Apple confirms Gemini-powered Siri AI ships in English with iOS 27 on September 14

After two years of hype, Apple confirmed its redesigned Siri AI ships in English beta alongside iOS 27 on September 14, adding French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in October to reach 16 languages under Apple Intelligence. The new Siri leverages Google Gemini models under the hood and runs on the iPhone 18 Pro's A20 Pro chip with 32 neural-processing cores. Apple says the assistant handles 2.5 billion daily requests with personal-context awareness, screen understanding, and cross-app operation.

Feature-wise, the overhaul includes conversation recapping, a 'Live Rewind' for Apple Watch, and direct integration into Apple apps, with Siri AI able to act across 300,000+ apps. Apple also introduced Apple Reference Image and SynthID integration to distinguish authentic captures from AI-generated content — a provenance play as synthetic media proliferates. Some server-model features carry usage limits.

Competitively, the Gemini dependency is the story's most striking element: Apple, historically obsessive about vertical control, is leaning on a rival's frontier model to deliver Siri's intelligence — a tacit admission of how far behind its in-house models fell. It also gives Google a foothold on a billion-plus iPhones even as Google itself delays Gemini 4 Pro.

Skeptics are circling. PYMNTS and others noted Apple faces heavy 'over-promise' scrutiny as Siri finally ships two years after announcement, with usage limits on server-model features drawing developer frustration. The features that impressed in demos two years ago must now perform in the wild. Watch the English beta's reliability at 2.5 billion daily requests and whether the October language expansion holds to schedule.