visionOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14, and an original M2 Apple Vision Pro gets almost all of it, including the Siri AI beta. Two features are held back for the M5 headset: Siri voice customization and Apple’s improved on-device Dictation model.
Apple has published no visionOS 27 compatibility footnote at all, which makes it the only release in the wave with no device list and a firm date. The only hardware lines Apple draws for Vision Pro are the Apple Intelligence floor at M2 and the advanced on-device tier at M5.
Key facts on visionOS 27
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| Release | Monday, September 14, 2026, free |
| Release candidate build | 24M362, issued September 9 |
| Compatibility footnote | None published for visionOS 27 |
| Apple Intelligence floor | Apple Vision Pro with M2 and later |
| Advanced on-device tier | Apple Vision Pro with M5 |
| Siri AI | Beta, English first, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish in October |
| Siri AI in the EU | Available on Apple Vision Pro when set to a supported language |
| Release time | Not published |
The two features Apple reserves for the M5
| Feature | What Apple requires |
|---|---|
| Siri voice customization, covering pitch, speed, tone and accent | Apple Vision Pro with M5 |
| Improved on-device Dictation model | Apple Vision Pro with M5 |
| Everything else in Apple Intelligence | Apple Vision Pro with M2 and later |
Apple calls the requirement an advanced on-device model and puts the same two features behind it on every platform. On iPhone that tier reaches six models, including the new iPhone 18 Pro, and on Mac it needs M3 or later with 12GB of unified memory or more. On Vision Pro it stops at the M5.
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What an M2 Vision Pro does get
Most of visionOS 27 has nothing to do with Apple Intelligence, so the tier above does not decide whether the update is worth installing. Apple’s published feature list includes:
- Turning a panorama into a spatial scene and setting it as a personal Environment
- Windows with curvature, which Apple says let you comfortably see more content
- A new Environment called Thórsmörk, an Icelandic aurora with shifting hues
- Web Environments, so Safari supports fully immersive web experiences, plus automatic grouping of bookmarks and Reading List by topic
- Spatial Mac previewing, which brings 3D models from a Mac into your space to preview and edit
- Dwell Control that selects by glance without a timer, and notifications that expand when you look at them
- A Control Center reorganized into three areas, extra-small widgets and a Mac Virtual Display widget
- Freeform board grouping and folders, faster Messages sync with unread counts, and search within a show in Podcasts
Apple describes a few items as arriving later, including the Passwords feature that updates weak or compromised passwords for you. Our event recap covers the hardware Apple announced on September 9, which did not include a headset.
The speed claim Apple measured on the older headset
Apple says Vision Pro on visionOS 27 “starts and connects to Wi-Fi up to three times faster.” The footnote is the interesting part: the test ran in August 2026 on an M2 Apple Vision Pro, comparing visionOS 26.6 with a prerelease build of visionOS 27.
So the one performance figure Apple publishes for visionOS 27 was produced on the headset its owners have had since launch, not on the current M5 model. Apple publishes no equivalent figure for the M5.
Vision Pro is one of the two platforms that keep Siri AI in the EU
Apple’s exclusion names iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, and it does not name macOS or visionOS. Apple’s wording is that Mac and Apple Vision Pro users in the EU will be able to access Siri AI when set to a supported language, and that it is working to find a path forward for the other three.
A Vision Pro in Dublin or Berlin therefore gets the beta assistant on Monday while an iPhone in the same room does not, which our iOS 27 coverage sets out in full. The keynote live blog shows Apple did not discuss the split on stage.
What Apple has not said
- Any visionOS 27 compatibility footnote, in the way it publishes one for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS
- A release time on September 14
- Whether the M2 headset gets the advanced on-device tier later
- Any startup or Wi-Fi figure measured on the M5 headset
- A date for the Passwords feature listed as coming in a future update
visionOS 27 arrives on Monday, September 14, alongside iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate and watchOS 27. Siri AI stays in beta in all five, with its five extra languages due in October.
