# Apples iOS 27 and Siri AI are coming soon: Everything we know so far > Source: > Published: 2026-08-29 09:00:00+00:00 # Apple's iOS 27 and Siri AI are coming soon: Everything we know so far [Stan Schroeder](/author/stan-schroeder) [Read Full Bio](/author/stan-schroeder) [Apple](https://mashable.com/category/apple)'s most important software platform is about to get a big upgrade. In a couple weeks, Apple will finally [launch the iOS 27](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-ios-27-announced-wwdc-2026). Yes, we've seen and tried out the developer betas and the public betas. Right now, we're at Developer Beta 7 and Public Beta 5; this late in the game, we don't expect to see any major new features when iOS 27 launches properly, though surprises are always possible. The keynote event is called "Surprise and shine," after all. For most users, however, the iOS 27 that launches next month **is** the new version, as most folks don't bother (and they shouldn't) installing the public beta. So, here's everything we've learned from testing iOS 27, which includes the Siri AI beta, and a list of the hottest new features to try out when it launches. **You May Also Like** *Guess what Apple will release in September in our Big Guessing Game: Apple edition. Enter now for a chance to win an Apple Watch* *!*## When is iOS 27 arriving? The final version of iOS 27 is likely to arrive mid-September. More precisely, given that [Apple is launching new iPhones on Sept. 9](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-announces-september-iphone-event-sept-9), we'll probably get iOS 27 a week later, on Sept. 16 (give or take a day or two). If you're still eager to try out the latest beta (which is bound to be very similar to the final release), here's [how to do that and what you can expect from it](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-iphone-ios-27-beta-5-arrives-whats-new). ## Who gets to install iOS 27? Apple's iOS 27 will be [available for iPhone 11 and later](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-ios-27-which-iphones-are-compatible-wwdc-2026-public-beta), as well as iPhone SE (2nd generation and later). Also, Apple's upcoming iPhones, which are reportedly [iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and the foldable iPhone Ultra](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-iphone-18-pro-launch-event-everything-to-expect), will almost certainly run iOS 27 out of the box. ## How to install iOS 27? If you have a compatible device (see above), the process will consist merely of going to your iPhone's Settings, General, Software Update, and choosing to install the new OS. The process should take roughly 10 minutes (depending on your internet connection). It's always wise to back up your phone before updating your software, though in this case, we don't expect any major problems; Apple's final, major software releases tend to be fairly polished. ## What's new in iOS 27 There are a lot of new features in iOS 27, with the crown jewel among them being improved Siri (which is now called Siri AI), as well as Apple Intelligence, both of which permeate the device's many features and built-in apps, offering new, simpler ways to achieve everyday tasks. Besides that, the Liquid Glass interface has been updated with more customizability, numerous apps, including Safari, Reminders, Notes, Photos, and Health, have gotten new features, and the iPhone, overall, should perform better. The new features range from major changes to tiny aesthetic improvements. Apple's got an [overview here](https://www.apple.com/os/ios/); below, here's our choice of the best new features you should try after installing iOS 27. *A word of caution: Some of the AI features aren't available in the EU due to Apple's dispute over AI with European regulators. There's currently no timeline* *as to when this could be resolved. With that out of the way, here are the best 7 iOS 27 features you should try after installing it.* ### Siri AI If you're in the U.S., Siri AI will work for you, and you can access it by either uttering the "Hey Siri" voice command, pressing and holding the iPhone's side button, or swiping down from the Dynamic Island on top of your screen. Once it's activated, you can use it to search for documents, emails, and photos on your device, ask it questions about a website on your screen (or any sort of general questions), get recommendations for places and activities, and easily create home automations. [Terms of Use](https://www.ziffdavis.com/terms-of-use)and [Privacy Policy](https://www.ziffdavis.com/ztg-privacy-policy). Siri understands you, personally, as it can draw context from your emails and other documents. It also knows a lot about the world, making it similar to LLMs such as OpenAI, so you can ask it questions or give it tasks related to you, personally, or just