Apple turns Siri into an on-screen agent across iOS 27 and Mac

Apple’s long-delayed Siri rebuild is no longer just a promise on a keynote slide. On June 8, 2026, Apple introduced Siri AI and opened developer testing across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and visionOS 27, with a user beta planned for later this year. The timing matters because Siri has been the clearest gap in Apple Intelligence: Apple had the devices, the privacy story, and the operating-system reach, but not yet a convincing assistant layer.

The new Siri AI is built around three capabilities that change the product’s role. It can understand what is on a user’s screen, search personal context across messages, email, photos, and other apps, and use web knowledge to answer current questions. Apple’s examples include finding a restaurant recommendation from a friend’s message, retrieving a hotel confirmation number from an old email, and pulling up photos from a recent trip. Third-party apps can join that context layer when developers integrate with Spotlight.

This is also an action system, not only a voice interface. Apple says Siri AI can draft an email, edit and share a batch of photos, answer questions about images or files through system context menus, and help users act on a message they are reading. On iPhone, users can invoke it with the side button or by swiping down from the Dynamic Island. On iPad and Mac, it is integrated into Spotlight. On Vision Pro, it appears as a spatial 3D visualization that users can place in their environment.

The architecture is Apple’s main differentiator. Siri AI uses the next generation of Apple Foundation Models running both on device and on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers. Apple says personal data is not stored or made accessible to Apple when Private Cloud Compute handles a request, and that outside experts can verify the privacy claim. The system also uses on-device components such as the Spotlight index and App Toolbox, keeping some of the assistant’s context and orchestration closer to the user’s device.

Availability is narrower than the headline. Siri AI enters developer testing immediately and will reach users as a beta later in 2026, starting with supported devices set to English. Apple lists iPhone 16 models or later, iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, M1-or-later iPads and Macs, Apple Vision Pro, and certain Apple Watch models paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. The most advanced on-device voice and dictation model is limited further to newer hardware with at least 12GB of unified memory. Siri AI will not initially be available on iOS and iPadOS in the EU, and the new Apple Intelligence features are not available in China while regulatory work continues.

The bigger stake is whether Apple can make AI feel native to a personal device rather than bolted on as another chat window. If Siri AI works, it turns Apple’s installed base into a distribution channel for agentic behavior across everyday apps. If it misses, the company’s AI credibility problem remains attached to the most familiar assistant name in consumer tech. Apple’s source release is available on Apple Newsroom.