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Live Translation in iOS 27: FaceTime, Phone, and Messages

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Moses Johnson

The FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps offer real-time, two-way translation—as long as you and the person on the other side of the conversation are using languages your operating system knows about. And all translation occurs on your device, with nothing sent to Apple’s servers.

The other party or parties don’t need an Apple Intelligence-equipped device, but certain translation features will be limited, as described in the sections below.

Live Translation supports English (UK and U.S.), Chinese (Mandarin, simplified), Chinese (Mandarin, traditional), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain) for FaceTime, Messages, and Phone; Messages also supports Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Presumably, more languages will be added over time. In Messages, since you’re communicating in text, Chinese (simplified) and Chinese (traditional) apply to multiple forms of Chinese.

Live Translation works quite similarly in FaceTime and Phone, so we tackle those together, then explain how to use it with Messages.

Live Translation in FaceTime and Phone

Live Translation of audio calls may be one of the most remarkable new features in FaceTime and Phone. With Live Translation enabled, two people speaking in different supported languages can hear and read real-time translations of what the other is saying in a language they don’t understand or know well.

Live Translation appeared as a beta in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. Apple removed the beta label in version 27.

Here’s how to enable Live Translation on a call, including a call using the Phone app:

After starting a FaceTime audio or video call or a regular phone call in Phone, make sure you are in full-screen mode on an iPad or iPhone—that’s the only place you can select Live Translation. On a Mac, FaceTime or Phone resizes as needed.
Tap or click the More button and choose Live Translation.
The Live Translation dialog preselects the From language as the most recent used (if any), and uses your device’s language of choice for the To option. You can use the popup menus to change these.
Your device must download a translation library the first time you use a language. After selecting the options from From or To, wait until the Downloading Language message changes before proceeding.
Tap or click Start Translation.

Either party can enable Live Translation and gain the benefit. The translation is spoken on the conversation so both parties can hear it.

You can disable Live Translation by tapping the Translating Language menu and choosing Stop Translation, or tapping the More button and tapping Stop to the right of the Live Translation menu item.

Live Translation in Messages

For quite a while, you could touch and hold a message (iPhone/iPad) or select its text (Mac) and choose Translate. This option remains available. Now, Live Translation can also translate an entire conversation in real time inline in Messages.

With Live Translation enabled, when you touch and hold a message on an iPhone or iPad, you’re prompted to choose between Translate This Message and Translate Conversation. Choosing Translate This Message opens a translation panel.

To enable Live Translation, either touch and hold a message on an iPhone or iPad and choose Translate Conversation, or on any device, tap or click the avatar at the top of the conversation and enable Automatically Translate. Pick the language to translate from the pop-up menu. A download icon appears next to any language that hasn’t yet had its translation library downloaded to your device.

Choose Manage Languages to load translation libraries you might need now or in the future. You can also remove downloaded libraries.

You can then choose a language for Translate To if the one shown isn’t your preferred language. By default, both the original text and the translated version appear for each translated message.

As you converse, messages are translated as they’re received. You can use the pop-up menu above the message field to choose just your chosen Translate To language or to stop translation. You can also use the conversation info pane, where you can choose Off from the Automatically Translate pop-up menu.

Even better, you can enable translation on one side and it works on both. In our testing, one participant had an Apple Intelligence iPhone with Live Translation enabled for the conversation, while the other was on an iPhone 11 and could not turn the feature on—they still got the benefit.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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Siri AI Expressive Voice and Advanced Dictation Requirements

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Tyler Stephen

To use Siri AI’s expressive voice and take advantage of more advanced dictation, you need a newer device than Siri AI itself requires.

Extended requirements for Siri AI

All Apple hardware with an M3 or later chip and 12 GB or more of unified memory supports these features. If you’re not sure if your device hits that mark, here’s the list:

iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, or later
iPads with an M4 or later chip
Macs with an M4 or later M-series chip
Macs with an M3 chip and 12 GB or more unified memory, which excludes some configurations
Apple Vision Pro M5

Note: This list excludes the base configurations of the M4 iPad Pro. The 256 GB and 512 GB models carry 8 GB of unified memory, below the 12 GB minimum. The 1 TB and 2 TB M4 models have 16 GB and qualify, as do the M5 iPad Pros.

Siri AI voice settings

It has long been possible to choose among various male- and female-sounding voices and even different dialects, and Siri AI adds even more choices. But now, you can also adjust Siri’s speed and expressiveness. If you want a zippy, flat, “just the facts” response; a relaxed, cheerful response; or anything in between, you can go to Settings > Siri on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Siri on a Mac, and click or tap Voice. On this pane, you can select a base voice and then drag the Pace and Expressivity sliders as sample responses are played to dial in exactly the tone you prefer.

Dictation

Although Apple devices have had a Dictation feature for many years, starting in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, Apple offers an improved version of Dictation—assuming your device meets the system requirements. You’ll need an iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max, iPhone Air, or later; an iPad with an M4 chip or later and at least 12 GB of RAM; a Mac with an M3 chip or later with at least 12 GB of RAM; or an M5 Vision Pro.

