Apple lets everyone try Siri AI with iOS 27 public beta

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 15, 2026 03:06 PM IST

The iOS 27 public beta includes new Apple Intelligence features, performance upgrades and enhanced security tools.(Image: The Indian Express/ Anuj Bhatia)

For the first time, Apple is allowing the general public to try Siri AI, a more conversational and capable voice assistant on the iPhone, which debuted at its developer conference last month. The company Wednesday released the iOS 27 public beta, opening Siri AI to a wider audience ahead of its broader launch in the fall.

If users have a compatible iPhone, they can download the iOS 27 public beta. However, access to Siri AI is limited to supported iPhone models, and users may need to join a waitlist.

Siri AI is Apple’s major push into artificial intelligence, a field where it is currently lagging behind competitors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. However, the arrival of Siri AI marks a turning point for Cupertino. During its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple said its revamped voice assistant is a “much more capable assistant” that can help users find what they need and get tasks done on their iPhones and other Apple devices. Siri AI can able to check concert dates, set a reminder to buy tickets and even get directions to pick up a friend on the way to the concert venue. Siri’s camera mode, meanwhile, can identify what users are looking at and provide relevant information, such as the nutritional details of a plate of food.

Apple has opened access to Siri AI for public beta testers, giving more users a chance to experience its conversational voice assistant ahead of the full release this fall.(Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

Early testers have reacted positively to Siri AI, with many praising how deeply integrated the assistant is within the iPhone experience. Siri AI leverages Apple’s new foundational models, which run on the device, along with its Private Cloud Compute technology. Apple built its foundational models with support from Google and its Gemini model, but these models are not rebranded versions of Gemini, Apple executives said during a media briefing at Apple Park last month. Instead, Apple’s models were built specifically for its Apple Silicon using proprietary data and distilled from Google’s Gemini, a process that reduces Gemini’s massive models into smaller, more efficient models built into iOS and other Apple software.

A standalone Siri AI app will also get launched later this year, though Apple said the brand-new voice assistant will not come to Europe and it won’t get launched in China while the company works out regulatory challenges.

But Siri AI is just one part of iOS 27, which brings several improvements to the iPhone, including new photo editing tools, enhanced child safety features, automatic fixes for weak and compromised passwords, and much more. Apple says apps can launch 30 per cent faster, photos can load 70 per cent faster, and AirDrop transfers can be up to 80 per cent faster.

iOS 27 will support iPhones from the iPhone 11 series onwards. However, those planning to download the iOS 27 public beta should note that not all features will be available on every iPhone. For example, Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and newer models. Meanwhile, Siri AI is currently available only on three iPhone models: the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air.

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To download the Apple iOS 27 public beta, the first step is to sign up for beta releases at beta.apple.com. Next up, on your iPhone, open the Settings app and select General, followed by Software Update. On the next page, you will see the Beta Updates option, which is likely set to Off. Tap it to view all available beta options and select iOS 27 Public Beta to download the software.