Danny Weber
iOS 27 may run on older iPhones, but the upgraded Siri AI is expected only on models that support Apple Intelligence.
Apple has finally shown the updated Siri AI at WWDC 2026, but it will not reach every iPhone owner. Although iOS 27 is expected to support devices going back to the iPhone 11, the new version of the voice assistant will appear only on models compatible with Apple Intelligence. In practice, that means the iPhone 15 Pro and newer Apple smartphones.
Compatibility can be checked right in Settings: if the device has an Apple Intelligence & Siri section, the phone should receive the updated Siri after the stable version of iOS 27 arrives this fall. Support is also listed for iPad and Mac models with Apple silicon, as well as the 2024 iPad mini, since it uses the same chip as the iPhone 15 Pro.
The new Siri should understand context better and handle more complex requests. The assistant will be able to draw on information from notes, messages, mail and photos to answer personal questions and complete chains of commands. Simple tasks will be processed on the device using Apple Foundation Models, while more complex requests will go through Private Cloud Compute. Apple says this setup helps preserve user privacy.
On the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air, Siri AI will get extra advantages thanks to a more powerful local model. That should speed up the assistant, improve answer quality, and unlock more expressive Siri voices, more accurate speech recognition and better dictation. The future iPhone 18 Pro and foldable iPhone Fold are also expected to support advanced local AI models, but the fate of the base iPhone 18 remains unclear.
According to rumors, Apple may increase memory in regular iPhones to 9 GB, while the company points to at least 12 GB of RAM for its most powerful local AI models. That means some Siri AI features may remain exclusive to higher-end models.
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