Assuming your device meets those requirements, you can go to Settings > General > Keyboard on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Keyboard on a Mac, and enable Advanced Dictation Preview, which applies systemwide. Apple says this version of Dictation offers improved accuracy and automatic punctuation, while keeping all processing on your device. We have not yet been able to test this feature to validate this claim.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, visionOS 27

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The Apple Intelligence Accessibility Features in iOS 27

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Dave Johnson

Apple devices have long offered a wide range of features intended to make them easier to use for people who have difficulties with some aspect of the default interface—which doesn’t necessarily imply a disability, but also encompasses personal preference and a limited tolerance for Apple’s Liquid Glass shenanigans, for example.

Increasingly, these features have become more powerful by incorporating features from Apple Intelligence.

Apple appears to still be finishing and reconciling some Apple Intelligence accessibility features as we write this. Some terms mentioned in a May 2026 announcement by Apple and in the Learn More pages within Settings > Accessibility on an iPhone and iPad don’t match the interface element names or certain functionality. We’ll update this section as Apple finalizes these features and makes the documentation consistent.

VoiceOver

When enabled, VoiceOver describes what appears on screen when you move your pointer, tap, or change focus. It’s a way to interact with buttons and interface elements and have text that is part of the interface—such as labels under switches—read aloud. VoiceOver is a mode, not something you invoke: when you turn it on, all the options you set are in effect for as long as it’s enabled.

With iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, VoiceOver taps into Apple Intelligence to provide richer descriptions of visual material that wasn’t previously available. You can enable and configure this new feature in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > VoiceOver Recognition. You can also ask follow-up questions about what it describes.

We have not seen changes to VoiceOver in Golden Gate; it appears that the Apple Intelligence features are only available in iOS and iPadOS.

Magnifier

The Magnifier app lets you use your iPhone or iPad, or any camera connected to your Mac, to zoom in (or out) to see something better. That might mean zooming in to see more detail, turning on the flashlight to provide better lighting, or adjusting image processing, such as changing brightness or contrast. You can also use it to capture what you see as a photo, apply filters, and more.

It’s been enhanced in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 with an Apple Intelligence feature called Live Recognition that identifies what the camera is looking at. Use the Ask button to query Live Recognition. Type in a request, such as Read this aloud or Summarize this bill, and Siri provides the response. For example, point it at a bill and ask it what the bill’s total is.

Voice Control

In addition to Siri, your Mac, iPhone, and iPad have a feature called Voice Control, which lets you control your interface directly using voice commands—this goes far beyond actions you can take using Siri. You can effectively “click” or “tap” interface elements with your voice. It also includes context-based automatic text dictation, enabled whenever a page or field with a text insertion point is active.

While Voice Control has been in place for years, Apple Intelligence is now part of Voice Control. This addition lets you be much less precise in your descriptions of what to click, tap, or move. Describe what you want to do in natural language, and your device can then figure out what you intended.

To enable Voice Control, go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control on a Mac, then turn on the Voice Control switch; turn it off to disable it. For help using the feature, you can click or tap (or ask your device to click or tap) Open Tutorial.

Accessibility Reader

Accessibility Reader is a feature designed to make text easier to read. After turning it on in Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak on a Mac, you can enable it on a Mac by pressing ⌘-Esc on a Mac, or on an iPhone or iPad using a Share menu command, an Accessibility Shortcut, or Control Center, almost anywhere you see text. (This doesn’t include text labels for controls and the like, but does include things like email messages, webpages, and open documents.)

When you do, a new window appears that’s a bit like Safari’s Reader view: it displays whatever text was in the foreground window but without graphics, links, or other distractions. You can use the controls in this window to change the magnification, font, color, line spacing, and so on, or even click the play button to have your device read the text aloud.

Apple Intelligence enables this feature to operate on more complex documents, provide a simpler view of structured information such as tables, and provide summaries and translations if you request them.

Generated captions

Your device automatically generates captions from any uncaptioned video you’re watching in Photos and other supported apps. (As of publication time, it works only on an iPhone or iPad.)

These automatic subtitles aren’t related to tvOS or TV app captioning.

An automated caption icon appears at the start of each onscreen subtitle to let you know that the caption was generated.

Tap or click the Caption button on the toolbar to change settings. For instance, you might want to adjust the subtitles’ size or hide them.

If captions already exist, you can have them automatically translated between supported languages.

Siri’s own dictation also improved in this release, covered in Siri AI expressive voice and Advanced Dictation requirements.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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How to Activate the New Siri on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Watch

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Stacey Butler

To use the new Siri in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, or watchOS 27, you have to trigger or invoke it. Apple offers multiple ways to activate Siri AI on each kind of hardware.

Siri’s appearance when activated and some of the methods to bring up its interface have changed since the version 26 releases. Its static icon has changed. Siri shows its active state using a consistent animation across platforms. On iPhone and iPad, that animation appears at the top of the device rather than as a glowing animation on all four edges.

Use Spotlight

Back in the olden days of (checks notes) mid-2025, Spotlight was for searching, and Siri was for other sorts of requests. Both involved a text field on your screen, though Siri could, of course, also respond to your voice.

In Golden Gate, when you press the Spotlight shortcut (⌘-Space by default), and on an iPhone or iPad when you swipe down on the Home Screen, you see a text field that serves both purposes. You can type the name of an app or file, and it will give you the same results as Spotlight always has, but you can also ask questions that Siri will answer from its nearly unlimited storehouse of information. Or you can use a plain-language description of what you’re looking for on your device, and Siri will find it. If, while this window is open, you prefer to speak your request, click or tap the microphone button, then speak.

