iOS 27 & Apple Intelligence — Every Announced Change
A living, sourced reference to everything announced for iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2026, organised into nine areas. Every claim is attributed to one of 49 listed sources — Apple's own briefings and documentation alongside independent reporting, regulators, standards bodies and security researchers — with nothing added as uncited commentary.
Apple previewed iOS 27 and a rebuilt Siri at WWDC 2026, held 8–12 June 2026; the software is scheduled to ship in autumn 2026.[1][7]
Siri AI & Apple Intelligence
Apple introduced a rebuilt version of Siri, branded Siri AI, as the centrepiece of Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2026.[1][7] iOS 27 is scheduled to ship in autumn 2026, following a public beta from July and a developer beta already available.[1]
Model and architecture
Siri AI runs on a three-tier architecture: simpler tasks are handled by an on-device model, moderate requests are routed through Apple's Private Cloud Compute, and heavier reasoning is handled by a custom Google Gemini model running on Google Cloud.[1][6] The top tier is a custom Gemini model reported at roughly 1.2 trillion parameters, under an arrangement Apple and Google announced on 12 January 2026 and reported to be worth about $1 billion per year.[3][6] The agreement includes a contractual bar on Google training on Siri queries, and the computation is described as stateless and independently verified.[1][3] Developers can declare, per intent, whether an interaction may be routed to the cloud.[1]
Capabilities
Siri AI is a standalone app with iCloud-synced conversation history, multi-step commands, document and image attachments, and a presence in the Dynamic Island.[1][6] It adds personal context — searching across a user's email, photos, messages and notes via the Spotlight semantic index — along with onscreen awareness and cross-device continuity across iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch.[1][2] Visual Intelligence, previously iPhone-only, expands to iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.[2][7]
Photos gains new tools — Spatial Reframing, Extend and an upgraded Clean Up.[2] Safari adds topic-based tab organisation, a Notify Me feature that monitors a page for changes, and Describe an Extension, which builds a browser extension from a plain-language description.[2][9] Calendar can create and modify events from natural language; Home can summarise HomeKit video clips and group notifications; and Shortcuts can generate automations from plain-language descriptions.[2]
Availability and hardware
Siri AI is blocked at launch in the EU on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, and in China; EU users on Mac and Vision Pro still receive it.[4][5] Apple attributes the EU block to the Digital Markets Act and states there is no timeline for EU iOS and iPadOS, while the European Commission has countered that the DMA did not block the launch and framed the delay as Apple's own choice.[4][5] The rollout is English-first, with broader language support to follow.[1] Apple Intelligence features require an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 or later, although iOS 27 itself supports devices back to the iPhone 11.[2][8]
Developer platform
SiriKit deprecation
Apple formally deprecated SiriKit at WWDC 2026, and Xcode 27 emits compile-time deprecation warnings.[10][11] Reporting placed the support window at roughly two to three years, with removal estimated around iOS 29 (approximately autumn 2028); the date is not officially confirmed.[11] Apps that do not adopt App Intents are not reachable by Siri AI.[11][12]
App Intents 2.0
App Intents 2.0 adds App Schemas (system-defined entity and intent categories), a View Annotations API that maps SwiftUI views to app entities so Siri can resolve on-screen references, LongRunningIntent for streaming long-running tasks, CancellableIntent, ExecutionTargets for process targeting, and an App Intents Testing framework for validating Siri, Spotlight and Shortcuts integration without UI automation.[12][13][14][15] Multi-turn conversational follow-ups and streaming responses are supported.[12][14]
In-app content becomes discoverable through Siri and Spotlight by conforming entities to IndexedEntity and calling indexAppEntities() to populate the Spotlight semantic index, marking searchable fields with @Property(indexingKey:), using IntentValueQuery for large or dynamic data sets, and exposing onscreen items via NSUserActivity (a single item) or View Annotations (lists).[13][14][15]
Foundation Models v3
