Apple rolls out iOS 27: 10 ways it will 'change' your iPhone

Apple has unleashed iOS 27, its most substantial iPhone software upgrade yet, making it free for iPhones from the 11 range and onwards. The rollout commenced on Monday, with the update already active in India. The star of the show is Siri AI, an enhanced assistant capable of maintaining a coherent dialogue, perusing your screen contents, and scouring your emails, messages, and photos to provide informed responses.

Complementing Siri AI is a Camera app that can interpret restaurant bills, a Shortcuts app that allows you to voice commands to shape it, a Photos editor that stretches images beyond their original dimensions, and a slider catering to those who have recently grown weary of the Liquid Glass display. Siri AI represents a long-awaited feature, initially slated for 2024 but delayed, arriving as a beta version with English support, followed by French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in October.

Apple has allocated significant engineering resources to other aspects of iOS 27, including improvements in app launch times, Wi-Fi and cellular handover, and other performance enhancements that will benefit the widest user base. The list of compatible iPhones extends back to 2019, covering the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and subsequent generations, including the iPhone Air, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Duo, with a select few features exclusive to newer models.

To update to iOS 27, initiate a backup through iCloud or a computer, then navigate to Settings, General, and Software Update, where you can select iOS 27 and follow the on-screen instructions. Post-installation, Siri AI can be activated in Settings, though it remains inactive until explicitly enabled and is restricted for users under 13.

Siri AI functions like a chatbot, privy to your personal data such as emails, messages, photos, and files, allowing you to retrieve information based on person, date, or location, manage home automation, add contact details without opening apps, compile shopping lists from recipe pages, and respond to inquiries about on-screen content or perform web searches when necessary.

The assistant also provides feedback when its response is incomplete and operates within a shorter response window compared to competitors. When used in conjunction with the Camera app, Siri AI can read restaurant bills, extract nutritional information, identify shop hours, and link events to your calendar, with a notable demonstration of splitting a restaurant bill into individual shares, tax, and tip, settling the amount through Apple Cash.

Additionally, Siri AI can generate text based on your writing style, including drafting messages and emails, suggesting grammatical corrections, and adjusting the level of formality. For users with older iPhones, the update promises a noticeable speed boost, with app launches up to 30% faster, photo previews up to 70% quicker, and AirDrop transfers enhanced by up to 80%.

The update also includes refinements to Messages' retry mechanism and the Liquid Glass display, which now features a customizable tint slider. Finally, Shortcuts has been streamlined, enabling users to create automations through a single sentence command, with the app automatically constructing the sequence based on your input, which can then be refined using plain language or manual adjustments.