What’s New in iOS 27 at a Glance

• Siri AI: Apple’s new Siri AI combines personal context, onscreen awareness and web knowledge to deliver more natural conversations, richer answers, app actions and cross-device chat history.
• Apple Intelligence across apps: Apple Intelligence expands across Safari, Photos, Messages, Mail, Calendar, Home and Shortcuts, adding smarter suggestions, automation, image generation and context-aware assistance.
• Smarter Photos editing: Photos gains Spatial Reframing, Extend and an upgraded Clean Up tool, allowing users to improve composition, expand images and remove distractions more naturally.
• Child safety and parental controls: New parental controls include Ask to Browse, Time Allowances, app schedules and enhanced Communication Safety tools designed to give parents more control.
• System Improvements: Apple has made many system operations faster and more efficient, which will be especially noticeable on older phones. Battery life may be longer, and there are dozens of small quality-of-life improvements throughout the system and its apps.

iOS 27 release date: When did Apple release iOS 27?

• September 14, 2026

Apple made iOS 27 widely available on September 14 at around 10am Pacific Time.

iOS 27 beta – What’s new in the latest beta?

• Latest beta: None, but iOS 27.1 beta should be available soon

Apple has several “Audio Intelligence” features coming to the new Apple Watch series 12 and Ultra 4 in an update later this year. Also, a new Health app, fully redesigned with AI insights at its core, is expected this year as well. Those things, as well as the software features required for the iPhone Duo, are likely to be in iOS 27.1

Siri AI in iOS 27

By far the biggest upgrade in iOS 27 is Siri AI – an entirely new architecture for Siri. Apple says it is more personal, conversational, and capable than the current assistant, with support for natural follow-up questions, personal context, onscreen awareness and up-to-date information from the web.

Siri AI features

• More natural conversations: Siri AI can understand open-ended questions, follow-up requests and more complex natural language, making interactions feel less like issuing simple voice commands.
• Personal context: Siri can draw on information stored in Messages, Mail, Photos and Notes to find details and answer questions. For example, you could ask it to find information buried in an old email or message.
• Onscreen awareness: Siri can understand what you’re viewing and act on it, such as saving an address from a message, adding an event to Calendar or answering questions about an article.
• Camera intelligence: A new Siri Camera mode lets you show Siri something through the iPhone’s camera, then ask questions or perform actions based on what it sees.
• More capable app actions: Siri can perform tasks within apps such as Messages, Music and Reminders. It can, for example, edit a recently sent message, add a song to a playlist or handle more complex Apple Music requests.
• Better general knowledge and web answers: Siri can use information from the web to answer questions about recent events and tackle more specific or complicated queries than before.
• Conversation history across devices: A dedicated Siri app lets users revisit previous conversations, pin important chats and continue conversations across Apple devices using iCloud syncing.
• More natural Siri voices: Siri gains more expressive voices, with controls on compatible devices for adjusting speaking pace and expressiveness. Voice customisation requires an iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air or newer.
• Improved dictation: Better speech recognition, automatic punctuation, capitalisation and formatting allow users to dictate more naturally when converting speech into text.
• AI-assisted message replies: Siri can compose contextual replies in Messages using the conversation, personal information and web searches. Shortcuts can also automate replies to selected contacts, although manual Siri-assisted replies allow users to check and edit the response before it is sent.

Read about what happened when we made Siri AI Answer all our Messages.

How good is Siri AI?

Siri AI represents a significant improvement over the old Siri, particularly when handling conversational questions, current information, and personal context. It also has a dedicated app where you can see and continue previous conversations, upload images or documents, and more.

Even in our early tests during the beta, Siri AI proved to be much more helpful and useful.

It’s definitely one of the biggest reasons to upgrade to iOS 27, potentially changing Siri from a basic voice-command system into a more general way of interacting with the iPhone.

Apple’s approach to AI safety also appears more restrained than some rival chatbots, with Siri designed to avoid excessive flattery, pretending to be human, or responding inappropriately to potentially harmful requests.

However, Siri AI is launching as a “beta” feature and still requires a bit of polish. It’s also only available in U.S. English at first, with a handful of other languages/regions coming in October with iOS 27.1.

Regional Siri AI availability

Siri AI will not initially be available on iPhone or iPad in the EU. It will also remain unavailable in China while Apple works through regulatory issues. The first release only supports the U.S. English language, but several other languages are coming with the iOS 27.1 update in October.

