iOS 27 puts a Siri panel inside Screen Time, and it is the one documented way to decide which Siri an iPhone gets and to keep that decision in place. The path is Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri, and the four choices there run from blocking Siri outright to allowing Siri AI with individual abilities switched off.
That matters most on a child’s iPhone, but it is just as useful on a work phone or on a hand-me-down device you set up for someone else. Apple files the choice under Content & Privacy Restrictions, alongside the app and content rules you already lock down, rather than in the Siri settings any owner can reach.
The four choices Apple lists
Apple’s own steps are short. Open Settings, then:
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- Tap Screen Time.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Tap Siri.
From there Apple gives four things you can do, in its wording:
- Block Siri: “Tap Don’t Allow Siri.”
- Allow use of Siri without AI capabilities: “Tap Siri (Classic Version).”
- Allow use of Siri with AI capabilities: “Tap Siri AI (Beta).”
- Allow or block specific capabilities: “Select Allow or Block under any of the Siri AI capabilities, such as Image Creation, Sensitive Topics, or Explicit Language.”
Read that last line closely. Apple writes “such as”, which means those three are examples and not the full set. It does not publish the complete list of Siri AI capabilities that can be allowed or blocked, and it does not define what Sensitive Topics or Explicit Language cover. Apple also warns on the same page that “the settings that appear here may vary depending on your Siri version”, so expect the panel to differ between an iPhone that can run Siri AI and one that cannot.
How this differs from switching Siri in Settings
Any owner can move between the two Siri versions from the Siri settings on their own iPhone. That is a preference, and the person holding the phone can undo it in seconds. The Screen Time route is a restriction instead, filed under Content & Privacy Restrictions, and it is the only route Apple documents that reaches individual Siri AI abilities rather than the whole assistant.
If you only want the classic assistant on your own phone and nothing enforced, use the Siri settings. If you are setting up a device for someone else, use Screen Time.
What iOS 26 offered instead
The equivalent page in Apple’s iOS 26 guide looked different. There the item was called Intelligence & Siri, and it held three Allow or Don’t Allow switches: Writing Tools, Image Creation and Intelligence Extensions, the last of those covering third-party providers such as ChatGPT. There was no way to pick a Siri version, because there was only one Siri.
The iOS 27 panel keeps per-capability control and adds the version choice on top of it.
The requirements Apple states
Siri AI is in beta, and Apple is specific about where it runs. Its note reads: “Siri AI is available in beta on iOS 27 or later on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 model or later with Siri and device language set to a supported language. Available in English to start. Siri AI will not initially be available in the EU on iOS. Usage limits may apply.”
Apple Intelligence itself carries the same hardware floor, and Apple lists 16 supported languages for it. On an iPhone that cannot run Siri AI, expect fewer options in the panel, which is what the “may vary” note is warning about.
One more condition applies to the whole Screen Time section. Apple says that to use all the latest Screen Time features you need iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices, and that in a Family Sharing group every device has to be upgraded. A child’s iPad left on an older release is enough to leave part of this out of reach. iOS 27 itself runs on iPhone 11 and later plus iPhone SE (2nd generation) and later, so most family devices qualify.
Worth checking before you rely on it
Apple does not say whether a Screen Time passcode is needed for the Siri restriction to stick, and it does not describe what Siri does when someone asks for a capability you blocked. Set it, then try the blocked ability yourself on the device before you hand it over. A minute of testing tells you more than the documentation does.
Siri AI arrived with the rest of iOS 27 on September 14. Our iOS 27 release rundown covers what else came with it, and the event recap has the announcements behind it.
