iOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14 for iPhone 11 and later plus iPhone SE from the second generation onward, and what you should open first depends on which iPhone you are holding. On an Apple Intelligence iPhone, start with the Siri app and Siri mode in the Camera. On everything else, start with the Liquid Glass slider in Settings and the speed you will notice in Photos.
Two features that Apple showed will not be waiting for you, so it is worth knowing before you go looking. Messages Suggestions and the Passwords tool that flags and updates weak or compromised credentials are both labelled as coming in a future software update. Our iOS 27 release date roundup has the confirmed dates, and our event recap covers everything else Apple announced.
Key facts: what lands on Monday
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | iOS 27, Monday, September 14, 2026, free |
| Compatible iPhones | iPhone 11 and later, plus iPhone SE (2nd generation and later) |
| Apple Intelligence | iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models and later |
| Siri AI | Beta, English first, with five more languages in October |
| Works on any supported iPhone | Liquid Glass slider, faster app launches, Safari tab topics, Mail search, AirPods Custom EQ |
| Not there on day one | Messages Suggestions, and Passwords weak or compromised alerts with auto-update |
Open the Siri app, then point the camera at something
The Siri app is the clearest sign that something changed. Apple describes it as a dedicated app that brings all your conversations together in one place, syncing history privately through iCloud so you can start a question on iPhone and finish it on iPad, Mac, Apple Watch or Vision Pro. You can type or talk.
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Ask it something that needs your own data rather than the web, because personal context is the part that is genuinely new: Apple’s examples are finding a photo from years ago, locating an email buried in your inbox, or pulling up a note. Then ask a follow-up without repeating yourself, which is the conversational half of the claim.
Next, open the Camera and use the new Siri mode to start a visual search straight from the viewfinder. Both features need an Apple Intelligence iPhone, both are English only at launch, and Apple applies daily usage limits to the ones that lean on its server models.
Tune Liquid Glass, then look at your icons
Settings now carries a slider that moves Liquid Glass anywhere from ultraclear to fully tinted. Push it to both ends before you decide, because the two extremes look like different operating systems and Apple says the refraction is more uniform and the contrast improved this year.
App icons are sharper and more defined, which is easier to see once the glass is tinted. This costs nothing in requirements: it works on any iPhone that can install iOS 27, including the iPhone 11 that Apple used to measure its claim of app launches up to 30 percent faster.
The Photos tools worth ten minutes
Find a photo you nearly like. Spatial Reframing lets you reframe a shot after it has been taken, the Extend tool expands the edges to straighten a horizon or change an aspect ratio, and the enhanced Clean Up removes larger objects than before with more realistic infill.
Image Playground now produces photorealistic images from a description, and Genmoji is in the same place. All of it needs an Apple Intelligence iPhone, and Apple notes that usage limits may apply. Photos should also feel quicker: Apple claims new pictures load up to 70 percent faster, measured on an iPhone 15 with a 50,000-asset library.
Five quieter wins, and what each one needs
| Feature | Where it lives | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Notify Me and tab topics | Safari | Any iPhone running iOS 27; Notify Me is English |
| Perimenopause notifications | Health, in Cycle Tracking | Any iPhone running iOS 27, with logged cycle data |
| Custom EQ | AirPods settings | Any iPhone running iOS 27 with supported AirPods |
| GymKit on iPhone | Fitness and workouts | Compatible treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and stair-steppers |
| Call Context | Phone, during a business call | An Apple Intelligence iPhone, English only |
Safari can now watch a page for a price change or a restock and tell you when to act, and it groups tabs into topics on its own. Mail has a new search ranking that pushes the most relevant results to the top. AirPods Custom EQ adjusts lows, mids and highs, and GymKit finally works from the iPhone without an Apple Watch on your wrist.
What Apple has not said
Apple has not published a release time for iOS 27, a download size or an install duration, and it has not given a date for the Messages Suggestions or Passwords features it says are coming later. It has not said when Siri AI will reach the EU on iPhone, where it is not initially available on iOS, iPadOS or watchOS, and it has not published pricing for the expanded access to server-backed features it says will be sold in the future.
iOS 27 ships on Monday, September 14, alongside iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27. The next date to watch is October, when Siri AI adds French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
