Key Points

• After years of delay, Apple has released the new version of Siri as a beta. It runs on Google's Gemini models and processes data partly on the device, partly through a cloud.
• The assistant can read screen content and personal context from messages or photos, and carry out tasks across different apps.
• Early tests praise practical improvements but fault ongoing misunderstandings. The service won't launch in the EU and China for now.

After several delays, Apple is shipping its overhauled Siri. The assistant runs on Google's Gemini models and launches without the EU at first. Early tests are positive, but not without complaints.

After years of delays that cost people their jobs, Apple has released the next generation of Apple Intelligence, rolled out a completely rebuilt Siri, and closed the gap with Google with Google's help.

According to Apple, "Siri AI" is now available as a beta, in English only for now. Support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish is set to follow next month. The features are part of the 2027 software releases of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27.

The models Apple builds on Google's Gemini run partly on the device and partly through Private Cloud Compute. Apple says personal data is neither stored nor made accessible to the company.

A Gemini foundation breaks with the old Siri

The new Siri is meant to understand personal context from messages, emails, and photos, read screen content, and pull information from the web. Through system-wide app actions, it can draft emails or edit and share photos. Apple gives the example of searching for a family recipe mentioned in Messages, then having Siri move the ingredients into the Reminders app. Beyond Apple's own apps, Siri works with third parties like WhatsApp and Audible, and soon Outlook, Notability, and Tripsy.

You can call up the assistant with "Hey Siri," the side button, the Dynamic Island, and on iPad and Mac through Spotlight. A dedicated Siri app syncs chat histories over iCloud. Apple is also adding new voices and a reworked dictation feature that the company says runs on the on-device model AFM Core Advanced.

Apple Intelligence spreads across more apps

Beyond Siri, Apple is scattering AI features across the system. The Photos app gets tools like Spatial Reframing, Extend, and a reworked Clean Up. Image Playground now creates photorealistic images through Private Cloud Compute and is set to support the SynthID standard for labeling AI images.

Safari sorts tabs by topic and flags website changes. Shortcuts can be described in plain language. Later this year, Apple will add Audio Intelligence features for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, along with a redesigned Health app.

What the first testers report

TechCrunch editor Ivan Mehta, who has been testing iOS 27 since the beta, describes the new Siri as a step forward. He now uses the assistant again for multi-step requests and screen context, after giving up on Siri like many users before. Early developer builds did have hiccups, though, such as filing notes in the wrong place.

Six Colors reaches a similar verdict. Dan Moren reports everyday wins, like the time Siri found an older podcast episode over CarPlay based on its topic alone. He still warns about misunderstandings and hallucinations, and finds the constantly offered writing help a bit pushy at times. Overall, he says Siri AI mostly lives up to Apple's promises, just several years late.

MacStories is more critical on a core feature. Federico Viticci praises how Siri reads screen content, but reports that it repeatedly failed to answer questions about personal context, even though the information was sitting in his messages. Some of the answers were out of date.

The EU and China are left out for now

Siri AI and every feature built on it won't be available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS at first, Apple says. The company says it's working on a path that protects users' privacy and security. The feature also won't launch in China while regulatory requirements remain open. Certain server-side features come with daily usage limits, and expanded access is set to cost money down the line.

Apple