Apple lets everyone try its new Siri in iOS 27 beta

Apple has opened its biggest Siri redesign yet to the public with the iOS 27 public beta, giving everyday users their first chance to test the company’s new AI-powered assistant before a broader launch later this fall.

The release expands access beyond developers for the first time, turning the beta into Apple’s largest real-world test yet. With roughly 2.5 billion active devices worldwide, even limited uptake would make this a significant trial run for Apple’s answer to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other AI assistants.

Announced at WWDC in June, the new Siri can tap into information on a user’s device — including emails, photos, and messages — understand what’s currently on screen, and combine that with broader world knowledge in a way that more closely resembles modern chatbot assistants. It is also integrated more deeply across the operating system.

Users can still access Siri by saying “Hey Siri” or pressing the side button, but Apple has added a third option: swiping down from the Dynamic Island. Siri is also built into Spotlight, Apple’s system search tool, allowing it to answer a far wider range of questions than before.

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For the first time, Apple has also given Siri its own standalone app, though TechCrunch notes that its deep system integration may make that less necessary for many users. Beyond the iPhone, the upgraded assistant is available across iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.

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Under the hood, Siri AI runs on Apple Intelligence, including Apple’s new Foundation Models, which operate on-device and through Private Cloud Compute. Apple said those models were built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini model, but are not simply rebranded Gemini systems. Instead, Apple says it used proprietary data and distilled Gemini into smaller models optimized for Apple Silicon and integrated into iOS and other Apple software.

In TechCrunch’s early testing of the developer beta, Siri handled tasks such as:

• finding specific photos in the Photo Library
• summarizing group texts
• adding a texted appointment to the calendar
• looking up nutritional information from the camera view

It also did better with questions that would usually require a web search, such as local event timing or current news. But the beta was not flawless: TechCrunch said Siri sometimes showed errors or misunderstood requests, including one case where a question about Iran led it to search the user’s contacts instead.

TechCrunch says this year’s developer betas have been relatively stable, making the public beta easier to recommend than usual. Even so, users who need a perfectly reliable device may want to wait for the public release of iOS 27, expected in September.

For now, Siri AI is not available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS.