iOS 27's new Siri AI is here, and its hardest thinking now runs in Google's cloud

For years, the Apple line on artificial intelligence was that it would do the hard parts itself, on its own silicon, on your device, because that was the only way to keep your data private. On 14 September, Apple shipped the assistant that story was building towards, and the most honest way to describe it is this: the new Siri is genuinely much better, and its cleverest answers are produced by a model running in Google's cloud. Both of those things are true, and the second one gets far less attention on launch day.

What shipped, and when

This was a two-step reveal. Apple unveiled the "27" software generation and the rebuilt assistant at WWDC in June, then used its autumn iPhone event on 9 September to announce the release date. The updates went live on 14 September 2026, rolling out over the day: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 (codenamed "Golden Gate"), watchOS 27, tvOS 27 and visionOS 27. The base operating system installs broadly (iOS 27 reaches iPhone 11 and later), but the artificial-intelligence features are a separate matter, which is where the caveats start.

The new Siri AI, and which iPhones actually get it

Apple's own description sets the ambition: "Siri AI is an entirely new version of Siri, powered by Apple Intelligence." In practice that means multi-turn conversation, a standalone Siri app with synced history, personal-context understanding across your Messages, Mail, Photos and Files, onscreen awareness, camera-based visual queries, live web knowledge and system-wide in-app actions across Apple's devices. Reviewers who came in sceptical often warmed to it; TechCrunch's Ivan Mehta summed up the mood: "With iOS 27, I'm actually using Siri again."

But "available today" oversells who can actually use it, because Siri AI ships gated three ways. It is gated by hardware: it needs roughly an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, which excludes a large share of the installed base. It is gated by language: English only at launch, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish following in October, likely with a 27.1 update. And it is gated by access: installing iOS 27 does not switch it on. You have to request it in Settings and wait, and Apple says the server-side features carry daily usage limits, with expanded access to be offered for a fee in future. Apple also says Siri AI will not be available initially in the EU on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, a hold it ties to the Digital Markets Act (Mac and Vision Pro there are not affected), and it is unavailable in China pending regulatory approval. None of that makes it a broken launch, but "everyone got a new Siri on Sunday" is not what happened.

There is also the backstory that gives this launch its edge. A more personal Siri was demonstrated back in 2024, slipped through 2025 (Craig Federighi's careful line at the time was that the work "needed more time to reach our high quality bar"), and only arrived now, in beta. That gap between promise and delivery is the accountability angle the launch messaging glides past.

The part most coverage buries: the smartest Siri runs in Google's cloud

Here is the detail worth slowing down for. Siri AI is not one model, it is a tier of them. The simplest requests are handled by on-device models on Apple silicon and never leave your phone (Macworld's technical write-up names them AFM 3 Core, around 3 billion parameters, and a sparse AFM 3 Core Advanced around 20 billion). Moderately complex requests go to Apple's Private Cloud Compute, Apple-run servers on Apple chips. And the heaviest reasoning routes to Apple's largest model, which Apple confirmed runs on Nvidia GPUs in Google's cloud, wrapped inside Apple's Private Cloud Compute. Reporting characterises that model as a very large, custom, Gemini-based system.

That is a striking reversal for a company that spent years positioning itself as the one that would not outsource your intelligence. Apple's answer to that characterisation is that the model is its own, not Gemini: its own foundation models, it says, are refined using the outputs of Gemini's frontier models, while, as Craig Federighi put it, "we use none of the models that Google deploys to their customers." In practice Apple appears to rent raw GPU capacity in Google's cloud rather than use Google's own model-serving stack. The reported commercial shape of the arrangement, widely cited at around a billion dollars a year, has never been itemised by Apple, so treat that figure as reported rather than confirmed. The substance stands regardless: Apple's flagship assistant now leans on a model that reporting ties to Gemini, running on a rival's cloud, to do its hardest thinking.

The privacy story is layered, not binary

This matters because Apple's privacy pitch was always cleanest when everything happened on your device. That clean story now only covers the smallest tier of requests. Two of the three tiers touch servers, and the top one touches Google's hardware. Apple's answer is Private Cloud Compute: it says data sent for processing is used only to fulfil your request and is then "deleted and never retained", that neither Apple nor Google can access your requests, and that the contract bars Google from training on Apple users' Siri queries.

Those are strong claims, and they may well be true. The honest caveat is that, by their nature, they are not something you can independently verify from your phone. You are being asked to trust the execution, and the top tier running on a competitor's cloud is genuinely new ground for Apple. For most people the trade is probably worth it for an assistant that finally works. But "on-device and private" is no longer the whole picture, and anyone who chose Apple specifically for that promise deserves the layered version, not the slogan.

Is it fast? Apple's numbers versus the early evidence

Alongside Siri, Apple leaned on speed. Its Newsroom figures say apps launch up to 30 per cent faster, photos load up to 70 per cent faster after being taken, and AirDrop transfers are up to 80 per cent faster. Read those as Apple's own "up to" marketing numbers, because that is what they are. The early independent signal is limited but encouraging: Macworld's informal testing on an older iPhone 11 Pro Max saw the Camera app open in 0.65 seconds against 0.98 on iOS 26, and Maps in 1.36 seconds against 3.01, real gains rather than a controlled benchmark. Day-one friction has been the usual sort: a couple of days of battery and heat settling, plus confusion over Siri AI eligibility and the waitlist, not a troubled release.

The clean summary is that Apple has reached rough parity with the best assistants a couple of years after its rivals, and it got there by leaning on Google's cloud and a Gemini-derived model, the outside help it once implied it would never need. The edge Apple is betting on is not raw model quality, where it now depends on a model reporting ties to Gemini, but the personal context and deep system integration that only the company that makes the phone can offer. Whether that is enough of a moat, now that the intelligence underneath is partly Google's, is the question the next year will answer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Siri AI in iOS 27?

Siri AI is Apple's rebuilt assistant in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27. It handles multi-turn conversation, draws on personal context across apps like Mail, Messages and Photos, has onscreen awareness and can take actions across apps, and it now lives in a standalone Siri app that keeps your past requests.

Which iPhones support Siri AI?

There are two tiers. iOS 27 itself installs on iPhone 11 and later, but Siri AI needs roughly an iPhone 15 Pro or newer (the 15 Pro and Pro Max, the iPhone 16 line and later, plus the iPhone Air), with some of the newest features reserved for the latest models. Even an eligible phone still has to be granted access.

Does Siri use Google's Gemini?

For its hardest requests, yes, indirectly. The simplest queries run on-device and mid-range ones on Apple's Private Cloud Compute, but the heaviest reasoning routes to Apple's largest model, which Apple confirmed runs in Google's cloud and which reporting describes as a custom, Gemini-based system. Apple's position is that the model is its own, refined from Gemini, not Gemini itself.

Does Google see my data when I use Siri?

Apple says no. It says data sent for processing is used only to fulfil the request and then deleted, that neither Apple nor Google can access it, and that the contract bars Google from training on Siri queries. Those are Apple's claims and cannot be independently verified from your phone. Separately, if you choose to send a query to Google or ChatGPT through Siri, that goes to the third party with a permission prompt.

How do I turn on Siri AI, and why is it not showing up?

On a supported iPhone, open Settings, go to the Apple Intelligence and Siri section and request access, which puts you on a rollout waitlist. It is English-only at launch, so if it is not appearing yet you are likely on the waitlist, on an unsupported device, or set to a language that is not live until October.

Is Siri AI available in the EU?

Not on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch at launch, a hold Apple ties to the Digital Markets Act; Mac and Apple Vision Pro in the EU are not affected. It is also unavailable in China pending regulatory approval.

What languages does Siri AI support?

English at launch, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish due in October, likely with a 27.1 update.

Is Siri AI better than ChatGPT or Gemini?

Reviewers frame it as reaching rough parity with the leading assistants a couple of years late. Its edge is not raw model quality, which it now leans on Google for, but the personal context and deep system integration only the company that makes the phone can offer. For how the standalone assistants compare, see our guide to the best AI chatbots.

Should I update to iOS 27 now?

There has been no widespread device-breaking problem reported, so it is a normal update. Expect a day or two of higher battery use and warmth as the phone re-indexes in the background, and back up first as you would before any major update.