Siri AI, Apple’s conversational assistant with personal context and app integrations, arrives in beta with iOS 27 on Monday, September 14. It is free, but it has three gates: an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, a device set to English at launch, and a region where Apple offers it. French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish follow in October, according to Apple’s iOS 27 page.
There is no separate download and, as far as Apple has said, no waitlist. The beta comes with the update and switches on through Settings. Here are the requirements, the steps, and the reasons it might not show up on your phone.
Siri AI beta requirements
| Requirement | What Apple has published |
|---|---|
| Software | iOS 27, free, September 14 |
| iPhone | iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 or later, including iPhone 16e, iPhone 17 series, iPhone Air, iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo |
| Language at launch | English |
| Languages in October | French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Region | Not available on iPhone in the European Union under the Digital Markets Act; new Apple Intelligence features in China pending approval, per Apple’s press release |
| Status | Beta; Apple has not said when the label comes off |
Any iPhone 12 or later runs iOS 27, but Siri AI is an Apple Intelligence feature and stops at the iPhone 15 Pro line. Apple Intelligence runs on-device and with Private Cloud Compute, according to Apple’s press release. Our iOS 27 release date guide has the update timing.
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How to get the Siri AI beta on iOS 27
These steps follow Apple’s published description of the feature on its iOS 27 page. The exact button names and menu positions may shift when iOS 27 ships on September 14, so treat them as a guide rather than a script.
- Open Settings, General, Software Update on or after September 14 and install iOS 27. Apple has not stated a release hour; it usually ships iOS updates around 10 a.m. Pacific.
- Open Settings, General, Language and Region and confirm the iPhone language is English. The beta does not run in other languages until October.
- Open Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri. If Apple Intelligence is off, turn it on. Apple has previously staged Apple Intelligence downloads, so allow time for any on-device model to install.
- Look for the Siri AI beta option in the same screen and enable it. Accept the beta terms if Apple presents them.
- Set how you want to call Siri: the side button, the voice trigger, or, on iPhone 18 Pro, the Dynamic Island, where Siri AI is reported to be invoked.
- Open the new Siri app to see your conversation history, which Apple says syncs through iCloud, and try a multi-turn request such as asking about an email and then asking Siri to act on it.
- To use Siri AI from the camera, open Camera and select Siri mode for visual search from the viewfinder.
If you are buying an iPhone 18 Pro, it ships on September 18 with iOS 27 installed, so steps one and two are already done. The iPhone Duo ships in October with iOS 27.1 and the same beta.
What Siri AI does once it is on
Apple’s Siri AI announcement lists personal context across Messages, Mail and Photos, on-screen awareness, web access for current information, system-wide in-app actions, a dedicated Siri app with synced conversation history, multi-turn follow-ups, Writing Tools integration, improved dictation and adjustable voice expressiveness and pace.
It also reaches beyond the phone. AirPods 5 offer hands-free Siri AI when paired with an Apple Intelligence iPhone on iOS 27, and Apple lists Apple Watch Series 9 and later, Ultra 2 and later and SE 3 as supported when paired with a compatible iPhone.
If Siri AI does not appear
- Check the model. An iPhone 15 or older non-Pro model runs iOS 27 without Apple Intelligence, so the beta will not be offered.
- Check the language. A phone set to French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean or Portuguese gets Siri AI in October, not September 14.
- Check the region. Apple has said Siri AI is not on iPhone in the EU with no timeline given, and China is pending approval.
- Check for a pending download. Apple Intelligence models install in the background; Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri shows progress.
- Restart the phone and check Settings again. Apple has not said whether the beta rolls out to every eligible device at the same moment.
Apple has not published an end date for the beta or a list of languages beyond the six. For the hardware that arrives four days after the software, our event recap has everything from the keynote.