Apple removed the “type to Siri” option introduced in iOS 26, which let you double-tap the bottom of the display.

Use the Siri menu bar icon

On a Mac, if you click the Siri menu bar icon, you see the same combined Spotlight/Siri “Search or Ask” field as when you activate Spotlight via a keyboard shortcut.

Use “(Hey) Siri”

Optionally, Siri can continuously listen for requests. If you enable this (in Settings > Siri > Requests on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Siri > Requests on a Mac), you can say “Siri” or “Hey Siri” (depending on your settings) to trigger an animated, glowing blob that indicates Siri is ready to listen for spoken commands.

The first time you enable this, Siri asks you to repeat several phrases so it can adapt to the sound of your voice.

This also works on an Apple Watch: go to Settings > Siri, tap “Listen for,” and then tap either “Siri” or “Hey Siri” or just “Hey Siri.”

Use buttons on iPhones or iPads

On iPhones, you can press and hold the side button to activate Siri. Similarly, on iPads without a Home button, press and hold the top button. On iPads with a Home button, press and hold it instead.

Use Digital Crown or Raise Wrist on Apple Watch

In addition to listening for “Hey Siri” and/or “Siri,” your Apple Watch can activate Siri when you press the Digital Crown or when you raise your wrist. To enable either or both of these features, go to Settings > Siri and turn on Raise to Speak or Press Digital Crown.

Use contextual menus

On a Mac, you can select text, one or more files or folders, images in Photos, or other types of objects, then right-click or Control-click and choose Ask Siri from the contextual menu. Doing so not only activates Siri but also feeds it the selected item(s) as input it can work with. This even works in System Settings!

Likewise, on an iPhone or iPad, you can touch and hold text, images, and other objects, then tap the Siri button on the pop-up menu. An “Ask Siri about this” field appears, where, again, you can ask Siri anything but also give it the context of whatever was selected.

Use AirPods

With your AirPods connected to a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch that has “Siri” or “Hey Siri” enabled, you can speak your request just as you would if you were using the device without AirPods—but only if the AirPods are a recent model (AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Max 2, or later). On older models, you must use “Hey Siri.”

Using “Siri” as the trigger may be unavailable in some countries and regions, even with a supported device.

In addition, you can use physical controls on your AirPods to activate Siri. The exact steps vary by AirPods model.

Use CarPlay

With an iPhone with iOS 27 installed connected to a CarPlay system, you can carry out Siri conversations, and these are synced in the Siri app, marked with a car icon.

Activate Siri while you have an iPhone connected to CarPlay using one of several methods:

The voice triggers you have set work as they would if your iPhone weren’t connected.
If your car has a steering-wheel activation button, press and hold it. Talk to Siri while continuing to hold the button for the entire time you’re talking. (Some cars trigger the automaker’s system with a short push, so be sure to press and keep holding.)
Touch and hold the Dashboard or Home button on the CarPlay screen. In the interests of safety, we recommend never doing this while driving.

Use Apple Vision Pro

On an Apple Vision Pro, say “Siri” and the new app appears with its glowing orb. Once it appears, you can grab and pin it in your environment, after which you can just look at the Siri orb to activate it and start talking.

You can also reach Siri via the Home button. Hold your palm open and look at it, then pinch and hold the Home button. A Siri orb appears above it, and you can start speaking. You have to keep your fingers pinched while you speak, much like a Siri Remote for Apple TV requires you hold the Siri button as you speak.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27

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The Siri AI Commands Worth Knowing

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Kevin Hollington

Besides using Siri to learn things like the current score of a sports event or details about the cast of a movie, you can also use it to perform tasks on your device. Siri can adjust various settings, enable or disable features, open apps, play music, add calendar events and reminders, create notes, and countless other activities.

There’s no exhaustive list of the commands you can issue; your best bet is simply to try whatever you’re curious about. Here is just a handful of examples to get you started:

Change settings:
- Increase the screen brightness
- Lower the volume by 20 percent
- Turn on Reduce Transparency
- Enable VoiceOver

Some of these commands may require confirmation with a switch or button on screen.

Work with apps:
- Open Safari
- Play something by Angine de Poitrine
- Pause music
- Add peanut butter to the Shopping list
- Remind me to water the garden
- Start a FaceTime audio call with Johnson
Find information:
- Show me documents I created last week
- Find PDFs with the label Important
- Look up Stacey Butler’s address

Thanks to an Apple framework called App Intents, third-party developers can provide hooks in their own apps that let Siri gather information and perform actions. Over time, as more apps add these capabilities, you should be able to ask Siri to do an ever-increasing number of tasks for you.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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How AI Models Learn, and the Copyright Fight

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Emily Long

Apple started deploying what’s loosely called “artificial intelligence” over a decade ago, when they silently switched the original Siri voice-assistant system to use a neural network—a software model that mimics neurons in the brain—in 2014. Unfortunately, even then, Siri was always somewhat frustrating to use unless you learned exactly the set of words you should use for particular kinds of instructions, and were patient when it got it wrong—repeatedly. Other voice assistants, like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant, offered more natural interactions.

The new Siri AI in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, along with many other features under the broader Apple Intelligence umbrella, seems to have gotten it right: you can use Siri much more like a chatbot offered by numerous companies. You ask questions with free-flowing natural language, and Siri responds. You can ask follow-up questions, and it maintains the thread of context to dig in.

