iOS 27: New Siri Features Could Be Gated Behind a Waitlist

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has published his WWDC preview ahead of Monday's keynote, and while almost all of the iOS 27 features he covers have already made the rounds, there are a couple of details worth highlighting.

As we've covered previously, Apple is turning Siri into a full chatbot that users can interact with, similar to Claude or ChatGPT. The Siri chatbot will be integrated into Apple's operating systems at the system level, and there will also be a Siri app for back-and-forth conversations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gurman says that Siri chats will sync across devices via iCloud, making Apple's assistant similar to rivals like ChatGPT that retain history across sessions. Users' chats with Siri will also be able to auto-delete on a schedule, 30 days, a year, or never. The options will be controlled in Settings, much like Messages.

Notably, Gurman says that Apple is still internally labeling the long-delayed revamped Siri as a "beta" and "preview," suggesting it won't be marketed as finished software when it arrives later this year. That may frustrate some users, given the Apple Intelligence features that were first teased in 2024 have been repeatedly delayed, but it's worth noting that the original Siri also held the same "beta" caveat for two years after its 2011 debut.

As a result of the abiding "beta" moniker, Gurman says it's possible that Apple will initially introduce a waitlist for the new Siri that could gate access to certain features when iOS 27 arrives in September, similar to the initial launch of the Apple Intelligence platform two years ago. It's not clear which features they might be, though.

• Siri in iOS 27: Every New Feature and Change to Expect

WWDC 2026 kicks off with Apple's keynote on Monday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Article Link: iOS 27: New Siri Features Could Be Gated Behind a Waitlist

 

[MacUserFella]

I mean, wouldn’t be the first time 🤷‍♂️

 

[rdinterman]

Probably most new features won’t arrive until 27.5 anyway

 

[arovik]

from how I read Gurman in all his posts it looks like none of the new SIRI/AI functionality is coming in the first beta...

 

[963852741]

Can't wait for "beta" features in a production software.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

It will forever be a beta, because even Apple doesn’t know what Siri and AI are.

 

[thelion7]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has published his WWDC preview ahead of Monday's keynote, and while almost all of the iOS 27 features he covers have already made the rounds, there are a couple of details worth highlighting.

As we've covered previously, Apple is turning Siri into a full chatbot that users can interact with, similar to Claude or ChatGPT. The Siri chatbot will be integrated into Apple's operating systems at the system level, and there will also be a Siri app for back-and-forth conversations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gurman says that Siri chats will sync across devices via iCloud, making Apple's assistant similar to rivals like ChatGPT that retain history across sessions. Users' chats with Siri will also be able to auto-delete on a schedule, 30 days, a year, or never. The options will be controlled in Settings, much like Messages.

Notably, Gurman says that Apple is still internally labeling the long-delayed revamped Siri as a "beta" and "preview," suggesting it won't be marketed as finished software when it arrives later this year. That may frustrate some users, given that Apple Intelligence features that were first teased in 2024 have been repeatedly delayed, but it's worth noting that the original Siri also held the same "beta" caveat for two years after its 2011 debut.

As a result of the abiding "beta" moniker, Gurman says it's possible that Apple will initially introduce a waitlist for the new Siri that could gate access to certain features when iOS 27 arrives in September, similar to the initial launch of the Apple Intelligence platform two years ago. It's not clear which features they might be, though.

• Siri in iOS 27: Every New Feature and Change to Expect

WWDC 2026 kicks off with Apple's keynote on Monday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Article Link: iOS 27: New 'Beta' Siri Features Could Be Gated Behind a Waitlist

Honestly at this stage Apple just give us what you’ve got.

You have an entire beta cycle to get it semi working and once it’s out for everyone you can keep and hide bWH beta label if you’re worried about customers thinking it doesn’t work too well.

I know Apple supposedly have “high standards” but instead of pushing for perfection, deliver on your promises and improve it over the next couple of releases.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Can't wait for "beta" features in a production software.