Siri AI compatibility

Siri AI requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later, and the “new expressive voices” feature requires an iPhone 17 Pro or the new iPhone 18 Pro.

Apple Intelligence across apps

As well as Siri AI, the enhanced Apple Intelligence will also power new features in Apple’s core apps throughout iOS 27. Safari will organize tabs into topics, monitor webpages for changes and even build extensions from natural-language descriptions. Photos is set to gain a new Spatial Reframing edit tools including an upgraded Clean Up feature. Messages, Mail, and Calendar will be able to understand context, suggest actions and create events from simple descriptions.

New features coming to apps in iOS 27

iOS 27 brings a mix of major Apple Intelligence upgrades and smaller quality-of-life improvements across Safari, Photos, Messages, AirPods, Passwords, Wallet, and other core iPhone apps. Apple is also making iOS more adaptable to different screen sizes and orientations, which are changes necessary for the iPhone Duo.

Safari

Safari can automatically group open tabs into topics, making related pages easier to find. A new Notify Me feature will monitor webpages and alert you to changes such as price drops or products coming back into stock.
There’s also a new Describe an Extension feature which lets users create custom Safari extensions simply by explaining what they want the extension to do.

Photos

Photos gains significantly more powerful AI editing tools.

Reframe can alter the composition and perspective of an existing photo, while Extend generates new image content beyond the original frame when straightening a horizon or changing the aspect ratio.

Clean Up has also been improved, with Fast and High Quality modes for removing unwanted objects or details. High Quality mode can produce considerably more natural results, although more ambitious edits can still introduce distortions or invented details.

Photos also adds new categories and the ability to save a frame from a video as a full-resolution photo. The resulting HEIF or JPG retains the video’s original resolution, date, and location metadata rather than simply creating a screenshot.

Camera

iOS 27 features a new more customizable camera interface that lets you pin the controls you use most often. For the iPhone 18 Pro, there are also “pro controls” like white balance, shutter speed, and manufal focus along with Apple Reference Image, an authentication system designed to prove that a photo or video was genuinely captured on an iPhone and has not subsequently been manipulated.

The new Siri mode in the Camera app is a more convenient and logical way to access the Visual Intelligence features that used to require either a long-press of the camera button or a Control Center button.

Messages

Messages gets several useful improvements.

You can decide what the microphone button beside the text field does. Under Settings > Apps > Messages > Show in Text Field, it can be set to Record Audio, Start Dictation, or None. Disabling it does not remove either feature: dictation remains available from the keyboard and audio messages remain in the + menu.

Voice-message playback controls are easier to access, while Apple Intelligence can suggest actions based on a conversation, such as creating a reminder, making a note, or finding relevant photos.

Messages will also gain smarter suggested replies that can better reflect the user’s writing style.

Drawing

A new dedicated Drawing app replaces the old hidden handwriting interface. Accessible from the + menu, it uses the familiar pens, colours and drawing controls found in Notes and Markup, with finished drawings sent as images.

Mail

Mail gains more context-aware smart replies, including responses that can better match the user’s usual writing style.

Apple Intelligence can also surface information from Mail elsewhere in iOS. For example, the Phone app could retrieve a flight confirmation number from an email when you call an airline.

Phone

A new Call Context feature can surface information that may be useful when while on a call. Apple says the information is selected according to who you are calling rather than by listening to the conversation. For example, calling an airline could cause iOS to surface the relevant flight confirmation from Mail.

Birthday reminders can also appear when calling contacts whose birthdays are stored on the iPhone.

FaceTime

FaceTime gains Dual Capture, allowing the front and rear cameras to be used at the same time during a call.

Passwords

The Passwords app will continue to warn about weak, reused and compromised credentials, but iOS 27 goes a step further by offering to fix some of them automatically.

Using Apple Intelligence, Passwords can visit supported websites, change a vulnerable password and save the replacement credentials. See: Apple got rid of my biggest password headache.

The usefulness of the feature will depend on how widely websites are supported and how well it handles obstacles such as two-factor authentication and unusual account-management interfaces.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts gains Describe a Shortcut, allowing users to create automations simply by explaining what they want to happen.

Apple Intelligence will interpret the request and assemble the appropriate actions across supported apps, potentially making Shortcuts significantly easier to use for people unfamiliar with building automations manually.

Calendar

Calendar can create or modify events from natural-language instructions.

Apple says the app can recognize contacts, locations, dates and other event details as users type, reducing the amount of information that needs to be entered manually.