Learn how AI learns

Siri and its competitors were built using a machine-learning approach called deep learning, which creates neural networks that have a very, very loose relationship to the way that humans think. These networks are formed through training: feeding sometimes billions of examples of a thing, like human speech, that’s been classified by human beings. The model develops a fuzzy pseudo-understanding of, say, the difference between a photo that contains a cat or a dog, or between the words “hermetic” and “emetic.”

The emergence of deep learning is why Apple’s transcription of spoken words became quite good, with Siri and dictation. More generally, it’s why image recognition became useful—like in Photos when you would search for “dogs” and get images of dogs that weren’t labeled dog—and computerized voice transcription suddenly jumped from passable to very good.

However, the issue with Siri and other machine-learning interactive tools was that they often understood the precise words you said, but couldn’t correctly act on them. Google and Amazon seemed to advance their products with the same input limitations as Apple—however invasive to our privacy they might be—ostensibly by building out answers to queries instead of parsing them and generating results on the fly. We’ll never know for sure what happened behind the scenes.

The rise of large language models (LLMs), a specific form of neural network—one that relies on predictive models—seemed to spur Apple to action. Chatbots based on LLMs first appeared in 2022. LLMs also require massive amounts of training, but generalized training, rather than specialized.

Where previous deep-learning models were given massive amounts of very similar things to identify them—a billion animal photos—LLMs ingest written materials (like books, academic papers, webpages, and source code) and visual materials (illustrations, photographs, cartoons, and more).

Having swallowed the world of knowledge, an LLM has a sort of statistical, fuzzy basis on which to produce words and images. The interactive interface to an LLM can produce credible-sounding responses or graphics based on prompts, or what a user says, types, or uploads, because it has had such vast training on what humans have ever written, said, or visually created.

Some LLMs violated copyright in training

It is alleged—and we believe the evidence shows this is true—that some companies building LLMs have trained their models on copyrighted material for which they lacked permission. In our view, this violates the rights of, and effectively steals from, authors, artists, and programmers by failing to reach an agreement with or compensate them (including us).

Courts remain undecided on our opinion that this is theft. A judge in an author-driven lawsuit against Anthropic—they make Claude—ruled that the company’s scanning 7 million books and using them for training fell under “fair use,” but Anthropic’s central storage of the scanned items was a violation. Anthropic has agreed to settle the remaining issue for $1.5 billion without agreeing that their actions violated copyright. This will play out for years to come.

LLMs also enabled generative uses: you could ask an LLM model to revise an essay, write an academic paper, draw a cartoon, or create a photo showing the Pope in a fashion-forward puffer jacket. Using known sequences and analyzed features in images sometimes allowed plausible-sounding results. However, LLMs aren’t particularly good at any of these tasks. We cover that in the Apple Intelligence features to skip.

Hallucinations and big models

We still worry about LLM-based hallucinations, which is typically when a model either doesn’t know something and “makes it up” by compiling unrelated information into something that sounds plausible, or when a back-and-forth conversation has continued so long that its random walk down word selection has gone way off the rails. It’s something all the AI companies have tried to correct for.

In our testing of Siri AI, we haven’t seen meaningful hallucinations yet, in the sense that we get answers that seem to be on target, and we’re not told to, for instance, add glue to a pizza’s top to keep the cheese from sliding off. However, it’s always worth remembering that Siri AI may be working from a knowledge base Apple has defined, but it remains limited by the fact that it doesn’t understand what it is telling you.

Understand Apple’s retooling

Apple’s launch of Apple Intelligence (their own brand of artificial intelligence) in 2024 was supposed to happen alongside the revamp of Siri, which would finally be more reliable at understanding and acting on, or answering, what we said. This revamp apparently incorporated LLM technology, though to what extent, it’s unclear.

When that didn’t pan out well enough to release, Apple Intelligence on its own seemed a bit lackluster. You could see improvements built on it in the fall 2024 and fall 2025 releases that were increasingly useful, such as Live Voicemail, call screening in the Phone app, and Live Translation.

iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 contain Apple’s long-promised update.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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How to Turn On the New Siri on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Dave Johnson

Siri AI doesn’t switch itself on when you update your device.

Siri AI has the same basic requirements as Apple Intelligence. If your device is capable enough for Apple Intelligence, it can install iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27 and use Siri AI. watchOS 27 also provides ancillary access via a paired iPhone on supported Apple Watch models. Apple Vision Pro can also use Apple Intelligence. However, Apple also has language and region requirements at launch.

How to turn on Siri AI

Go to Settings > Siri on iPhone or iPad, or System Settings > Siri on a Mac, and tap or click “Try the new Siri.”

Why search and Siri must optimize

After you enable Siri AI on your device, it may need to “optimize” both search and Siri. This is some kind of elaborate indexing. Keep your device plugged in for faster optimization.

On a fresh install and some upgrades, you may have to wait some period of time. On an unloaded iPhone—freshly restored to factory settings and with relatively little synced material—it took well over a day for the optimization message to disappear and for Siri’s new features to start working.

Monochrome or colorful Siri icon

The Siri pane of Settings on iPhone and iPad, or System Settings on a Mac, lets you configure numerous aspects of Siri AI. You can use this pane to understand whether Siri AI is currently engaged, something that’s not always the case.

