Siri AI in iOS 27: what the new assistant can do

At WWDC 2026, Apple dedicated a significant portion of the keynote to its work on artificial intelligence.

Below is a closer look at what Siri AI is and how it differs from the previous version of the assistant.

Apple Intelligence is built on Google Gemini models. The models run either locally on the device or on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, which are designed with enhanced security guarantees.

The new system understands personal context and can also access the internet to deliver more current and relevant answers. Apple Intelligence can also see what is happening on the screen, allowing users to ask questions directly tied to whatever they are looking at.

Apple says that user data is not retained, a claim the company says can be verified by independent experts. The AI is only used when the user actively requests it.

The redesigned assistant has been renamed Siri AI. Here is how it looks.

Siri now has its own dedicated app on iPhone. The main screen displays an overview of recent conversations with the assistant.

Conversations sync across devices, including Apple Watch. On Apple Vision Pro, the user does not even need to speak to Siri directly. A glance at the Siri icon is enough to activate it.

Siri AI can play music, search the internet, and respond to what is currently on the screen. The user can ask where a place in a photo is located and then request directions to it with a stop at a friend's house along the way.

Personal context plays a similar role. Siri can show photos from a recent weekend and then narrow the selection to only those featuring specific people the user names by voice.

The assistant can also process a photo of a schedule and add all of the listed sessions to the calendar. It can split a bill between participants through Apple Cash.

Another change concerns the assistant's voice. Siri now sounds more natural, and its speed and expressiveness can be adjusted separately.

Because Siri is built into the keyboard, the user can dictate text with it. The assistant places punctuation, applies capitalization, and corrects errors automatically, at least in theory.

Users can also interact with Siri through text by pulling down from the Dynamic Island and typing a request directly.

Siri has also gained a new feature called Write with Siri, which helps the user compose messages. Over time, it learns the user's communication style with specific contacts. AirPods will also receive an upgraded version of the assistant.

On Mac, Siri is integrated into Spotlight. Users can ask a question while attaching a photo and then continue the conversation in a separate window. Siri AI also understands PDF files. The user can select several documents and ask Siri to compare them, with the response presented as a structured comparison table.

Apple's most powerful on-device Apple Intelligence model will run on iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPad with the M4 chip and newer, and Mac with the M3 chip and newer, provided that the device has at least 12 GB of RAM.

At launch, Siri AI will support 16 languages, including English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.