The new assistant, now called Siri AI, will roll out to iOS 27 and macOS 27 users this fall. It first appeared in June with the launch of a dedicated Siri app, and beta testers have already compared the experience to ChatGPT and Gemini.
Powered By a Competitor’s Models
Here’s the twist nobody expected a few years ago. Siri AI’s conversational abilities are powered by Apple Intelligence, which received a major upgrade at this year’s developer conference. That upgrade incorporates Google Gemini models under the hood.
The integration lets Siri search the web more effectively and respond using natural language processing rather than rigid command patterns. It can also understand what’s on screen, giving it contextual awareness previous versions never had.
A key differentiator is how deeply Siri AI reaches into personal data. It pulls directly from emails, calendars, and notes stored on the device. Apple describes this as building a truly helpful AI that’s centered around you and your needs.
What’s Actually New
The redesigned Siri brings a genuinely different set of capabilities to the table:
- A dedicated app that opens a direct chat space with the assistant
- Siri Camera mode, letting users ask questions about whatever the viewfinder is capturing
- Image generation through Image Playground
- Photo editing tools that can expand images or reframe perspectives with Apple Intelligence
- Text editing integrated across Notes, email, and Messages
- The ability to build complex Shortcuts from a simple plain language description
Beta Access Comes With Limits
Siri AI is currently available through a beta program, with a full English language launch planned for iOS 27 and macOS 27 users this fall. Apple has warned that beta testers may run into usage limits while the company continues stress testing Apple Intelligence at scale.
Hashlytics Take
The Gemini integration is the real story here, not the feature list. Apple spent years positioning Apple Intelligence as proof it could do AI on its own terms, tightly controlled, privacy first, built in house. Quietly wiring in Google’s models to make Siri competitive suggests that promise ran into a wall internally. It’s a practical move, and probably the right one for users, but it also tells you Apple decided shipping something that works matters more right now than shipping something entirely its own.
Readers can follow the Apple event live blog for updates as the fall rollout approaches.
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