Would they be an improvement over the "alpha" features of the current Siri?

 

[atoqir]

A waiting list sounds dumb. They are better off letting eager beta testers in anyway instead of making them wait.

Also they have no time to waste when it comes to AI. When it comes to AI, what they have so far is way too basic or way too kiddy compared to the competition.

 

[McWetty]

GMail was in beta for 5 years before going full production. However, the difference here is that Gmail was useful and worked properly in beta form…

 

[963852741]

Would they be an improvement over the "alpha" features of the current Siri?

Don't know, don't care. All I want is a switch to disable all the cloud ****.

 

[Lunarman25]

Apple has done this before. Nothing new! Move on

 

[datsdatcharlie]

Ok! Apple Intelligence did this!

 

[Astuces iOS]

Hahaha so it will come in 40 years !!

 

[diblasio]

This will be the death knell for personal communication. It’s just bots talking to bots from here on!

And yes I know everyone has access to chat gpt but having this baked into an iPhone by default will make sure every last person responds with em dashes, aims to foster growth and is happy to jump on a call to discuss!

🙁

 

[nt5672]

Apple has done this before. Nothing new! Move on

No, no, no. People need to understand this is more Cook innovation. In previous years Cook allowed marketing to announce products that were not deliverable in working form for 12 to 18 months. He took a small hit for that. Granted should have been larger.

Now, he can say it was delivered, but it was so popular Apple had to gate it. So now only the people that win the access lottery get to see how bad the product is. They are probably going to have to sign an NDA. So Cook and Apple get to skate for 12 to 18 months without the negative feedback.

 

[ELman]

iOS 28 New Siri. iOS 27 will be the testing phase.

 

[kiranmk2]

So probably the basic Siri chatbot App, based on Gemini will launch with iOS27 with features like personal context, on-screen awareness and coordinating between apps delayed to a later .x release in "early 2027"...

 

[SmugMaverick]

What a shambles.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

A waiting list sounds dumb. They are better off letting eager beta testers in anyway instead of making them wait.

Also they have no time to waste when it comes to AI. When it comes to AI, what they have so far is way too basic or way too kiddy compared to the competition.

Hmm, so by the sounds of it Siri never really took off because it was meant to be private and secure and not collecting mass user personal data ..

With that being said, would you go back in time and want Siri to access all your info and phone data just so Siri could rival aGpgt or Gemini?

not me, never….

GMail was in beta for 5 years before going full production. However, the difference here is that Gmail was useful and worked properly in beta form…

Yeah useful at collecting all your data smh

That and search is what made goog so damn good at ai etc smh

Not worth it for even a second.

 

[Rychiar]

Hmm, so by the sounds of it Siri never really took off because it was meant to be private and secure and not collecting mass user personal data ..

With that being said, would you go back in time and want Siri to access all your info and phone data just so Siri could rival aGpgt or Gemini?

not me, never….



Yeah useful at collecting all your data smh

That and search is what made goog so damn good at ai etc smh

Not worth it for even a second.

Everything else is already collecting our data. Might as well make it useful.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Decent AI requires insane amounts of computing power. Computing power is expensive, and becoming even more so as a result of demand exceeding supply.

By gating the new Apple AI features behind a beta waitlist (and maybe even a money-generating paywall), Apple can avoid overspending on cloud computing servers, and can bring new users on board at a pace that lets the company manage its costs, at a time when many of its competitors are struggling to stay profitable delivering AI to customers.

 

[k1121j]

Wow after all this time it’s going to be released as a beta!! That does not give me high hopes.

 

[rgwebb]

It will forever be a beta, because even Apple doesn’t know what Siri and AI are.

More or less because no one can make AI products that are strictly general consumer and it not effectively be beta quality by Apple’s standards.

 

[xxFoxtail]

A waitlist makes sense if this Siri is mostly server side. But I was kind of hoping this model would be more on-device with whatever demanding tasks being offloaded. If we have to pay for it, I hope it's tied into Apple One and not creative studio.