Apple launched iOS 27 to the public with performance improvements across apps and AirDrop, while positioning Siri AI as the headline feature. The assistant now supports conversational prompts and deeper integration with on‑device data, including email and messages. Apple built the new models in partnership with Google and said Siri shares technical underpinnings with Google’s Gemini models.
To try Siri AI users must first install iOS 27, then open Settings, go to General, Software Update, and install the update. After updating, the opt‑in lives under Settings, Siri, Try Siri AI (Beta). If the option is missing, switching Siri’s language to English, United States and setting the device region to United States will reveal it. Apple expects support for French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean to arrive in October 2026.
Hardware and regional limits will also block many devices. While iOS 27 runs on iPhones back to the iPhone 11 series, Apple restricts Siri AI to models at and above the iPhone 15 Pro series; non‑Pro iPhone 15 models and older phones do not get the assistant. iPad support requires either the seventh‑generation iPad mini with an A17 Pro chip or an iPad with an M1 processor or later. Apple also prevents accounts set to China or any European Union country from joining the waitlist, a decision linked to EU rules that require rival AI access to the same system data.
Apple says parts of Siri AI run on the device, while more complex requests use cloud servers. The company is gating access to avoid overwhelming backend infrastructure, and to limit waste from users who will not activate the feature. Some people have gained access within a day of joining the waitlist, while others wait longer. Devices may display Optimizing Search and Siri while the phone builds a personal context database, a background task that runs most efficiently while charging and connected to Wi‑Fi.
Apple also signaled future commercial limits. During the iPhone 18 Pro keynote the company said it will expand AI usage allowances through paid iCloud+ plans without giving further details. For now Siri AI remains controlled by device eligibility, regional rules, a staged waitlist and daily usage caps tied to server load and request complexity.
