Only These iPhone Models Are Getting the New Siri AI This Fall

Siri has never been the smartest assistant, but what’s more disappointing is how it has refused to evolve despite Apple’s strong push for Apple Intelligence. Two major versions of iOS have come and gone without the supercharged Siri that Apple originally promised. Apple finally announced an improved version of Siri at its WWDC 2026 keynote, and it looks like the virtual assistant is finally living up to the company’s expectations over the years. We interacted with Siri AI and found it really useful for answering complex questions and executing chained commands.

Only Apple Intelligence compatible devices will get Siri AI later this year. This includes every iPhone released since the iPhone 15 Pro, alongside iPad and Mac models powered by Apple silicon. The 2024 iPad mini is also supported as it uses the same SoC as the iPhone 15 Pro. Launch the Settings app, scroll down a bit, and if you see Apple Intelligence & Siri section, your iPhone is on its way to getting an AI-powered Siri upgrade when the stable version of iOS 27 is released this fall.

Interestingly, Apple says the new assistant will be released initially as a beta. Users may need to log in manually to access Siri AI, such as those testing the iOS 27 developer beta who had to jump on a waiting list. Fortunately, compatibility with iOS 27 shouldn’t be a cause for concern, given how Apple extends support all the way back to the iPhone 11.

Siri is now better equipped to handle personal requests – it understands context and can refer to information from your notes, messages, emails and photos. It’s powered by the new Apple Foundation models stored on the device, which should help with both response times and privacy. More complex data is uploaded to large models stored in the cloud with Private Cloud Compute, which Apple says ensures that your data is not accessible to anyone but you.

If you own an iPhone 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max or iPhone Air, Siri AI will be able to take advantage of the more powerful device model. This should improve the overall experience, but most importantly, it enables Siri’s audible voices, improved speech recognition and more accurate pronunciation.

The upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and the rumored iPhone Fold will also enjoy AI-powered models on the device, but it’s not certain what the base model iPhone 18 will be as well. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is looking to increase the memory in non-Pro iPhones to 9GB. However, Apple says that its most powerful AI device models require at least 12GB of RAM.

Admittedly, most of Apple Intelligence so far has been AI features that don’t advance in the meaningful way that the iPhone does. Siri AI seems really useful, though. Even in the beta builds we tried, the virtual assistant was fast and accurate.