If you see the new monochrome Siri icon, that means your device is currently configured to use Siri AI. If you see the old, colorful Siri icon, that means it’s not.

Among the reasons the old icon might appear are that your device, or Siri, is set to an incompatible language, that your two language settings don’t match, or that you have turned off Siri.

Both your Siri language and your system language (Settings > General > Language & Region > Preferred Languages on iPhone and iPad, or System Settings > General > Language & Region on a Mac) must be identical—including the dialect, if applicable on your device. For example, if one is set to English (United States) and the other is set to English (Canada) on a Mac, you’ll get the old version of Siri. Make sure the two match—and note that switching your system language may require a restart.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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The Apple Intelligence Features to Skip in iOS 27

Saturday September 12, 2026 10:08 pm EAT by Abigail Shilets

As writers and technologists with combined experience in the tech industry of well over six decades—much of it focused on Apple—we have fairly well-developed opinions about which features are genuinely useful to a wide range of people and which ones lack practical utility and are more effective as marketing tools. That’s especially true for people in our age range (Gen X) and older, who constitute the vast majority of our readers.

Even though we want to be thorough and describe all the Apple Intelligence capabilities, there are a few that we think most people are better off avoiding because they may waste your time or may negatively impact your life. We briefly discuss the Image Playground app, Genmoji, and Write with Siri (formerly known as Writing Tools); you can make up your own mind as to whether they’re worth your time.

Image Playground

The Image Playground app uses Apple Intelligence to create images, or alter existing images from Photos or files on your device, based on descriptions you enter. So, if you ever had a burning need to see a picture of a goat skateboarding down a pyramid in central London or picture yourself dressed as a space pirate, Image Playground has you covered.

When you ask for a new image, Image Playground now displays a pop-up Any Style menu that lets you choose Animation, Illustration, Sketch, Genmoji, or ChatGPT (the latter of which is most likely to be photorealistic). It also lets you describe both the initial image and any desired changes (including changes to the style) in your own words. You can also sketch an image in Notes using the Magic Wand tool in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 and have the app automagically interpret it.

One of us tried “An owl and a pussycat in a beautiful pea-green boat” and got a reasonable image of just that (for some values of “beautiful” and “pea-green”), something that had completely flummoxed Image Playground in Tahoe unless he replaced “pussycat” with “cat” (we’ll let you puzzle that one out on your own), but even then, the picture in Tahoe showed actual peas. The other tried to get an image of the “world’s largest collection of LPs,” and the first go-round showed someone on a ladder with just the edges of the LPs on a huge number of shelves.

When you describe a change, the image adjusts per your request. So, one of us said, “The owl is singing to a small guitar,” and sure enough, that’s what the next version showed. (And, OK, the owl wasn’t singing to the cat, nor was there any sign of honey or money, but then, he hadn’t asked for that.) The other asked Image Playground to refine his shelved LP images to show album covers face outward, and, wow, the generated cover images were something to behold—none real, but so many variations that resembled actual ones.

Genmoji creation and editing

Genmoji are conceptually similar to the images created by Image Playground, but smaller, more cartoonish, and without the backgrounds. They’re like emoji in that you can use them on the fly in Messages (and a few other places). Instead of picking from a fixed list of emoji, you describe what you want (“a squirrel playing a piano” or “a hammer with wings,” say) and let your device create it from scratch. Like Image Playground, Genmoji can also incorporate images of people from Photos (for example, “my wife riding a dragon” or “my grandmother skydiving”).

To use a Genmoji in Messages, click or tap the plus button next to the iMessage field and choose Genmoji from the pop-up menu. In the popover that appears, type a description of what you’d like to see and press Return (or tap or click the yellow arrow button), and after a moment, an image appears. If you like it, click Add to insert it in your message; if you want to see something different, type into the “Describe a change” field.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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How to Ask Siri AI Follow-Up Questions

Saturday September 12, 2026 9:54 pm EAT by Chris Smith

For the first time in Siri history, you can ask Siri questions or ask it to do something and almost always get a satisfactory outcome. Revolutionary! Even better, Siri retains context: you can have an ongoing conversation in the Siri app, and the vastly upgraded chatbot feature now doesn’t lose the thread.

Many people have mixed feelings about chatbots, particularly when they veer from utility into social, emotional, and personal interactions, but Siri is designed to stay largely on the utility target. Siri is designed for a purpose, and works well within those constraints. More broadly, it has the same limitations, advantages, and failings of other chatbots.

Carry on conversations

The power of Siri AI extends beyond asking it questions, of course. Engaging in conversations lets you drill down, rephrase your question, or ask follow-ups. This can be done after activating Siri, where you are just continuing on. This is already different than before iOS 27, when Siri’s ability to keep up its side of the conversation dropped off immediately or quickly.

Or you can open the Siri app. You can also click or tap answers from Siri in its pop-up or sheet-based view, and your device will open the Siri app.

However you navigate to activate Siri, you can immediately type or speak something after its response to whatever your first question or requested action was.

This can be useful if Siri’s first response or action wasn’t sufficient, or if it provided information or succeeded and you want to follow up by using context. You don’t have to define your scenario once again, which Siri often required before Siri AI.