Foundation Models v3 introduces a LanguageModel protocol that any provider can implement via Swift Package Manager, allowing an app to swap the underlying model with a single dependency change.[16][17][18] Anthropic (Claude) and Google (Gemini, via Firebase) both published conforming Swift packages, and Google described switching to its models as a small code change.[17][19] The on-device foundation model was rebuilt with improved reasoning, tool calling and multimodal image input.[16] The Private Cloud Compute model offers a 32K-token context and is free for apps under two million downloads, with no API keys required.[16][18] Apple also added Core AI, a framework for deploying custom on-device models, plus built-in tools including a barcode reader, OCR and a Spotlight retrieval tool, a Python SDK and an fm command-line tool.[16][18]
Xcode 27 and deprecations
Xcode 27 is Apple-silicon-only and about 30% smaller, and adds dual-engine agentic coding combining a local Neural Engine path with cloud models from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI; a Device Hub replaces the Simulator.[10][20] On-Demand Resources is deprecated across iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and visionOS 27, with migration to Apple-Hosted Background Assets.[12]
App Store — discovery & personalisation
Apple added Personalized Collections, on-device AI recommendations based on a user's installed apps and usage that appear on the Apps, Games and Search tabs and evolve over time.[21][22][23] No app-usage data is sent to Apple's servers for these recommendations.[21][23] App Notes attach short, locally generated explanations to each recommendation, describing why an app was surfaced.[21][23] The feature builds on the 2025 App Store Tags system of AI-generated, human-reviewed labels, and went live in the US in English from June 2026, with more regions to follow.[21][23]
On the marketing side, a self-serve Header asset (formerly the Feature Banner) is now available in App Store Connect, an Asset Library centralises management and reuse of approved creative assets, and richer images and video can appear in search results and product-page headers.[21][22] Apps that do not adopt App Intents are not accessible through Siri AI as a discovery surface, so entity schemas feed the Spotlight semantic index and let users find in-app content by natural language.[22][12]
App Store — monetisation & subscriptions
Cross-developer bundles & suites
Cross-developer bundles let unrelated developers package subscriptions together at a combined discount — the first time this has been possible on the App Store — with payment handled through Apple In-App Purchase.[21][25][26] Paid bundles must be discounted against their individual prices, and an app may appear in up to three bundles.[21][27] The revenue split between partnered developers and the commission structure were not disclosed at announcement; Apple deferred details to later in summer 2026, though the API can be tested in Xcode 27 now.[21][25] In Apple's technical framing, a bundle is a group of subscriptions that can each be bought individually but are also sold together in one purchase at a lower price, while a suite is a group of subscriptions that exist only within the suite.[24] Suites are therefore bundle-only tiers with no standalone purchase option.[24][25]
Group, volume & commitment purchasing
Group Purchases let one subscriber buy multiple seats and invite others, each using their own Apple Account, and ship in winter 2026.[25] Volume Purchasing enables bulk subscription buying through Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager for enterprise and education, shipping in autumn 2026.[21][25] Twelve-month commitment plans, which allow monthly payments against an annual commitment, have been available since April 2026 on iOS 26.4 and later, outside the US and Singapore.[25][28]
Retention & submission
Retention Messaging displays a custom message and offer during the cancellation flow, configurable in App Store Connect or via an API, and ships in autumn 2026.[21][25] A streamlined submission flow groups in-app purchases, in-app events, custom product pages and price tests into a single batch review, with App Store Connect API support arriving later in summer 2026.[25]
App Store — regulatory & compliance
European Union — Digital Markets Act
Alternative app stores and payments have been available in the EU since 2024–2025 on iOS 17.4 and later.[29][31] From 1 January 2026 Apple consolidated its EU fees into a single business model: a 5% store-services fee at Tier 1 and 13% at Tier 2 (10% under the Small Business Program), plus a 2% acquisition fee that is waived for Small Business Program developers, and a Core Technology Fee of €0.50 per first annual install above one million in the EU.[32] Setapp Mobile, the first alternative marketplace, shut down in February 2026, citing unworkable terms.[31] Apple was fined €500 million in May 2025 for DMA non-compliance and is appealing, while the Commission has warned that fines could escalate.[29][30] The EU AI Act reaches full effect on 2 August 2026, with fines up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover.[30][32]
