Apple rolled out its new iPhone software, dubbed iOS 27, on Monday, featuring a redesigned Siri AI personal assistant just days before the latest iPhone models hit store shelves. The tech giant noted that the upgraded Siri AI is currently in its Beta phase, requiring users to manually opt in through the Settings app, with some potentially needing to join a waitlist before gaining access.

Apple is positioning the upcoming iPhone 18 series as the ideal device for artificial intelligence, leveraging its high-speed chip and on-device personal data like calendars and text messages. "This is truly personal intelligence," said Apple CEO John Ternus at last week's iPhone event. "The iPhone sits at the center of an incredible ecosystem of smart features and experiences that work seamlessly across the products you use every day."

Apple first previewed the Siri AI assistant back in June, following delays experienced last year with the previous iteration of AI-driven Siri, which had been announced in 2024. In contrast to the frontier AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, Apple employs smaller proprietary models that can typically run directly on the chips within phones and laptops.

For more complex Siri AI requests, however, Apple utilizes what it calls "private cloud computing," an architecture built on Google Cloud infrastructure along with chips from Nvidia and Intel. Additionally, Apple is incorporating Google's Gemini model to help construct its own systems. The company stated that some Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features dependent on cloud servers will be subject to daily usage limits, with "expanded quota available for a fee in the future."

"Daily limits may vary based on feature, request complexity, system requirements, system policies, and other factors," Apple said in a statement. The new Siri leverages large language models to search users' local personal data, including text messages, emails, and calendar events. For instance, it can scan messages to locate addresses, recipes, and instructions, while also answering general questions and browsing the web.

Users can also access Siri AI through a brand-new Siri app that stores a history of previous queries. Compared to the older Siri, users can now ask follow-up questions to the assistant's responses, making the interaction feel far more conversational. Siri AI is initially available only in English, with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish rolling out next month. Due to regulatory considerations, Apple confirmed the feature will not launch in the European Union initially.