Apple opens Siri AI to public with iOS 27 beta release
8 reported
Apple has released the iOS 27 public beta, making its redesigned Siri AI assistant available to everyday users for the first time beyond developers. The update, announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, transforms Siri into a more capable AI tool that can access information on a user’s device, including emails, photos, and messages, and respond to on-screen content with world knowledge. The public beta is available across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro. Siri can now be accessed by saying “Hey Siri,” pressing the side button, swiping down from the Dynamic Island, or through Spotlight search. For the first time, Siri also has its own stand-alone app. Under the hood, Siri AI uses Apple Intelligence, including Foundation Models built with Google’s Gemini technology but distilled for Apple Silicon using proprietary data. Early tests of the developer version showed improved handling of tasks like finding photos, summarizing texts, adding calendar appointments, and answering web-search questions, though it sometimes threw error messages or got confused. The public launch of iOS 27 is expected in September.
What’s reported
The iOS 27 public beta is the first time Apple has made its AI-powered Siri widely available beyond developers.
Apple has approximately 2.5 billion active devices worldwide.
The Siri AI update was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Siri can now be accessed via “Hey Siri,” side button, swiping down from the Dynamic Island, or Spotlight search.
Siri has its own stand-alone app for the first time.
Siri AI uses Apple Intelligence, Foundation Models built with Google’s Gemini, and Private Cloud Compute.
In developer beta tests, Siri sometimes threw error messages or got confused (e.g., searching contacts for “Iran” when asked for news about Iran).
The public launch of iOS 27 is expected in September.
Sources: TechCrunch