Siri can also create complete Calendar entries for information that is on your screen in that moment, or by taking a picture with the Siri mode in the Camera app.

Image Playground

Image Playground is considerably more powerful and realistic.

Apple says it can create photorealistic images and lets users modify generated pictures simply by describing the changes they want. Individual objects can also be selected, resized, or repositioned.

AI-generated images will include a SynthID watermark identifying them as synthetic content.

Wallet

Wallet can create custom passes from QR codes.

Users can add their own fields and information to the pass, and passes automatically sync to Apple Watch.

Weather

Weather gets a clearer, more detailed forecast interface, with rearranged information tiles and new 10-day views showing precipitation probability/amount and wind speed throughout each day.

Home app

Apple Intelligence comes to the Home app for compatible HomeKit Secure Video cameras. It can group related camera notifications, describe recorded video and highlight clips that appear particularly noteworthy.

Maps

Apple Maps improves Flyover using higher-quality aerial imagery and Visual Intelligence models.

Apple says this produces sharper architectural detail and more realistic rendering of elements such as individual trees.

Podcasts

Video podcasts become easier to use, with improved controls for switching between watching a podcast and simply listening to it.

Fitness

Workout summaries have been redesigned to make them easier to share.

Users can also hide completed Fitness+ workouts.

iOS 27 changes beyond the iPhone

CarPlay

CarPlay gains an audio scrubber, giving drivers and passengers more direct control when moving through audio tracks and other content.

AirPods

iOS 27 introduces several new AirPods features.

A new Custom EQ lets users independently adjust bass, mids and treble using a simple three-band equalizer under Settings > AirPods > Audio and Routing > Equalizer > Custom.

Compatible AirPods also gain improved Precision Finding through Find My, making individual earbuds easier to locate.

Some features require both iOS 27 and compatible AirPods firmware.

Read How to tune your AirPods with a custom EQ in iOS 27.

Other changes coming with iOS 27

It’s not only individual apps that are seeing changes.

Home Screen and landscape mode

Apple is making iOS significantly more flexible when dealing with different screen orientations and sizes.

More Apple apps now work properly in landscape, including Health, Home, Music, Weather, and Watch. Dynamic Island and Live Activities can also adapt to landscape orientation. The Home Screen supports extra-large widgets.

These changes could simply improve iPhone usability, but they’re also well suited to Apple’s folding iPhone Duo.

iPhone Mirroring in macOS 27 has similarly become freely resizable, with Apple apps dynamically rearranging their interfaces as the window changes shape.

Liquid Glass refinements

Apple says Liquid Glass has been refined for better readability, more uniform refraction and improved contrast. A new slider lets users adjust the look from ultraclear to fully tinted, while updated icons, toolbars, sidebars and window shapes add polish.

Ringtones, alarms and alert volume

iOS 27 finally separates several sound-volume controls.

Instead of one combined Ringtone and Alerts slider, users can independently adjust:

• Ringtones
• Alarms and timers
• Alerts and system sounds

The change is optional. Under Settings > Sounds & Haptics, turning off Match Ringtone Volume reveals separate controls.

Media and call volume continue to work independently as before.

Keyboard

iOS 27 introduces a new quick-paste control above the keyboard.

It lets you paste recently copied text, images or screenshots without having to long-press inside a text field, making everyday copy-and-paste considerably faster.

Apple has also made the Liquid Glass keyboard design more consistent across apps.

Privacy and Find My

iOS 27 introduces the ability to temporarily pause Find My location sharing without notifying the person with whom the location is normally shared.

Recovery and troubleshooting

Apple is also expanding the iPhone’s recovery interface, giving users more options for diagnosing problems and recovering an iPhone without immediately connecting it to another device.

System changes and how iOS 27 will make your iPhone faster

Alongside the headline AI features, Apple says iOS 27 includes a wide range of under-the-hood improvements designed to make iPhones faster, smoother and more efficient.

Apps can launch up to 30% faster, newly taken photos can appear in the Photos library up to 70% faster, and AirDrop transfers can be up to 80% quicker. External drive transfers should also improve, while updates to network performance and the system-wide search index are designed to make connectivity and finding information faster.

The company has also reworked core technologies including CPU scheduling, display performance and processing efficiency. These changes should benefit older iPhones in particular, with Apple promising smoother performance and more efficient battery use on devices as old as the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE.