For instance, we followed this line of questioning: “I watched a movie with Orson Welles in it last night. I think it took place in Austria.” Siri responds, “The movie you are thinking of is likely The Third Man. This 1949 film noir stars Orson Welles as Harry Lime and is famously set in post-World War II Vienna, Austria.”

You can then continue down that line of questions. We then asked why the zither was so prominent. It provided a detailed response (and an accurate one). Thinking of zithers, we wondered whether there was any zither music in the library. He hit a limit here: Siri only knows about locally stored music from its metadata, as far as we can tell, or at least without asking further questions. So it found, appropriately, “The Third Man” by Anton Karas in Apple Music, and offered to play it.

Tags: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27

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Apple unveils iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max

Thursday September 10, 2026 12:13 am EAT by Emily Long

The new Pro lineup introduces variable aperture with the most advanced camera in an iPhone, incredible battery life, next‑level performance, and Siri AI, all powered by A20 Pro

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max feature the most advanced camera Apple has ever made and deliver massive leaps in battery life and performance.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, delivering the most advanced pro camera system in an iPhone, and huge leaps in battery life and performance. The new 48MP Fusion Main camera, now with variable aperture, brings creative control that wasn’t possible before, and new Pro controls let users customize their experience in the Camera app. Both models feature a smaller and even more useful Dynamic Island, as well as A20 Pro and a next-generation vapor chamber that together deliver the highest sustained performance in iPhone history. iPhone 18 Pro Max also delivers the largest increase in battery life ever on iPhone, thanks to advancements in Apple silicon and a larger battery.1 Featuring iOS 27with Apple Intelligence2 and Siri AI,3 iPhone 18 Pro models bring powerful AI capabilities together with personal context to become an intelligent personal hub with privacy and security at its core.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are available in four elegant finishes: black, silver, glacier, and an all-new burgundy. Pre-orders begin Saturday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 18.

“With iPhone 18 Pro, we’ve made advancements to the areas our users care about most: camera, performance, battery, and intelligence. And we didn’t just make incremental improvements in these areas — we took huge leaps forward to create the best Pro iPhone we’ve ever made,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 18 Pro makes it easy for anyone to capture stunning photos and videos using variable aperture, while providing more versatility for creators and more control for pros. Paired with impactful upgrades to Photographic Styles and powerful video capabilities, iPhone 18 Pro unlocks entirely new ways for users to express themselves.”

iPhone 18 Pro will be available in four elegant finishes: black, silver, glacier, and burgundy.

An Advanced Camera System That Unlocks More Creativity Across Photo and Video

The new 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture is the most advanced camera Apple has ever made, bringing aperture control to iPhone for the first time along with even more creative control. Six laser-cut blades smoothly transition between different apertures, making it incredibly easy to capture the best shot by automatically adjusting for depth of field and lighting. Combined with a new sensor that improves image quality, the result is better low-light photography, crisper detail in the back of group photos, and more unique shots. Variable aperture also provides more control for creative pros by giving them the ability to manually adjust any of the four aperture settings in the Camera app, and an API is available to developers for even more control across the aperture range in their apps.

Replay video: The Most Advanced Camera Available on iPhone

The new 48MP Fusion Main camera uses six laser-cut blades controlled by a new rotor mechanism to smoothly transition between different apertures.

With a new computational imaging pipeline, the Main camera produces sharper, more detailed shots, and upgraded Photographic Styles with new texture and grain controls let users further dial in their desired appearance and have more creative control over their photos.4 Industry-leading video capabilities also become more versatile, with the ability to apply Cinematic effects after capture to videos shot at up to 60 fps. In Time-lapse mode, users can now record videos in 4K and Dolby Vision HDR. Audio Mix also has new algorithms that deliver higher-quality voices and can now isolate music.

The new 48MP Fusion Main camera can intelligently widen the aperture to ƒ/1.48 for impressive low-light shots.

iPhone 18 Pro shoots gorgeous portraits at an aperture of ƒ/1.8, optimized for the best balance of light gathering and depth of field.

The new 48MP Fusion Main camera can keep more of the group in focus by narrowing the aperture to ƒ/4 for more depth of field.

In darker environments, iPhone 18 Pro adjusts the aperture automatically to let in more light, resulting in stunning Night mode shots.

iPhone 18 Pro introduces new texture and grain controls in Photographic Styles, so users can adjust color and skin qualities in unison for a more personalized look.

Pro controls let users manually adjust settings, such as shutter speed, which can create artful motion blur in photos.

A new computational imaging pipeline produces even more detailed shots from the Main camera.

Pro controls is a new customizable experience in the Camera app for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max that makes it easier than ever for users to access their most used settings and introduces new options for manual control. Users can now adjust settings such as lens aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, or use a histogram to check exposure levels throughout a scene.

Continue playback of video: New Pro controls in the Camera App

Pro controls offer broader creative range, with manual control over shutter speed, white balance, aperture, and the ability to use a histogram.

Introducing Apple Reference Image

Users can now prove the authenticity of a photo taken on iPhone 18 Pro models with Apple Reference Image, powered by the new sensor in the Main camera that can sign every pixel it sees. When a photo is taken in the new Reference mode, the camera captures signed sensor data that Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image.5Reference images can be viewed in the Photos app alongside the main image, like a digital negative, to visually compare the two assets and determine if any edits were made. APIs are available in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 27 for third-party apps to enable viewing of these reference images.

