iOS 27 to debut this month: 7 big features that can come to your iPhone

Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote is just days away and iOS 27 is shaping up to be the most consequential iPhone software update in years. Most of the attention around Apple this year has been on hardware, specifically the iPhone 18 series and the first foldable iPhone. But for the hundreds of millions of iPhone users who are not buying a new phone this year, iOS 27 is the story. The update is expected to finally deliver on promises Apple made at WWDC 2024, particularly around a smarter, more capable Siri and it adds a bunch of new features on top. Here are the ones we are most looking forward to.

1. A Siri that actually works like a modern AI assistant

Siri is getting a ground-up redesign in iOS 27 and it has been a long time coming. Siri is expected to transform from a voice command shortcut into a full chatbot-style assistant on par with ChatGPT and Gemini. A dedicated Siri app is coming, offering a conversational interface that looks similar to iMessage with chat bubbles, support for text and voice input and the ability to browse past conversations. Swiping down from the top centre of the display in any app will bring up a new ‘Search or Ask’ bar in the Dynamic Island, replacing the current Spotlight Search with something considerably more capable.

More meaningfully, Siri will finally have real awareness of your personal data. It will be able to search through your emails, messages, files and photos to complete tasks, which means asking Siri to find a recipe someone sent you or pull up a specific email will actually work. It will also be able to see what is on your screen and take action based on it and perform multi-step tasks across apps like an AI agent does.

The secret ingredient powering all of this is Google. Apple has signed a multi-year deal to use Google’s Gemini models as the foundation for its Apple Intelligence features and the new version of Siri. It is an unusual admission that Apple needed outside help to make this work, but if it results in a Siri that genuinely delivers on its potential, most users will not mind.

2. Third-party AI inside Siri

Beyond Siri, iOS 27 will let rival chatbots work directly within the Siri ecosystem through a new Extensions framework. Users will be able to set Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT as their preferred assistant for different tasks, including Writing Tools and Image Playground. Apple is even letting users choose different voices for third-party AI responses, so it is clear whether Siri or another service is speaking. A dedicated Extensions section in the App Store will act as a discovery hub for these integrations.

3. Camera app Siri mode and Visual Intelligence

The Camera app is getting a dedicated Siri mode sitting alongside the existing Photo, Video, Portrait and Panorama options. When active, the shutter button displays the Apple Intelligence logo and gives users direct access to Visual Intelligence without needing to route through Camera Control. 

Two new Visual Intelligence capabilities are particularly compelling: the ability to scan a food nutrition label and log the data directly to the Health app and the ability to read contact details from a business card and save them to Contacts instantly. Both are the kind of features that solve annoying daily friction.

4. AI photo editing in the Photos app

iOS 27 adds three new editing tools to Photos: Extend, Enhance and Reframe. Extend works like generative fill in Photoshop, expanding image content beyond the original frame when you adjust the crop. Enhance applies automatic AI-driven improvements to colour and lighting. Reframe lets you shift the perspective of a spatial photo after it has been taken. It is worth noting that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that Extend and Reframe are not yet performing reliably in testing, so they could be delayed to a later update. Enhance, at least, seems more likely to ship on day one.

5. Generated subtitles for every video

iOS 27 will automatically generate subtitles for any video that does not already have captions, including personal videos, clips shared via messages and content streamed online. It runs on-device using Apple’s speech recognition, so it works privately without sending audio to the cloud. It is going to be a useful feature for anyone who regularly watches videos in situations where audio is not practical, whether on public transport, in a shared space or when already listening to something else.

6. Smarter Shortcuts

Shortcuts is getting natural language support, letting you tell Siri what you want a shortcut to do and have it build the automation for you. The resulting shortcut is installed and ready immediately, which removes most of the friction that has kept Shortcuts a power-user feature rather than a mainstream one.

7. Grammar checker in Writing Tools

Writing Tools is getting a dedicated AI grammar checker with suggestions that slide up in a translucent menu while you type. Unlike basic spell check, it will flag grammar issues and let you accept or reject changes one by one across Mail, Messages and third-party apps.

iOS 27 release date

Apple will reveal iOS 27 at the WWDC 2026 keynote on 8 June, with developer betas expected the same day. A public beta should follow in mid-to-late July. The full release is expected in September, alongside the new iPhone hardware.

Also Read: Apple confirms WWDC 2026 dates and keynote timing: iOS 27, AI Siri likely to headline