iOS 27: Release date expectations, new features, and compatible iPhones
Siri AI is here with iOS 27. | Image by Apple
What's changing vs iOS 26:
- Siri AI: more personalized, context-aware version of Siri with a standalone app
- A system-wide Liquid Glass slider from ultra-clear to all the way into fully tinted
- Liquid Glass elements within the app icon itself for a sharper look
- Improvements in performance and bug fixes
- Apple Intelligence gets integrated with apps
- Big iPhone Camera app update with a new Siri mode
- Upgraded Image Playground
- Improvements in the Safari, Messages, Phone, Shortcuts and Home app
- New Child Safety features with more parental control options
Expected release timeline:
- iOS 27 was officially announced during WWDC 2026 on June 8.
- The new OS will be launched to the public with the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Pro in the fall of 2026 and then to all supported iPhones.
- Siri AI will not be available on iOS initially in the EU.
iOS 27 release date
Apple announced iOS 27 during WWDC 2026's keynote on June 8, 2026. WWDC 2026 ran from June 8 through June 22. The public release lands with the iPhone 18 Pro models this fall.
| iOS version | Announcement | Market release |
|---|---|---|
| iOS 27 | June 8, 2026 | September 2026* |
| iOS 26 | June 9, 2025 | September 2025 |
| iOS 18 | June 10, 2024 | September 2024 |
* - probable dates
A public beta is expected in July, giving developers and early adopters a chance to try the new features ahead of the full rollout.
iOS 27 supported iPhones
iOS 27 will be available from the iPhone 11 and later, so every iPhone that supports iOS 26 will also support iOS 27.
| iPhone generation | Market release date | iOS 27 support |
|---|---|---|
| First foldable iPhone | September 2026, expected | Yes |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Pro | September 2026, expected | Yes |
| iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18e | Spring 2027, expected | Yes |
| iPhone 17e | March 2026 | Yes |
| iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 | September 2025 | Yes |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 | September 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 |
| iPhone XS Max, XS, iPhone XR | September 21, 2018 | No |
| iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone X | September 22-November 3, 2017 | No |
iOS 27 will come pre-installed on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Pro, Apple's first foldable iPhone, and the iPhone 18.
Keep in mind that Siri AI won't be available in the EU on iPhone or iPad at launch, due to regulatory constraints.
Apple Intelligence will be accessible on every compatible iPhone, though the more advanced AI model is limited to iPhone 17 Pro and newer.
iOS 27 design
iOS 27 isn't a visual overhaul in the way iOS 26 was – it's more of a refinement pass on the Liquid Glass experience Apple introduced last year.
The biggest design addition is a system-wide slider that lets you control how the Liquid Glass effect looks across your phone – anywhere from fully transparent to completely tinted.
The Liquid Glass aesthetic itself isn't going anywhere; Apple is simply giving users more control over how prominent it appears.
Liquid Glass was introduced with iOS 26. | Image by Apple
App icons are also getting a subtle Liquid Glass treatment, giving the home screen a more unified, polished look.
iOS 27 top features
The centerpiece of iOS 27 is a ground-up rebuild of Siri.
The new Siri
Apple Intelligence features at a glance. | Image by Apple
Siri is finally getting the AI overhaul everyone's been waiting for. It's now called Siri AI, built through a collaboration between Apple and Google, running on the next generation of Apple Foundation Models and Gemini.
The assistant is now on par with other generative AI chatbots. You can reach it by saying "Hey Siri" or by swiping down from the center of the top part of your screen. It lives in the Dynamic Island. When you trigger it, the pill-shaped cutout expands into a "Search or Ask" prompt with a glowing cursor.
Siri in the Dynamic Island. | Image by Apple
The Dynamic Island gains a thin glow in Siri's signature colors to indicate when the assistant is active.
For longer, more involved requests, Siri is also accessible via the side button.
Siri AI draws on personal context, natural language processing, on-screen awareness, and live internet access to answer questions and take action on your behalf.
Personal context understanding. | Image by Apple
Siri also gets its own standalone app, where your past conversations are stored and available to browse – similar to how Messages keeps your chat history. You can pick up any previous conversation right where you left off.
Siri AI in-depth conversation. | Image by Apple
From within the app, Siri can also take direct actions – searching across your phone and pulling data into the conversation without you having to switch between apps.