Apple Reference Image provides users with an unalterable reference photo, visually confirming what the sensor saw at the moment of capture.

Image metadata and upcoming support for the SynthID standard can also help users identify images generated or edited with AI.6 Together with Apple Reference Image, this set of features represents a multifaceted approach to image authenticity — vital for photojournalists, photographers, and everyday viewers.

An Even More Useful Dynamic Island

Using advanced display technology, the Dynamic Island is redesigned to create room for additional information. The upgraded Dynamic Island can now show three Live Activities at once, while continuing to enable Face ID for securely unlocking iPhone 18 Pro models, authenticating purchases, signing in to apps, and more.

Replay video: Upgrades to Dynamic Island

The upgraded Dynamic Island can show even more information at a glance, with up to three Live Activities at once.

A20 Pro: A Powerhouse for Pro Performance and AI

Built using the latest 2-nanometer process technology, A20 Pro sets a new bar for mobile computing. Featuring 50 percent more memory bandwidth than A19 Pro, the new 6-core CPU features integrated Neural Accelerators and is faster than the competition, while the new 7-core GPU design is up to 40 percent faster than A19 Pro — a significant upgrade for graphics rendering. A20 Pro also features a new Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which accelerates on-device AI models and computational photography, and includes 32 total cores for double the AI processing power of A19 Pro. With huge upgrades across the entire chip, A20 Pro is a powerhouse for everything from more advanced on-device AI workloads to demanding games, and is designed to deliver exceptional performance for years to come.

Featuring a new 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU, and Dual 16-core Neural Engine, A20 Pro is a powerhouse for pro performance.

Both models feature N1, an Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. iPhone 18 Pro introduces C2, Apple’s next-generation cellular modem system, which brings AI-powered improvements to cellular quality and reliability. C2 delivers meaningfully faster uploads when compared to C1X while consuming 15 percent less energy, and now supports mmWave in the U.S.

A New Thermal Management System for Maximum Performance

A20 Pro introduces custom packaging inspired by M-series Apple silicon that places the silicon die side by side with the memory, removing the memory from the thermal path of the chip and allowing A20 Pro to attach directly to a next-generation vapor chamber. With new materials and three times more surface area than the previous generation on iPhone 17 Pro, the redesigned vapor chamber dramatically improves sustained performance and enables up to a 40 percent gain over the previous generation — the highest sustained performance yet.

Replay video: Next-Generation Vapor Chamber

The next-generation vapor chamber dissipates even more heat and enables a massive leap in sustained performance on iPhone 18 Pro.

Incredible Battery Life

iPhone 18 Pro models deliver a massive leap in battery life with new battery designs that leverage powerful silicon efficiencies. eSIM-only models deliver up to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro Max. iPhone 18 Pro can also charge up to 50 percent in around 15 minutes, or wirelessly charge up to 50 percent in 30 minutes.7 On iPhone 18 Pro Max, five minutes of wired charging provides around seven hours of video playback, and based on a new battery usage model that leverages real-world data, it provides up to 30 hours of usage on a full charge.8

Replay video: New Battery Designs

Both iPhone 18 Pro models feature updated battery designs that support faster wired charging and leverage powerful silicon efficiencies to deliver incredible battery life.

Featuring iOS 27 with the Next Generation of Apple Intelligence and an All-New Siri

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max give users access to Siri AI, rolling out in beta with iOS 27. Siri AI is an entirely new version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence that is profoundly more personal, capable, and conversational. Both models bring powerful AI capabilities together with personal context to become an intelligent personal hub with privacy and security at its core.

Siri AI can draw on personal context understanding to help users find what they need in the moment across messages, emails, photos, and more; use onscreen awareness to take action related to the content on a user’s screen; and answer questions about virtually any topic. Siri mode in the Camera app allows users to get information and take action on what’s in front of them, and users can write with Siri by simply describing what they need. Additionally, Apple Intelligence makes apps smarter and more useful. Users can improve the composition of a photo after it’s been taken with Spatial Reframing, Extend, and upgraded Clean Up. And now Image Playground offers photorealistic imagery. In Safari, Notify Me helps users monitor web pages for changes, like product restocks or price drops, and stay on top of updates. To protect users’ privacy, Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, which extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud.

Siri AI can draw on personal context understanding to help users find what they need in the moment across apps, and with Siri mode in the Camera app, they can get information on what’s in front of them.

iOS 27 delivers an expansive set of improvements that make iPhone more responsive, reliable, and easy to use, along with refinements to the software design and more ways to personalize the appearance of Liquid Glass. Additionally, powerful and simple tools, based on expert guidance, give parents more flexible ways to manage what their kids can see, who they can talk to, and when they have access. iOS 27 also introduces iPhone Handoff, which allows users with supported carriers to easily switch back and forth between two iPhone models with the same phone number.9

eSIM: A Flexible, Convenient, and Secure Connection

eSIM offers greater flexibility, better security, seamless connectivity compared to traditional physical SIM cards, and more battery life on eSIM-only models.10 An industry standard, eSIM is supported by over 500 carriers worldwide, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and more. eSIM-only models of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the U.S., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These models feature an even larger battery, taking advantage of the space formerly occupied by the physical SIM to provide two additional hours of video playback.

