Apple Releases iOS 27: Siri AI, Faster Performance and More New Features

iOS 27 Is Here: The Biggest New Features You Should Try First

After months of developer betas, public betas and testing, iOS 27 is finally available for everyone.

And this is a BIG update. Trust me.

Apple is introducing the new Siri AI experience, major Apple Intelligence upgrades, faster performance, more control over Liquid Glass, smarter Photos and Safari features, improved search and plenty of smaller changes hidden throughout the operating system.

I’ve been using iOS 27 throughout the beta period, and there’s a lot to discover.

Here are the biggest changes you should know about.

Siri AI is finally here

One of the headline features of iOS 27 is the completely redesigned Siri AI.

This isn’t simply a new Siri animation. Apple has rebuilt the assistant around the next generation of Apple Intelligence.

Siri can now understand more of your personal context across apps such as Messages, Mail and Photos. That means you can ask questions based on information already stored on your iPhone without having to manually find it first.

Siri can also understand what’s currently displayed on your screen and help you take action based on it.

Some of the biggest Siri AI features include:

• Personal context across messages, emails, photos and more

• Onscreen awareness to understand what you're currently looking at

• More actions across apps

• Web knowledge for answering up-to-date questions

• Siri mode in Camera to ask questions about things around you

• Write with Siri to create or improve text

• Conversation history that can continue across supported Apple devices

There is an important catch, though.

Siri AI is launching as a beta and initially supports English. French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish are expected to follow in October.

Siri AI is also not initially available on iPhone in the European Union, although Mac users in the EU can access it when using a supported language.

So depending on where you live, you may have to wait a little longer before you can try Apple's biggest iOS 27 feature.

Liquid Glass gets more customizable

Liquid Glass continues to define the look of iOS 27, but Apple is giving users more control over its appearance. A new setting lets you adjust the intensity of Liquid Glass across the system.

You can move between a much clearer, more transparent appearance and a more tinted look if you prefer stronger contrast and readability.

Apple has also refined app icons to make them appear sharper and more defined.

Having control over Liquid Glass makes a surprisingly big difference to how iOS 27 feels. And we've been waiting since iOS 26.

Your iPhone should feel faster

Some of the most important iOS 27 improvements aren't features you need to switch on.

Apple says apps can now launch up to 30 percent faster, while photos can load up to 70 percent faster immediately after they're taken.

AirDrop transfers can also be up to 80 percent faster.

Those are substantial claims, and performance will obviously depend on your iPhone and what you're doing. But after months of using the iOS 27 betas, performance is one of the areas I've been particularly impressed with.

Apple has also improved switching between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, while sending large photos or videos in Messages should no longer stop subsequent text messages from being delivered while the media is still uploading.

Photos gets some serious AI upgrades

The Photos app receives several new Apple Intelligence-powered editing tools.

Extend can expand the edges of an image, while Reframe gives you additional ways to change the composition of a photo.

Apple has also upgraded Clean Up, making it easier to remove unwanted elements from an image.

Some of the biggest additions include:

• Extend for expanding an image beyond its original frame

• Reframe for changing composition

• An improved Clean Up tool

• More powerful AI-assisted image editing

• Improved identification of AI-generated or AI-edited images

I really loved playing with these options during the previous beta settings. Now with the final it feels so smooth to use these next gen Apple Intelligence tools.

Safari can watch websites for you

One of my favorite smaller iOS 27 additions is Notify Me in Safari.

Instead of repeatedly checking a webpage yourself, Safari can monitor supported pages for changes and send you a notification.

That could be useful for things like:

• Product restocks

• Price changes

• Ticket availability

• Updates to webpages you're following

Safari can also use Apple Intelligence to automatically organize tabs into topics.

Notify Me is really fun to use and it really works. Set the alerts during the Amazon Prime Days, Black Friday or other discounts.

Search gets smarter

Apple has also improved search throughout iOS.

Search in Spotlight, Photos and Mail should now be more stable, efficient and comprehensive.

Mail also gets a new ranking system for Top Hits, designed to surface the messages most relevant to what you're searching for.

It's not the flashiest iOS 27 feature, but considering how much information we store on our phones, better search is always welcome.

Screen Time gets a major update for families.

Apple is also expanding its parental controls in iOS 27.

Parents get a redesigned Screen Time experience that provides a clearer overview of how children use their devices and which apps they spend the most time in.

New features include:

• Easier setup of child accounts

• Control over which apps children can access

• Ask to Browse for approving new websites in Safari

• Approval for new contacts

• Daily time allowances across categories such as Games and Social Media

• Schedules for controlling when specific apps can be used

• Expanded Communication Safety protections

Communication Safety can also detect violent or graphic content in shared images and videos.

And there’s much more hidden inside iOS 27

Not every iOS 27 feature needs its own headline, There are dozens of smaller improvements spread throughout the system that you’ll probably discover over the coming weeks.

A few more worth knowing about include:

• 📸 New Apple Intelligence features across Photos

• 🌐 Safari website-change notifications

• ☁️ Full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Shared Albums

• 👥 Easier Shared Album participation for Android and Windows users

• 🗺️ An enhanced Apple Maps Flyover experience

• 🎧 Custom EQ for supported AirPods

• 🔎 Improved Spotlight, Photos and Mail search

• 📶 More seamless switching between Wi-Fi and cellular

• 💬 Improved Messages performance on slower connections

• 🫧 More control over the Liquid Glass interface

And this is still only scratching the surface.

Which iPhones support Apple Intelligence and Siri AI?

Not every iPhone capable of running iOS 27 will get every Apple Intelligence feature.

Apple Intelligence and Siri AI require supported hardware, including:

• iPhone 15 Pro

• iPhone 15 Pro Max

• iPhone 16 lineup or newer

• iPhone 17 Pro

• iPhone 17 Pro Max

• iPhone 18 Pro

• iPhone 18 Pro Max

• iPhone Air

• iPhone Duo

Feature availability can also depend on your language and region.

Should you install iOS 27?

For most users with a compatible iPhone, yes.

iOS 27 isn't just about its visual changes. Faster performance, improved search, smarter Photos features, Safari improvements and dozens of smaller quality-of-life additions make this a substantial update.

The new Siri AI experience is obviously one of Apple's biggest selling points, but I wouldn't judge iOS 27 entirely on Siri. Especially because Siri AI is still in beta and isn't available everywhere yet.

There is plenty here even without Siri.

If you'd rather wait before moving to iOS 27, Apple has also released iOS 26.7 with important security updates, allowing you to remain on iOS 26 for now while keeping your iPhone protected.

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