Siri's dedicated app's home screen. | Image by Apple
Screen awareness is another new capability: Siri can see what's currently on your display. For example, you could ask where a photo was taken, then follow up and have Siri find a related address from a message and build a route in Apple Maps – all within a single conversation.
Siri AI also offers new voice customization options, with a slider to adjust the assistant's speaking pace and expressivity.
Siri voice customizations. | Image by Apple
System-wide dictation is also getting an upgrade, with improved accuracy and automatic punctuation.
Siri AI and its dedicated app work across Apple's device ecosystem – start a conversation on your iPhone and pick it up later on your iPad or MacBook.
The Camera app is gaining a dedicated Siri mode. Tap the shutter button and Siri can see what the camera sees; pull down to get more details and continue the conversation, all of which gets saved in the Siri app. Siri can also suggest relevant actions based on what it's looking at.
"Write with Siri" is rolling out across the entire system, with automatic proofreading built in.
Apple Intelligence in apps
Apple Intelligence in iOS 27. | Image by Apple
Safari
Apple Intelligence can now sort your open Safari tabs by topic, automatically grouping related tabs together and letting you save those groupings as tab groups.
A new Notify Me feature lets you flag any tab for monitoring. Apple Intelligence keeps an eye on it and alerts you when something changes, so you don't need to keep checking back manually.
You can also build custom extensions for any webpage just by describing what you want in plain language.
Passwords
The Passwords app can now use Apple Intelligence and Safari to automatically upgrade eligible accounts to strong passwords – logging in and making the change on your behalf.
Messages, Mail, Calendar, Phone app
In Messages, Apple Intelligence can pull context from your conversations, surface suggested actions, and help you find specific photos someone sent you.
Mail is gaining the ability to suggest actions and connect with third-party apps. Calendar can now create and edit events from natural language descriptions, or build them directly from a screenshot of a schedule.
When you call a business, the Phone app will pull up relevant information from your other apps to surface in the call view.
Home and Shortcuts
The Home app can now bundle related accessory notifications into a single, live-updating alert rather than sending several separate ones. It can also analyze footage from compatible cameras and generate text descriptions of what's happening, with the ability to search within that video.
In Shortcuts, you can now describe what you want done in plain language rather than building automations manually – and you can edit existing shortcuts the same way.
New version of Image Playground
Image Playground photo modification. | Image by Apple
Image Playground has been significantly expanded. It can now generate high-quality images in any style, including photorealistic ones, and can restyle your existing photos based on a natural-language description.
You can target specific parts of an image by circling an object, choose your preferred output dimensions, and generate backgrounds for Messages, contact posters, and lock screen wallpapers. Daily usage limits apply to image generation.
Photos
New Apple Intelligence features in Photos. | Image by Apple
With iOS 27, Apple is adding new tools to Photos, accessible accessible from a "Tools" button in the bottom right.
- Clean Up gets an upgrade, removing distractions with more realistic fill-in, even in complex scenes
- Extend: helps you expand images with generative AI
- Spatial Reframing: lets you fix the composition of an older photo by shifting perspective. The feature runs on on-device spatial models and works even on older photos, including ones shot on other cameras
Privacy and Child Safety
Apple Intelligence processing happens on-device or through Apple Private Cloud Compute, with no data shared with Apple or third parties. Apple states the data is used solely to carry out your requests.
iOS 27 also brings new parental control tools, giving parents more oversight over what their kids can see, who they can contact, and when they can access apps.
Recommendations will be drawn from the American Academy of Pediatrics' Family Media Plan. Kids will be able to request permission to download apps, visit websites, or message new contacts – giving parents a clearer approval process.
Screen Time is adding suggested time limits based on age, though parents can still set their own custom limits.
iOS 27 general platform improvements
Under the hood, iOS 27 includes an upgraded CPU scheduler designed to help older iPhones handle tasks more efficiently. Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoffs are getting smoother, and a new send indicator lets you know when an image is taking longer than usual to transmit over a weak connection.
Search has been rebuilt from the ground up and now indexes new content almost instantly.
Mail is getting a smarter ranking system that surfaces more relevant results when you search your inbox.
Shared Albums in Photos will now accept contributions from Android and Windows users. The Health app is adding cycle tracking tools for perimenopause and menopause.
AirPods get a new custom EQ, and Fly Over in Apple Maps is getting a boost with intelligence models for a more realistic look.
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