Artificial Intelligence has truly split public opinion in a way I’ve not seen before.
For every person claiming that AI is this fantastic, almost ethereal tech that can do anything you want flawlessly, you’ll find another claiming that it’ll be the downfall of humanity, using up all the clean water and turning our brains into mush.
Honestly, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle of the two – but that’s not what I’m here to discuss. I’ll leave that to much brighter minds than mine, thank you very much.
Whatever the reason, if you’re not a big fan of using AI, you’re not going to be very happy with what Apple has been cooking up. And if you want to avoid using it altogether, there’s very little else that’s actually new in iOS 27.
iOS 27 is very AI-heavy
The big headline is Siri’s long-overdue glow-up, which is finally arriving with iOS 27.
Apple claims that the upgraded Siri AI offers a more natural way of speaking, a better grasp of context and the ability to take action across apps for you. It should essentially be far better at handling the kind of tasks Siri has, let’s be honest, never been great at, whether that’s understanding what’s on your screen, helping in the Camera app or drafting replies that sound a bit more like you.
It’s also getting deep integration within a range of Apple’s own apps.
Safari, for example, is getting genuinely useful tricks like the ability to notify you when a webpage changes so you can stop obsessively refreshing an out-of-stock product page, while Apple’s Passwords app can proactively help deal with compromised logins.
Add in smarter Photos editing tools, better natural-language actions in apps like Calendar and a huge Shortcuts upgrade that can build more complex automations from a simple description, and it’s pretty clear that iOS 27 isn’t just sprinkling AI on top – it’s weaving it into the whole experience.
New features that don’t use AI? Well…
At this point, you’re probably wondering what else iOS 27 has to offer aside from all the Apple Intelligence- and Siri-branded smarts – and the honest answer is, not that much really.
Every headline feature of iOS 27 is tied to Apple’s smarter AI assistant in some way or another, with only performance boosts and other minor tweaks coming as part of the broader iOS 27 package.
I think the biggest change is with Liquid Glass; though not as divisive as AI, Apple’s new UI caused waves when it landed in iOS 26. Some loved it, others… not so much. Well, Apple is looking to keep both camps happy by offering a new customised Liquid Glass experience that lets you adjust the level of transparency, from clear glass to a more frosted look similar to the iOS 18 style.
Similarly, app icons are getting an upgrade with more detail and a new layered refraction effect, and Apple Maps’ flyover tech is getting a similar boost in detail, offering much sharper renders of cities with more natural lighting – but in terms of visuals, those are the only big changes to look forward to.
Elsewhere, it’s pretty much all under-the-hood fixes and updates. Apple’s CPU Scheduler tech has been improved and is set to be rolled out to all iPhone models dating back to the iPhone 11, with the company claiming up to a 30% boost in app launches, along with oddly niche stats like 80% faster AirDrop transfers.
There’s also faster switching between Wi-Fi and cellular, which should speed up reconnection when hopping between the two.
Now there are going to be plenty of other changes and tweaks coming to iOS 27 – but I suspect most will focus on background performance and on generally making the iPhone a little nicer to use.
Let Apple have its moment
Yes, for the AI detractors, iOS 27 might suck, but honestly; let Apple have its moment.
WWDC 2026 represents Apple fixing one of its biggest public blunders in years, having announced the redesigned Siri two years ago, only to repeatedly push its release back amid underwhelming internal tests. For a company that prides itself on getting things just right, it’s a massive blemish, especially as one of outgoing CEO Tim Cook’s final projects at Apple’s helm.
To try to fix some of that embarrassment, Apple has gone all-in on Siri this year to prove to the naysayers that it can still make waves in the AI space and genuinely do things a little differently after hiding in the shadows of Gemini for the past few years.
Besides, Apple’s hyper-focus on privacy and handling everything on-device where possible should be welcomed by those concerned about massive data centres slurping up all the water.
And while I’m certainly not a fan of AI-generated content in an industry actively being desimated by it, other AI-powered features – like Notify Me in Safari and the ability to create hyper-complex shortcuts by describing them – feel more like genuinely helpful features than some AI-generated slop.
Of course, there’s a line, and I think AI companies and the general public are still trying to wrestle exactly where that line lies in terms of what AI should and shouldn’t be able to do, and how it goes about it. But even for those staunchly against AI, I think there’s something in Apple’s AI toolkit that’ll be helpful in day-to-day life – because, if not, iOS 27 is looking very boring indeed.