United States and Japan
In the US, the Supreme Court declined to pause the Epic contempt order in May 2026; external payment links have been commission-free in the US since April 2025, and the case remains in the lower courts with appeals pending.[33] xAI sued Apple and OpenAI in August 2025 over Grok's treatment in the App Store, with the outcome pending.[33] Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act took effect on 18 December 2025, opening alternative marketplaces, third-party payments and external link-outs.[31][33]
Developer deadlines
A social-media capabilities declaration opens in the age-rating questionnaire in July 2026; from September 2026 developers must complete the declaration to submit updates or notarise apps for alternative marketplaces, and apps with social-media capabilities require a minimum 13+ rating.[21][29]
watchOS 27
watchOS 27 brings Siri AI to Apple Watch, routed entirely through Private Cloud Compute because the watch has no on-device model.[34][35][36] It requires an Apple Watch Series 9 or later paired with an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone; supported models are the Series 9, 10 and 11, Ultra 2 and Ultra 3, and SE 3, while the Series 8 and Ultra 1 and earlier are dropped.[35][39] On the watch, Siri AI is a standalone app with pinned conversations and iCloud cross-device continuity; a Dynamic App Grid surfaces five Siri-suggested apps, and a single-tap index-and-thumb gesture opens the Smart Stack.[35][38] Siri AI on watchOS is blocked in the EU because it depends on a paired iPhone running Siri AI.[36]
Health & fitness
Workout Buddy becomes phone-independent, adds Spanish, adds end-of-workout insights comparing pace, distance and duration against history, and exposes a new Workout Zones API.[35][39] Cycle Tracking adds perimenopause detection and symptom logging, and treadmill distance is measured wrist-only using overhauled motion algorithms.[35]
Interface
The Smart Stack adds more contextual suggestions — such as birthday reminders, parked-car location, pre-holiday sleep alarms and transit-card balance — Find My gains a map-centric redesign, Call Context surfaces relevant details such as a flight number during calls, and Wallet items including card balance, Guest Key, transit and ID cards appear in the Smart Stack.[35][38][37]
Apple Wallet
Create a Pass lets users scan a physical barcoded card in Camera's Siri mode to add it to Wallet, or build passes manually from Standard, Membership and Event templates; the feature requires Apple Intelligence.[37][40][41] Developers gain four new barcode types — EAN-13, Code 39, Codabar and ITF — up to two featured actions per pass, and the ability to pin passes to the Apple Watch Smart Stack.[41][42]
Split Bill with Apple Cash scans a receipt in Siri mode, identifies items, assigns them to people and sends Apple Cash requests, calculating each share including tax and tip; it is available in Messages, Wallet and Visual Intelligence, is US-only at launch and requires Apple Intelligence.[37][40][42] Enhanced hotel keys surface trip details, booked activities and available services beyond door unlock, at participating hotels.[40][43]
The Apple Pay checkout redesign adds swipe-to-switch cards and surfaces rewards balance, debit balance and pay-later options, and later in 2026 users will be able to add funds to an eligible debit card in Wallet or at checkout.[41][42] Tap to Share connects to a participating merchant's iPhone at checkout to share relevant information for a personalised in-store experience without handing over the device.[41][43] Existing pass types — loyalty, rewards, membership and gift cards — get a richer redesign with real-time updates, with Disney World the first to use a proximity trigger, and the Orders feature expands to Canada and Australia.[40][42]
Privacy & security
Private Cloud Compute on Google Cloud
Private Cloud Compute now runs on Nvidia B200 GPUs on Google Cloud, having previously been Apple-silicon-only, while keeping the same five guarantees: stateless computation, enforceable guarantees, no privileged runtime access, non-targetability and verifiable transparency.[44][45][46] Hardware-based confidential computing keeps user input, model weights and inference results encrypted inside GPU memory, so even Google cannot read them in plaintext.[44][46] Apple maintains a cryptographically verifiable, append-only ledger of all Google Cloud hardware in the PCC fleet, publishes binaries for independent inspection, and offers a security bounty of up to $1 million for serious PCC vulnerabilities.[44][45]
