This is actually expected to be Tim Cook’s last keynote as an Apple CEO as John Ternus takes over September 1 and will most certainly headline the iPhone 18 Pro announcement event.
After last year’s iOS 26 shook up the very foundations of iOS with the major Liquid Glass redesign, iOS 27 aims to smooth out some of the rougher edges and ameliorate the user experience for hundreds of millions of iPhone users.
Without further ado, here’s what’s new in iOS 27 and how Apple envisions the immediate future of its operating system.
iOS 27 eligible devices and release date
| iPhone generation | Market release date | iOS 27 support |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18, foldable iPhone* | TBD (September 2026) | Yes |
| iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 | September 19, 2025 | Yes |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 | September 20, 2024 | Yes |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 | September 22, 2023 | Yes |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 | September 16, 2022 | Yes |
| iPhone SE 3rd Gen | March 18, 2022 | Yes |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini | September 24, 2021 | Yes |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini | October 23, 2020 | Yes |
| iPhone SE 2nd Gen | April 24, 2020 | Yes |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 | September 20, 2019 | Yes |
As is typical for new iOS releases, these will launch in the fall along with Apple’s next generation of iPhones. This year, we expect the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, as well as the foldable iPhone (likely called iPhone Ultra) to be unveiled in September.
Liquid Glass gets a slider
iOS 27 isn’t scoring any major visual changes given just how profoundly different iOS 26 was from a design perspective.
Siri + Apple Intelligence = Siri AI
A modern new Siri AI app
A smarter Siri has consistently been one of the top-requested features for iOS for as long as I can remember, and with iOS 27, the genie has finally granted that wish.
With iOS 27, Siri ceases to be just an overlay over your interface but evolves to a new app available on your iPhone, one similar to the ChatGPTs, Claudes, and Geminis of the world. It will also live in the Dynamic Island itself as well. Thanks to this major change to how Siri is accessed and interacted with, iPhone users will now be able to make back-and-forth conversations with the assistant, similarly to how you can interact with most AI chatbots out there.
There’s a conversation history that can be set to expire after a set amount of time for privacy reasons. Just like in previous iOS versions, you will be able to interact with this refreshed Siri assistant either via voice or via text, and it will respond accordingly back to you.
Apple Intelligence in a nutshell. | Image by Screenshot by PhoneArena
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Personal context understanding
But the new Siri app isn’t even the most exciting change.
Starting with iOS 27, Siri will finally understand your deeply unique personal context and be aware of details in your personal data. For example, you will be able to ask Siri to find gaps in your calendar and squeeze in a quick event or a meeting, or check your emails or messages for flight information or a restaurant reservation.
You will also be able to ask Siri to quickly pen an email or a text based on your personal context; you can also ask Siri to quickly jot down a note in your Notes app with relevant data. It can also act agentically and understand complex prompts and act upon them. So, for example, you can ask Siri to search for information online, create a list, and message a group of people without touching a thing.
New Siri voice
Siri has a customizable new voice, which allows you to fine-tune pace and expressivity. Aside from boasting a different voice, it’s now more conversational and provides richer voice feedback. You can still choose between different local dialects, but can also fine-tune them to suit your needs.
Siri mode for the camera
You can also use Siri mode to automatically split up the tip on the group tab. Great!
Siri mode in the iOS 27 camera. | Image by Screenshot by PhoneArena
Safari
A new feature called “Notify Me” will allow Safari to monitor tabs you’ve closed for any relevant changes.
Home and Shortcuts
Apple Intelligence spans to the Home and Shortcuts apps. The Home app will now send you dynamic notifications, based on complex and relevant data from your connected home. So instead of ten notifications, you will get one dynamically updated notification. You can also vibe-code Shortcuts with Apple Intelligence, which is a perfect use of the technology. Shortcuts is a powerful and complex system, but has a high bar of entry, so utilizing the power of Apple Intelligence feels very logical and natural.
Photos
Apple Intelligence gains two new photo editing features, which will allow users to quickly change the spatial perspective of a photo in their gallery or use its AI chops to intelligently extend it outside the frame. This way, you can attempt to save “ruined” photos by leveraging the power of your iPhone’s on-device AI.
While useful, none of these features are unique to the mobile landscape, but nevertheless, they are wonderful additions to iOS.
The Clean-up Tool in Photos is also getting an upgrade and will now be more capable at determining and
Child Accounts
Apple is expanding the control parents have over children accounts, boosting privacy and ensuring that young ones have healthier digital lives. Two new features are “Ask to browse” and “Ask to buy”, which allow parents to allow their kids to browse sensitive topics or approve an online purchase.
Child online safety is a big topic in iOS 27. | Image by Screenshot by PhoneArena
Apple has also revamped Screen Time for children accounts. Aside from a more flexible way to set custom timers for select app usage categories, there’s a more comprehensive screen time window that shows how much your child has been using certain apps, gaming, or browsing the web. Social media usage can be supervised here, too.
Accessibility upgrades
Among the new features that will arrive with iOS 27 is a useful new on-device subtitle generator for your personal videos. After you update your iPhone to iOS 27, browsing your Photos gallery will automatically generate captions for the videos you’ve captured, videos you’ve been sent over iMessage or AirDrop, as well as videos you watch online.
This feature uses Apple’s new on-device speech recognition model and will definitely be a great addition to the iPhone, especially for users that are hard of hearing. However, it won’t be available globally, at least not yet; it will initially be limited to videos in English in the US and Canada.
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