In July, Apple introduced the new Siri AI in the consumer beta of iOS 27. The update finally delivers on Apple’s promises: the assistant now understands personal context, draws on broad world knowledge to answer questions, and surfaces relevant information stored on the iPhone.
What Siri can do now
The updated Siri supports natural back‑and‑forth conversations and includes settings to adjust the expressiveness and pacing of its voice responses. Users can also type to the assistant or access it through a dedicated app for the first time, which lets them reference past conversations.
Siri can find items on the device — photos, emails, contacts, texts, or calendar events — even when a user isn’t sure what or where to look. For example, you can ask it to pull up the last receipt you saved without specifying where it was stored or what it was for, and Siri will locate it.
It can extract information from images saved on the phone, such as reading a Driver’s License number from a photo, or recalling a QR code that was screenshotted as a reminder. Siri can launch websites and control apps to get directions, play music, edit a photo, draft an email, play audiobooks, and more.
Importantly, Siri now consistently and accurately plays the song, podcast, or audiobook you request on your preferred app — an area where it previously had issues.
Siri can also assist with brainstorming and practical tasks: refining ideas, learning about a new topic, suggesting a recipe from random ingredients in your fridge, or telling you when your favorite band is playing based on your location. In the Camera viewfinder it can identify real‑world objects or help split a restaurant bill.
Underlying technology
These improvements were enabled by Apple’s partnership with Google for use of the Google Gemini models. Apple used Gemini technology to train and refine its own Apple Foundation Models. The resulting models are designed to run on Apple Silicon and on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.
Why the launch feels subdued
Although Apple has delivered a functional and helpful Siri, the debut feels less groundbreaking because the broader AI landscape has advanced while Apple worked on these features. Today’s AI tools perform coding, run multi‑step agents, and collaborate more autonomously; a functioning conversational assistant is no longer as novel as it once would have been.
That said, Apple has met its commitments for Siri AI and produced a set of features that should be practically valuable for iPhone users.
Public availability
Users who do not run beta software will receive the new Siri when iOS 27 is officially released; Apple expects to make the update available in September.
(This article is based on the Siri features announced by Apple and information about the July consumer beta of iOS 27.)
