Every year, Apple reveals a big new iOS update at WWDC that brings tons of new features to your iPhone, and we're fully expecting to learn about iOS 27 at WWDC 2026. However, this year, we're expecting big news. Not only is it the final Apple developers conference of the Tim Cook era, but the Gemini-powered AI Siri should finally make its grand debut.
When the iPhone 18 launches in September, we expect it to ship alongside iOS 27, as is usually the case with every new iPhone and every new iOS iteration. Apple still hasn't officially shown off its mobile OS update, but there have been plenty of reports and leaks about iOS 27 in advance of WWDC on Monday, June 8.
Here's everything you need to know about iOS 27 right now.
iOS 27: All about AI Siri
Easily the biggest feature coming to iOS 27 that we know of right now is the long-awaited AI-powered overhaul of Siri, Apple's iconic voice assistant. It was supposed to happen two years and several class-action lawsuits ago, but internal delays have pushed its debut timeline.
On a basic level, what's changing here is that Siri is going to be turned into an AI chatbot with its own standalone app (we think) and the ability to incorporate both what's on the screen and personal context into responses. The new Siri should also have the ability to perform actions in other apps and widgets. It'll be powered primarily by Google's Gemini model, though rumor has it that users will be able to use third-party models for Siri and other Apple Intelligence features, too, if they so desire.
While Siri is getting its own app, that doesn't mean the way you interface with Siri will change that much, necessarily.
A report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the source of most iOS 27 and iPhone 18 leaks and rumors, indicated that Siri in iOS 27 can still be activated by a wake word or by holding down the power button, same as ever, but there will also be a new interface built into the iPhone's Dynamic Island. You'll be able to make queries by swiping down from the top of the screen, and an additional swipe will bring you straight to the new chatbot interface for Siri.
What's more, Gurman reported that the glowing, neon artwork used to promote WWDC is actually a preview of Siri's new look. Apple has also used a dove motif in promoting WWDC, which could be a hint to the Siri app logo.
Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple
Gurman's report also included some tidbits about how Siri will play with the Photos and Camera apps, too. For instance, iPhone users may finally get some of the AI photo editing tools that have become standard on Android phones.
Users will also be able to snap a photo in Camera and instantly reverse image search it on Google. There will also be a Siri mode in the Camera app that incorporates Visual Intelligence directly into that app, so you'll allegedly be able to do things like scan nutritional labels to log your diet into the Health app, for example.
In summary, Apple is looking to catch up to the competition when it comes to having a sophisticated AI chatbot that lives in your phone, and it sounds like iOS 27 might finally bring us to that point.
iOS 27: Other AI features
Apple's new iOS revision might focus largely on integrating Siri into the Apple Intelligence ecosystem, but what about the already existing Apple Intelligence features in iOS? It turns out some of those will be improved with iOS 27, too.
For example, a separate Mark Gurman report claimed that Image Playground and Genmoji will both get significant boosts to image quality in iOS 27. There will even be a new feature allowing users to generate custom phone wallpapers with AI. Outside of image generation, it sounds like there will also be a way for users to create custom app shortcuts using natural language prompts with Siri.
Beyond that, Writing Tools will apparently be infused with more AI juice. It'll supposedly be better at offering feedback for things like syntax errors, not just basic spelling mistakes. We'll need to see this in action to truly judge how well it works, though.
iOS 27: What about Liquid Glass?
Last year, the Liquid Glass design language introduced in iOS 26 really ruffled some feathers. That said, you should probably not expect any major changes on that front.
This information comes, once again, from Gurman at Bloomberg. He says Apple is not planning on making any sweeping changes to Liquid Glass, which isn't terribly surprising. While plenty of folks may not be huge fans of the design language, that fact doesn't appear to be driving people away from iPhones to any significant degree. In fact, the opposite is happening; iPhone sales are better than ever right now.
All of that is to say that Apple might add some more customization options to Liquid Glass, but don't expect to be able to turn it off or anything like that.
iOS 27: App changes
As always, iOS 27 is certainly going to bring some other miscellaneous changes to various first-party apps. We don't yet have a comprehensive list of every change to expect, but there are a couple of intriguing reports out there.
For instance, users will apparently be able to create custom widgets within the Camera app, giving them more fine control over which buttons appear on screen by default when opening the app. Weather is also getting a "Conditions" panel when looking at a page for a specific location. You'll be able to flip between information panels on things like wind and rain there.
The Wallet app is also reportedly getting a pretty interesting new feature that will allow users to create custom passes. It's called "Create a Pass," and it will allegedly be able to scan photos of things like movie tickets and gym memberships in order to create a digital pass that lives in the Wallet app. While lots of services have built-in support for the Wallet app, there are also plenty that don't, and this feature could help bridge that gap.
Splitting bills with Apple pay
Speaking of Wallet, Apple is also reportedly cooking up an extremely useful-sounding feature that will let users easily split bills. If you go out to dinner with friends, you'll be able to take a photo of the receipt and assign different things on the receipt to different people. After that, you can send payment requests to people via Apple Cash, with taxes and tips factored in. That sounds a lot easier than doing Venmo math on a napkin...as long as everyone involved uses Apple Cash, anyway.
iOS 27: Which iPhones will support it?
To start, we should establish which iPhones will actually be able to run iOS 27. Every year, Apple phases out an older generation of devices, and a recent leak suggested that the following phones will be phased out this year:
That means anything older than an iPhone 12 is probably not going to be able to run iOS 27. It's a tough business, but that's just how it works. Apple can't keep everyone happy forever.
In addition, iOS 27 is sure to bring updates to Apple Intelligence, including a new AI Siri. Keep in mind that not all iPhones support Apple Intelligence, which is only compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, and newer Apple smartphones.
iOS 27: Don't forget about the iPhone Fold
Lastly, we'd be remiss not to mention the iPhone Fold. There isn't a lot of concrete information yet about how iOS will adapt to the long-rumored device, but one has to assume that iOS 27 will, to some extent, work a little differently on the foldable iPhone. Actions like app multi-tasking, for example, will probably be possible on the iPhone Fold, meaning iOS 27 will need to natively support that sort of thing.
The good news is Apple is reportedly working on exactly that.
A recent leak from Weibo suggests that iOS 27 will support "Parallel View" in landscape mode on normal iPhones, meaning you might be able to have two windows open onscreen at the same time. This extremely vague leak doesn't specifically call out the iPhone Fold, perhaps suggesting it'll be a standard feature across the iOS 27 ecosystem, but it's hard not to associate split-screen app views with a foldable display. This is speculation on our part, but it seems likely that this is, at least in some way, related to the foldable device.
Not every iOS revision is a big overhaul, but if nothing else, it sounds like iOS 27 will drastically change how users interact with Siri and pave the way for the first foldable iPhone. In that sense, this could be one of the biggest iOS updates in a while.
from Mashable https://ift.tt/tla2ZXu