Beautiful New Accessories

iPhone 18 Pro models introduce a range of new Silicone Cases, TechWoven Cases, Crossbody Straps, and FineWoven Wallets — all designed to complement the four beautiful finishes. The Clear Case features an updated design and is now compatible with the Crossbody Strap and Wrist Strap. The new Wrist Strap introduces a convenient, hands-free way to carry iPhone, AirPods Pro 2, or AirPods Pro 3. Woven with 100 percent recycled polyester yarns and embedded with flexible magnets that keep it neatly fitted together, the Wrist Strap will be available in six colors: black, taupe, olive, crisp blue, magenta, and burgundy.

The new Wrist Strap introduces a beautiful hands-free way to carry iPhone.

The Crossbody Strap can be paired with MagSafe cases in gorgeous new color combinations.

New MagSafe accessories complement the elegant finishes of iPhone 18 Pro.

iPhone 18 Pro and the Environment

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max were built with the environment in mind, and drive progress toward Apple’s ambitious plan to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030. Both models are made with 40 percent recycled content overall,11 including 100 percent recycled cobalt in the battery and 85 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure. They are manufactured with 50 percent renewable energy, like wind and solar, across the supply chain, and meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency and safe chemistry. Like all Apple products, their paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based12 and can be easily recycled at home.

Pricing and Availability

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities. Available in burgundy, glacier, silver, and black, iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 (U.S.) or $49.95 (U.S.) per month, and iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299(U.S.) or $54.12 (U.S.) per month for 24 months.13
Apple offers great ways to save and upgrade to the latest iPhone models. With Apple Trade In, customers trading in iPhone 13 or later can get $175 to $885(U.S.) in credit instantly.14 Apple also partners with select carriers to offer incredible deals, and customers can get up to $1,200 (U.S.) in credits when they trade in iPhone 14 or later — in any condition — to put toward iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max. Customers can take advantage of carrier deals by visiting the Apple Store online or an Apple Store location. For carrier deal eligibility requirements and more details, see apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/carrier-offers. To see what their device is worth and for trade-in terms and conditions, customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in.
Apple Upgrade, a leasing program provided by Klarna and available in the U.S., gives eligible customers monthly payment options for iPhone 18 Pro, with 12- and 24-month leasing terms starting as low as $34.99 (U.S.) per month for 24 months. For more information, visit apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade.15
Customers in more than 65 countries and regions, including _Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, _the_U.S., and Vietnam, _will be able to pre-order iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max beginning at 5 a.m. PT this Saturday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 18. iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in 20 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 25.
A TechWoven Case with MagSafe will be available for $59 (U.S.) in black, chambray blue, taupe, olive, mulberry, and burgundy. A Clear Case with MagSafe will be available for $49 (U.S.), and a Silicone Case with MagSafe will be available for $49 (U.S.) in black, navy blue, crisp blue, olive, burgundy, and magenta. A FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe will be available for $59 (U.S.) in black, navy blue, wildflower blue, olive, magenta, and burgundy.
A Wrist Strap will be available for $29 (U.S.). A Crossbody Strap will be available for $59 (U.S.) in black, navy blue, taupe, sand, olive, crisp blue, magenta, burgundy, and light gray.
iOS 27 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 14. Some features may not be available in all languages or regions, and availability may vary due to local laws and regulations. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.
Apple Intelligence will be available with iOS 27 on Monday, September 14, for users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device set to a supported language. Apple Intelligence is available with support for these languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Japanese, and Korean. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. For feature and language availability and system requirements, see apple.com/apple-intelligence.
Siri AI is rolling out with iOS 27 as a beta on Monday, September 14, for users with a supported device set to English, with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish coming in October. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages.
When outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, Apple’s groundbreaking satellite features help iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max users stay connected and get assistance when it matters most. Apple is extending free access to satellite features for an additional year for existing iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 users. The free trial will be extended for iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 users who have activated their device in a country that supports Apple’s satellite features prior to midnight PT on September 9. For satellite feature availability, visit support.apple.com/en-us/105097.
AppleCare delivers exceptional service and support, with flexible options for Apple users. Customers can choose AppleCare+ to cover their new iPhone, or, in available markets, AppleCare One to protect multiple products in one simple plan. Both plans include coverage for accidents like drops and spills, theft and loss protection on eligible products, battery replacement service, and priority support from Apple Experts. In the U.S., customers can also choose AppleCare One Family, which extends that same coverage to every eligible device across an Apple Family Sharing group for one fixed monthly price. For more information, visit apple.com/applecare.
iCloud+ plans start at just $0.99 (U.S.) per month, providing additional storage to keep photos, videos, files, and more safe in the cloud and accessible across devices. iCloud+ also gives access to premium features such as event creation in the Apple Invites app, as well as Private Relay, Hide My Email, custom email domains, and HomeKit Secure Video. With Family Sharing, users can share their subscription with five other family members at no extra cost. For more information and feature availability, visit apple.com/icloud and apple.com/ios/feature-availability.
New and qualified returning subscribers who purchase iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max can unlock three months of Apple One for free. Apple One bundles up to six Apple services — including Apple TV, Apple Music, up to 2TB of iCloud+ storage, and more — into one convenient plan across multiple Apple devices. This offer is available in select countries and regions with an eligible new iPhone, iPad, or Mac beginning September 17. Service availability varies by region. Learn more about Apple One at apple.com/apple-one.

Tags: iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max

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