Apple just gave Siri a major, and frankly much-awaited, makeover. At WWDC (Worldwide Developers’ Conference) 2026, Apple announced a new version of Siri that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI), or in this case Apple Intelligence. This new Siri is called ‘Siri AI’ and it is more conversational than the Siri that we have gotten used to using over the years. It’s also a whole lot smarter than the old Siri.
Broadly, Siri has got three sets of features, which bring personal context understanding, broad world knowledge, and onscreen awareness to Apple’s virtual assistant. These features will be available to users later this year.
Siri AI: Top features explained
- As mentioned before, Apple Intelligence brings personal context understanding to Siri AI. With this, Siri AI can help users find what they need across messages, emails, photos, and more. Personal context understanding is not only available for Apple’s own apps but also to third-party apps when developers integrate with Spotlight.
- Siri AI also lets users get things done across apps, such as drafting an email from scratch, or editing and sharing a set of photos.
- Another feature that Siri AI is getting is onscreen awareness. With this feature, Siri AI can answer questions related to the content on a user’s screen. For example, if a user gets a text about a get-together at a friend’s place, they can brainstorm with Siri on what gift to bring or what dish to bring to the event and then add the selected recipe to the Notes app.
- With broad world knowledge, Apple device users can use Siri AI to get up-to-date information from the web on any topic and generate an answer that answers all of their questions pertaining to it. This feature also lets users ask follow up questions.
- Until now, iPhone users could invoke Siri using the side button and the ‘Hey Siri’ wake word. At WWDC 2026, Apple announced a third way to invoke Siri. iPhone users can swipe down from the Dynamic Island to start a conversation and get an in-depth answers.
- Apple says that on iPad and Mac, Siri AI is integrated into Spotlight so users can search for answers to almost any question. The company has also integrated Siri AI into systemwide context menus, which would allow users to control-click to ask about images, files, or text on their screen.
- On Apple Watch, users can start a conversation with Siri AI from the wrist, or a new Smart Stack suggestion that appears automatically to help users continue a recent conversation.
- Another interesting feature that Apple has announced for Siri is support for new voice. As of now, users can pick between six variations and four voices for Siri. Now, the company is adding more expressive voices for users to pick from. Apple says that users can customise the expressiveness and pace of Siri’s voice so it’s right for them.
- Additionally, the company has updated the Dictation feature, which now captures what users say as polished text with greater precision. This feature also handles capitalisation, punctuation, and formatting as they speak automatically. Apart from this, Apple has also improved Siri’s speech understanding, which means users can speak naturally and trust that their words will appear clearly and accurately.
- As a part of the makeover, Apple has introduced a dedicated Siri app that lets users revisit a past conversation or kick off a new one – something reports have touted for a long time. Apple says that the Siri app uses iCloud to privately sync conversational history across a user’s Apple devices and let them access all of their conversations in one place.
- The list of new Siri features doesn’t end there. Apple is bringing a new Siri mode in its Camera app. This new mode will enable users to get information and take action on what’s in front of them. Users can simply tap the shutter button to let Siri see what they see and receive useful responses.
- Wait, there’s more. At WWDC 2026, Apple announced that it is bringing Visual Intelligence to iPads and Macs. Earlier, this feature was limited to iPhones. Apple says that on iPad, Visual Intelligence is integrated right into the screenshot experience and on Mac, users can tap into it with a dedicated keyboard shortcut.
- Lastly, Siri is getting updated Writing Tools, which will let users write with Siri AI anywhere they type. For instance, users can describe what they need and Siri can generate a draft from scratch. If a user wants to modify what they have written, they can describe the change that they want to make and Siri will update the draft quickly.
- In Mail and Messages, Siri can reflect how users usually communicate with each recipient. Additionally, Siri now automatically proofreads for users as they type across the system, including within most third-party apps.
Siri AI: Availability
As far as availability is concerned, Apple says that the new Siri AI features will be available as a beta later this year for users with a supported device set to English. Apple will gradually expand support for more languages.
Siri AI will be available on devices running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 when these OS versions release later this year. Supported models include iPhone 16 models or later, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), MacBook Neo (A18 Pro), iPad models with M1 or later, Mac with M1 or later, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later, and Apple Watch SE 3.