Our testing of the iOS 27 beta supports those claims. On an iPhone 11 Pro Max, Camera launch time fell from 0.98 seconds in iOS 26 to 0.65 seconds in iOS 27, while Maps improved from 3.01 seconds to 1.36 seconds.

Everyday use also feels smoother, with more fluid animations, unlocking, Control Center and app transitions. The phone ran cooler during testing too, which could point to improved system efficiency and potentially better battery performance.

More broadly, iOS 27 appears focused on refinement rather than simply adding new features. Apple says it has addressed dozens of common user frustrations, while changes such as more adjustable Liquid Glass effects are intended to improve readability and general usability.

That focus should make iOS 27 particularly worthwhile for owners of older iPhones, even on models that do not support Siri AI. Those devices still gain performance improvements alongside features such as clipboard tools for the keyboard, independent alarm and timer volume controls, custom Wallet passes, Photos changes, larger widgets, and Liquid Glass refinements.

Child safety and parental controls

There are lots of improvements coming to parental controls, including new time allowances for entertainment, games, and social media, and new schedule tools for different times of day or days of the week.

This includes new features like an expansion of the existing “ask to buy” feature for apps to websites. Before a child can view a new website, they’ll have to ask for permission.

Ask to Browse: Ask to Browse will expand the current Ask to Buy feature to the web. Apple says children will need to request permission before visiting new websites, and parents can review requests in Messages before approving.

Communication Safety: Communication Safety will continue to help protect children from viewing or sharing nudity in Messages, FaceTime and other apps. Apple says it will also intervene before children see gore or violent content in shared images and videos.

Time Allowances and schedules: Parents will be able to set Time Allowances across categories such as Entertainment, Games and Social Media. Recommendations are based on a child’s age combined with guidance from clinical and child development experts. Schedules let parents choose which apps are available at different times or on different days.

Redesigned Screen Time: Screen Time will get a redesigned interface with an at-a-glance view of average device usage and most-used apps. Apple says parents can quickly limit or extend access in the moment.

Child accounts and family safety: Apple says child accounts remain central to age-appropriate protections. Parents can manage app access, web access, communication permissions and Screen Time settings.

Apple says it is working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to adapt its Family Media Plan.

Accessibility changes coming in iOS 27

Accessibility features are smarter and more intuitive in iOS 27:

• VoiceOver gives richer image descriptions and better understanding of onscreen content.
• Live Recognition lets users press the Action button to ask questions about their surroundings and receive detailed responses.
• Voice Control is more intuitive, allowing users to describe onscreen buttons and controls rather than remembering exact coordinate labels or numbers.
• Accessibility Reader will be able to handle more complex source material and provide summaries and translation.

iOS 27 compatibility

According to Apple, iOS 27 supports iPhones back to the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE, although some Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features require newer hardware.

Support for iOS 27 does not mean every device gets every feature. Apple Intelligence and Siri AI requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 or later, while the most advanced on-device AI models require an iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, or iPhone 18 Pro. On iPad, Apple Intelligence requires an M1-class model or the A17 Pro iPad mini, while the newest on-device models require an M4 iPad with at least 12GB of RAM.

There had been speculation that the iPhone 11 series and iPhone SE 2 would miss out on iOS 27 after leaker Instant Digital claimed on Weibo that the 2019 iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, along with the 2020 iPhone SE 2, would no longer be supported. That prediction proved incorrect, giving those models at least one more year of software support.

However, the iPhone 11 generation is nearing the end of its support life. As we explain in our guide to how long Apple supports iPhones, the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have already been added to Apple’s Vintage iPhone list.

The iOS 27 compatibility list is:

• iPhone 17e (launched in 2026)
• iPhone 17, 17 Pro / 17 Pro Max (launched in 2025)
• iPhone Air (launched in 2025)
• iPhone 16e (launched in 2025)
• iPhone 16 / 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro / 16 Pro Max (launched in 2024)
• iPhone 15 / 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max (launched in 2023)
• iPhone 14 / 14 Plus / 14 Pro / 14 Pro Max (launched in 2022)
• iPhone SE 3 (launched in 2022)
• iPhone 13 / 13 mini / 13 Pro / 13 Pro Max (launched in 2021)
• iPhone 12 / 12 mini / 12 Pro / 12 Pro Max (launched in 2020)
• iPhone SE 2 (launched in 2020)
• iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max (launched in 2019)

The main dividing line for Apple Intelligence remains the iPhone 15 Pro generation: the standard iPhone 15 and all older models can run iOS 27, but they do not support Apple Intelligence.