Agentic Passwords & AI security
The Passwords app becomes agentic: when it detects a compromised or weak credential, one tap lets Apple Intelligence and Safari navigate to the site, sign in and change the password automatically, for eligible accounts.[48] WWDC Session 347 was Apple's first dedicated AI-security session and identified threats including indirect prompt injection, lock-screen action invocation, agentic data exfiltration and action poisoning.[47] Recommended deterministic mitigations include redacting PII before the model via .historyTransform, user-confirmation gates via .onToolCall, authentication requirements for lock-screen Siri intents, and risk-based confirmation using side-effect metadata in App Intents schemas; a probabilistic mitigation, Spotlighting, wraps untrusted input in delimiter tags.[47] Apple characterised solving prompt injection as active research and placed responsibility on developers.[47]
Other privacy & management changes
Find My adds the ability to hide your location temporarily without notifying followers, and Siri AI conversation history synced through iCloud is end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible to Apple.[44] Enterprise device management adds legacy-to-Declarative-Device-Management migration for DNS proxy, VPN, network relay and web content filter without certificate re-issuance, hardware health monitoring in the MDM console, and enforced OS updates.[49] iCloud Private Relay received no changes at WWDC 2026 and remains limited to Safari and insecure HTTP rather than a system-wide VPN.[47]
Geo-availability map
Feature availability at launch varies by jurisdiction. Siri AI is gated by the Digital Markets Act in the EU and by separate regulatory approval in China, while the Foundation Models developer API is available everywhere.[4][5][18]
| Feature | US | EU (iOS/iPadOS) | EU (Mac/Vision) | China | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siri AI | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Siri AI on watchOS | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Apple Intelligence (general) | Yes | Yes* | Yes | No | Yes |
| Alternative app stores | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| External payment links | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Foundation Models (dev API) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-developer bundles | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
*EU iOS/iPadOS receives Apple Intelligence excluding the Siri AI features.[4]
Open questions
Items Apple had not resolved as of 1 July 2026, each tied to the sources above.
- Cross-developer bundle revenue split. Apple deferred the split and commission structure to later in summer 2026.[21][25]
- Siri AI EU timeline. Apple states there is no timeline; the European Commission frames the delay as Apple's choice rather than a legal block.[4][5]
- EU AI Act compliance. The Act takes full effect on 2 August 2026; how the PCC architecture satisfies its risk-based obligations is not yet published.[30][32]
- China regulatory path. Siri AI remains blocked pending separate approval, with no timeline given.[1][5]
- SiriKit removal date. Estimated around iOS 29 (autumn 2028) but not officially confirmed.[11]
- On-Demand Resources sunset. Deprecated in iOS 27 with no hard removal date given.[12]
- xAI / Grok App Store lawsuit. Filed against Apple and OpenAI; outcome pending.[33]
About this reference
This is a living review: it compiles publicly reported announcements from WWDC 2026 (8–12 June 2026) and related materials, first published 1 July 2026, and is revised as iOS 27 moves from announcement to release and as sources are added or corrected. Every statement in the body is attributed to a numbered source below, drawn from the full spectrum of available sources — Apple's own briefings and documentation, independent reporting, regulators and standards bodies, and security researchers — with no uncited commentary. Where a figure is an estimate or was left undisclosed by Apple, the text says so. Claude Sonnet 4.6 was used for research and drafting structure; source selection, wording and inclusion were the author's decisions. See the Commentary Policy and AI Policy for how Sphinnx handles sourcing and AI disclosure.
Contribute to this page
Expert in one of these areas? Co-author an update as iOS 27 ships — full byline credit.
Email i137@proton.me ↗Revision history
- 2026-07-01Initial publication — nine categories across Siri AI, developer platform, App Store discovery and commerce, regulatory, watchOS 27, Wallet and privacy; 49 sources cited; four explanatory diagrams.
References
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