Apple spent plenty of time talking about its shiny new iPhone 18 Pro models this week, but you won’t need to buy a new phone to get one of its biggest announcements. iOS 27 officially arrives on September 14, bringing Apple’s long-awaited Siri overhaul to supported iPhones. Apple first showed off iOS 27 at WWDC in June, and the software has spent the past few months moving through developer and public betas. Now, the finished version is almost ready for everyone.
Plenty of smaller changes are scattered throughout iOS 27, but Siri AI definitely grabs all the attention. This isn’t just Apple adding a few new commands to the existing assistant, either. Siri has been rebuilt to better understand what you’re asking and, more importantly, handle multi-step requests.
Siri AI is the reason to be excited about iOS 27
Apple has partnered with Google, using Gemini models to help train the technology behind Siri AI. The result is an assistant that’s supposed to be much better at understanding complicated requests and carrying out tasks rather than pointing you toward a webpage. There is a catch, though: Siri AI isn’t coming to every iPhone capable of running iOS 27.
Support starts with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, while newer devices get an even more capable on-device model. Apple says the iPhone 17 generation and iPhone Air, for example, can offer improved speech recognition and dictation. Compatible recent iPads are getting Siri AI as well, including M1-and-newer iPad Air and iPad Pro models and the latest iPad mini.
There’s more here than a smarter Siri
Even if Siri AI isn’t the feature you’re waiting for, iOS 27 still brings several changes across the iPhone. Apple has continued refining its Liquid Glass design language, alongside adding new child safety tools and general performance improvements. The same visual overhaul stretches across Apple’s other platforms. macOS 27 Golden Gate, for example, gets redesigned toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated menu bar icons, and more polished window shapes. Siri AI is also being integrated directly into Spotlight on the Mac, which could make Apple’s desktop search tool considerably more powerful.
iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate will all be released on September 14. Meanwhile, Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max go up for preorder on September 12 before hitting stores on September 18. Both will ship with iOS 27 right out of the box.
