iOS 27 Could Bring Apple’s Biggest AI Upgrade Yet to iPhone

Apple's AI ambitions are about to become much harder to ignore.

After a slow and often criticized rollout, Apple is finally bringing a major expansion of Apple Intelligence in iOS 27, rolling out new AI capabilities to Siri, Passwords, Home, Safari, Messages, and Shortcuts, according to reporting by BGR. The changes suggest that Apple is moving beyond isolated AI features and embedding intelligence throughout the operating system. 

Instead of acting as a standalone tool, Apple Intelligence will become the agentic layer that helps users manage devices, automate tasks, retrieve information, and interact with apps more naturally.

Apple’s recent direction could mark its most significant AI push since the launch of Apple Intelligence, while also highlighting a growing divide between newer iPhones capable of running advanced AI features and older devices that may be left behind.

A new kind of Apple Intelligence, with a catch

Since its debut two years ago, Apple Intelligence has undergone several refreshes, but this year’s own stands out the most because it addresses a major frustration Apple users have with Siri — its central AI system. Apple has teamed up with Google Gemini to give Siri an upgraded brain; Apple also says most features will be processed offline, with those requiring cloud access securely transmitted. 

However, it comes with a caveat that millions of Apple users won’t like. To get the most out of this new Apple Intelligence, users need to be on an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPad with an M1 or A17 Pro chip, or a Mac with an M1 or A18 Pro chip or newer.

A standalone, context-aware Siri

Instead of requiring specific commands, users can ask the assistant to locate information based on vague details, such as a link shared by a friend weeks earlier or a recommendation mentioned in a conversation.

Apple is also introducing a dedicated Siri app that lets users start, revisit, and continue conversations. The experience brings Siri closer to modern AI chatbots while keeping it deeply integrated across Apple's ecosystem and privacy.

Photos app gets powerful AI tools

Apple is bringing three AI-powered editing tools to the Photos app, allowing users to make significant changes to images after capture. Reframe uses technology developed for Vision Pro to adjust a photo's composition and reposition subjects within the frame. 

There is also an Expand tool that can generate new image areas beyond a photo's original borders, effectively extending the scene. Meanwhile, the upgraded Clean Up tool removes unwanted objects and intelligently fills the resulting gaps.

Apple Intelligence expands agentic abilities

Safari now includes intelligent tab organization, a "Notify Me" feature that tracks changes on webpages, and AI-generated extensions that can be created using simple natural-language prompts.

The Passwords app can automatically update compromised passwords. Home now brings 4K recording to cameras, plus the ability to identify and prioritize important security camera events while reducing duplicate alerts.

Shortcuts are now easier to use with natural-language prompts rather than a rigid step-by-step process.

Apple is also expanding its Visual Intelligence to iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro. On top of that, the feature can now take action on users' behalf. At its WWDC demo, Apple showed how useful Siri has made the feature by using Visual Intelligence to split a bill just by pointing to the feature.

Improved writing and image tools

Writing Tools can now be accessed throughout the operating system, helping users draft, rewrite, edit, and refine text with natural language instructions.

The feature also becomes more personal, with Siri able to adjust its writing style based on the conversation and recipient. Image Playground is also getting touched, adding more realistic image generation, improved Genmoji capabilities, and a wider range of creative styles.

Bottom line

The individual features are impressive, but they point to a larger shift underway at Apple. Instead of asking users to open an AI app whenever they need help, the company is infusing Apple Intelligence into all layers of its operating system.

If that vision works as intended, iOS 27 may be remembered less for any single feature and more for the moment Apple Intelligence turned Apple's ecosystem into an intelligent system.

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