of the iPhone screen from the Home screen or any app will bring up a new “Search or Ask” feature in “Dynamic Island”. A pill-shaped light animation will be displayed in “Dynamic Island” to indicate that Siri is processing a request.
When Siri has a response, the Dynamic Island will expand into a transparent map with the result, incorporating images, information from the web, notes and other information relevant to the query or request. Swiping the results card will bring up a conversation mode that resembles an iMessage chat, and there will be an option to switch to the full Siri app.
Search or Ask replaces Siri suggestions and will allow users to launch apps, start text messages, ask about the weather, add calendar appointments, trigger shortcuts in apps, and search the web using Apple’s new AI Web Search feature. Search or inquiry queries may also be sent to third-party chatbot services like ChatGPT instead of Siri.
While Siri is accessible with a single swipe in iOS 27, Apple retains the wake word “Hey Siri” and activation of Siri via the side button. With the new center swipe, access to the notification center will be with a swipe down on the left side of the screen. Swiping down on the right side will continue to bring up Control Center.
Apple will also integrate an “Ask Siri” button into its app menus, giving users a way to send content directly to Siri with a request.
The new Siri interface uses dark colors with no lighting mode available. The Siri UI elements have a dark background with color accents that reflect the options Apple used in WWDC footage. Apple’s WWDC website features a white Swift bird with subtle highlights in pink, dark blue, purple and orange.
A Siri app
There will be a dedicated Siri app for interacting with Siri, and it will look similar to third-party chatbot apps but with an Apple design aesthetic. We have a separate guide on the Siri app.
Confidentiality
Apple plans to make privacy a central tenet of its approach to AI, giving it a way to distinguish “Siri” from other chatbot options. Apple will likely work to keep as much processing on the device as possible to limit the amount of data that leaves a user’s device.
Apple said Apple Intelligence features will continue to work on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute.
Apple will have limits on memory, including restrictions on what information can persist and how long it can be retained. Users will be able to automatically delete chats and Siri requests after a set period of time, such as 30 days or a year. There will also be an option to keep chats permanently.
Siri can be disabled right now, as can Apple Intelligence, and there’s no indication that this will change in iOS 27. Users who don’t want to enable Siri or use the new features won’t have to do so.
Siri Extensions
Apple is letting rival chatbots integrate with Siri in iOS 27, expanding the OpenAI partnership that currently allows Siri to forward requests to ChatGPT. Apple plans to allow other chatbots like Claude and Gemini to work with Siri, so users can send questions to their favorite chatbot instead of Siri.
iPhone users will be able to select which services they want to use in Siri via the “Extensions” options available on iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27. The options will be available in the Apple Intelligence and Siri sections of the Settings app, with Apple providing download links for the chatbot apps. There will be a dedicated Extensions section in the App Store that will be used to choose a third-party AI application.
Siri will be the default for the Search or Ask interface, but rumors suggest users will be able to select other chatbots to talk with. Users will also be able to choose third-party AI services as default for Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools and Image Playground, extending Apple Intelligence integration beyond ChatGPT.
Apple also plans to let users choose the voices of a third-party AI to use instead of Siri, so there will be a distinct audio difference between a response from Siri and a response from the user’s chatbot of choice. Siri would use one voice, while responses from third-party AI options would use another voice.
Gemini Help
To get Siri up and running, Apple partnered with Google to use Gemini AI models instead of using its own AI models. Apple has signed a multi-year deal to use Gemini models and Google’s cloud technology for its Apple Foundation models.
Google and Apple have said that the next generation of Apple Foundation models will be based on the Google Gemini models, with Gemini used to power future Apple Intelligence features and the more personalized version of Siri.
Apple said Google’s AI technology provided the most capable foundation for its models.
Device Compatibility
The Apple Intelligence features require an iPhone 15 Pro or later, and it’s possible that some of the new Siri options will be limited to those same models.
Launch date
Apple will preview the new Siri at its WWDC 2026 main event on June 8, with beta versions of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 delivered to developers the same day. Public betas will arrive in July and software updates will launch in September.
It’s not yet clear whether all of the new Siri features will be available in the beta, or even as soon as iOS 27 launches.
