Apple's iOS 27 update reaches more iPhones with Siri AI

Apple released iOS 27 on September 14, and PCMag reported it is available for compatible iPhones. PCMag Middle East reported that the free update is also rolling out in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt through Settings > General > Software Update. The software first appeared as a public beta in July and launched for compatible devices on September 14. It adds an opt-in Siri AI assistant, new parental controls, and photo editing tools.

Mark Ellis wrote on Medium on July 30 that Apple released public betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 in July. He cautioned that beta software can contain errors and that features could change before the final release.

On September 14, Apple released iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 for compatible iPhones and iPads, PCMag reported. The update works on iPhone 11 and later, including the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Wirecutter added that Siri AI features need an iPhone 15 Pro or later, while older phones get a separate set of features. Business Insider also noted that Apple released iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 the same day.

The New York Times reiterated the release on Facebook on September 15, highlighting features such as splitting a bill from a photo and setting Safari notifications to track price changes.

The largest change is Siri AI, an opt-in assistant that can hold conversations, see what is on the screen, and access personal data such as calendar events, emails, texts, and notes. Users must enable it in Settings, and Wirecutter describes it as a beta feature. Mike Rockwell, Apple's vice president of Siri engineering, said at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June: "Siri is now a profoundly more capable assistant that helps you find what you need and gets more done."

Wirecutter's testing found that Siri AI could recall travel dates, pull up a friend's book recommendation, and find photos of a pet. It also struggled to locate a hotel confirmation from an email, though it could add the confirmation to the calendar after the user found it manually. PCMag described the assistant as "agentic," able to perform multi-step tasks across apps, such as locating a PDF, renaming it, and drafting an email.

Visual Intelligence adds camera-based tools. Users can point the camera at a restaurant to ask for hours or a menu, scan nutrition labels to log them in Health, or photograph a receipt to split a bill and send shares via Apple Cash. The feature also creates custom Wallet passes from physical cards.

Other new features include parental controls like Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse, which require children to get permission for app downloads and web searches. Screen Time gets category-based allowances and schedules. Photo editing gains Clean Up improvements, Spatial Reframing, and Extend. Users can now create Shortcuts by describing an automation in plain language. Safari can monitor pages for price or stock changes with Notify Me.

Customization options include a Liquid Glass slider, freeform icon placement, extra-large home screen widgets, and dynamic lock screen shortcuts. Apple states that iOS 27 increases app launch speed by up to 30 percent, loads new Photos library images up to 70 percent faster, and speeds AirDrop transfers by up to 80 percent.