Apple has revealed iOS 27, the next major update to the iPhone.
The new update is focused on three main strands: performance updates, a suite of new safety features for young people, and a new, AI-powered version of Siri.
Apple launched the changes at its Worldwide Developers Conference in California this week. But they won’t arrive for everyone for a few months.
Typically, Apple releases the new update in September, announcing the launch date at the iPhone event and then actually making it available shortly before the release of the new products. If it follows its usual pattern, iOS 27 will arrive around 14 September.
Apple did not confirm that it would keep to that schedule this year. But it said that the new software will be released in the “fall”, in keeping with its usual announcements.
But users can get hold of the update now. Apple released the developer beta of the software straight after its event. That can be downloaded by opening the Settings app and pressing the option for the beta.
Since that is an early version of the software, intended to allow developers to prepare for the full launch, it may come with bugs, slower performance and other problems such as quicker battery drain. But this year’s update is focused primarily on performance, and early users suggest that there are fewer problems with this update than with other recent launches.
Apple will also release a public beta of the software in July, which will be available through the same means. Since that is usually a tested version of the developer beta, it means that there is less chance of any significant problems – though it comes with the same warnings, and users may still encounter unexpected behaviour.
Even once the new update is downloaded, users will not get access to the new version of Siri straight away. That must be separately requested through the Siri option in the Settings app, and users must join a waitlist before it is available.
