Will your iPhone support Siri AI? The answer is complicated

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

Only newer devices can access all the features of Siri AI.
Older devices can’t use the advanced on-device AI model.
The advanced model lets you tweak Siri’s voice and dictate accurately.

Apple spent much of its WWDC keynote on Monday touting Siri AI. This new and hopefully improved version of the voice assistant promises to act more like other AI-powered chatbots. Assuming Siri AI lives up to its advance billing, that’s great news for Apple users. But depending on your iPhone, you may not be able to enjoy all the features.

Only certain iPhones (as well as iPads and Macs) will fully support Siri AI and Apple Intelligence in general. How will this play out? I’ll answer that question shortly. But first, let’s go over a few details.

Also: Apple’s new Siri AI comes with hidden costs that power users should know of

Apple Intelligence was introduced with iOS 18 in 2024. Though the feature failed to live up to its hype, it did eventually introduce a variety of AI skills, including writing tools, image generation, live translation, visual intelligence via your camera, and even ChatGPT integration. What’s new in iOS 27 is the AI flavor of Siri. And that kicks in a host of other capabilities.

What’s new with Siri

The new Siri promises to be more conversational, more responsive, and more helpful. Toward that end, you’ll be able to ask Siri open-ended questions and engage in ongoing voice chats. Siri AI will understand what’s on the screen and on your device and run tasks across your apps and your files. A dedicated Siri app will work similarly to the dedicated apps from other AIs.

There are a couple of additional features. You’ll be able to customize the expressiveness and pace of Siri’s voice. You’ll also be able to take advantage of a more accurate type of dictation in which Siri automatically adds punctuation and formatting as you speak. Sounds cool, but here’s where your access will…

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