ask it about any topic you like. For a detailed overview of Siri's new features, go [here](https://mashable.com/tech/apple-siri-ai-everywhere-future) and [here](https://mashable.com/tech/siri-ai-new-features). ### Visual Intelligence Unfortunately, the same caveat goes for this one: It's not available in the EU at launch. It's a pity, because it's a cool feature that lets you point your camera at things and get information about them from Siri. This includes splitting a restaurant bill, getting working hours for a business, figuring out which plant or animal you're looking at, and more. You can access Visual Intelligence by clicking and holding the Camera Control button, or (if you have an iPhone that doesn't have the Camera Control button) either through Control Center or by customizing the Action button or Lock Screen. ### Child Safety Every parent knows what a nightmare the parental control features can be. You think you've set up everything right, only to discover that your kid still has unlimited access to YouTube (and is using it without any limits whatsoever). In iOS 27, Apple has overhauled the Child Safety features with an easier setup, more granular control over apps and websites, and better screen time management. The Communication Safety feature can even intervene before a child sees gore or violence in videos and images shared over Messages and FaceTime. There are detailed options for time allowances across several categories, including Entertainment, Games, and Social Media. Perhaps most importantly, there are now simple controls to either fully pause device use, or allow unlimited use of a device. ### Updates to Messages, Mail, Calendar, Safari Siri's new smarts extend over a number of Apple's built-in apps. For example, in Messages as well as Mail, Siri can write things for you based on a description, and the result will match your style. Both those apps will also offer suggestions based on your conversations, such as adding events to your Calendar or a reminder to your Reminders app. Safari has also gotten smarter. It will automatically group your tabs into topics, and a particularly cool new feature called Notify Me can monitor a webpage for changes, sending you an alert when it detects something new on the page. ### Better photo editing Apple has been *way *behind when it comes to AI-assited photo editing. Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones have a full suite of image editing tools that work really well. With iOS 27, Apple is finally catching up to its Android competition. The new, AI-enhanced photo editing tools are a pretty cool way to fix your photos, even some of the ones that came out quite poorly. The three new tools, available under "Tools" when you start editing a photo, include Clean Up, which lets you remove unwanted objects with a tap or a gesture. The Extend tool will automagically add content around the borders using AI, and Reframe lets you adjust the perspective of a photo. ### Smarter Shortcuts I don't know a lot of people who use Shortcuts on iPhone, probably because the idea of manually setting up a chain of actions for your phone sounds pretty tricky to do. In iOS 27, however, Apple has simplified this by adding the option to describe the shortcut and have it created automatically. To access it, open Shortcuts and tap New Shortcut, and just describe what you want the Shortcut to do. Stuff like "Turn the lights on, turn on Do Not Disturb, and start playing my favorite album" should work. ### New Image Playground Yeah, another thing that's absent in the EU. If you have it, it's a cool one. Image Playground was actually there before, in iOS 26, but the images it could generate were mostly cartoons or simple illustrations. Now, you can get photorealistic images, too. If you don't like your result, you can fine-tune it by adding additional prompts, with the option to precisely mark the part of the image that you want changed. ### Liquid Glass adjustments This is a small one, but it's important to a lot of folks. Under Settings and Appearances, you can now set exactly how clear or tinted you want your "liquified" apps and UI elements in iOS 27 to be. Personally, I push the slider to the left for a maximum-clear look, but folks who want more readability over visual pizzaz might want to push it the other way for a more tinted appearance. ### AirPods EQ How long have we been waiting for this one? In iOS 27, Apple finally added detailed equalizer settings for AirPods. Finding those settings is a little tricky, though. When your AirPods are connected to your phone, go to Settings, Bluetooth, navigate to the AirPods, and then tap the little "i" to the right. *Then* go to Audio and Routing, Equalizer, Custom. From there, you can adjust the bass, midrange, and treble to whatever your heart desires. Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.