Apple released the iOS 27 public beta on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, giving iPhone owners their first opportunity to try the company’s redesigned Siri assistant without enrolling in a developer program. The software is expected to launch officially this fall, with a public release anticipated in September.
The updated Siri represents the largest overhaul Apple has made to its voice assistant. It can access information stored on a user’s device — including emails, photos, and messages — respond to what’s on the screen, and answer general knowledge questions in a manner similar to AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Siri can now be triggered via voice, the side button, a swipe down from the Dynamic Island, or through Spotlight, the iPhone’s built-in search tool. Apple has also given Siri its own standalone app for the first time.
The upgraded Siri is available across Apple’s full product lineup, including iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro.
Under the hood, the new Siri runs on Apple Intelligence, using Apple’s Foundation Models — built in collaboration with Google’s Gemini through a process called distillation, which uses Gemini to produce smaller, efficient models optimized for Apple Silicon. Apple states these are not rebranded Gemini models but proprietary ones built with Apple’s own data. A feature called Private Cloud Compute is designed to prevent users’ personal data from being stored or accessed by Apple.
With approximately 2.5 billion active Apple devices worldwide, even limited public beta adoption could make this the largest real-world test of the redesigned assistant to date. Early developer beta testing showed Siri handling tasks such as finding photos, summarizing group texts, and answering factual questions, though the assistant occasionally produced errors.
Apple notes that users whose devices need to run without interruption may want to wait for the full public release rather than install the beta now.
Source: TechCrunch