Detailed iOS 27 renders show Siri’s big makeover

As Apple prepares what could be its most consequential software release in years with iOS 27 at WWDC26, we get our first real glimpse at what an overhauled Siri and other Apple Intelligence features may look like, courtesy of Bloomberg. It mocked up a bunch of illustrations in a new report Thursday.

Preview of Siri overhaul

A detailed new iOS 27 report comes complete with illustrated mockups showing a dramatically reimagined Siri, a rebuilt Camera app, and a suite of new AI-powered tools expected to be unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.

He frames the release as a pivotal moment for Apple, which has spent the past year clawing back credibility on AI after a rough stretch of delays and misfires. The new Siri is expected to hit consumers as early as this September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro. And it comes as outgoing CEO Tim Cook hands the reins to new CEO John Ternus.

Siri, finally rebuilt

The centerpiece of iOS 27 is a Siri that barely resembles what iPhone users have known for nearly 15 years. Rather than living at the bottom of the screen, the revamped assistant takes up residence in the Dynamic Island. It could appear as an always-available agent that can pull from your personal data, what’s currently on your screen and the web.

Two ways to summon it are in the works, Gurman said. The familiar “Hey Siri” or power-button hold will animate the assistant directly from the Dynamic Island. But there’s also a brand-new gesture: swiping down from the top center of the screen opens a new Search or Ask interface optimized for typing, not just talking, as shown in the illustrative mockup above. That looks useful.

From that interface, users could do everything from firing off a text to checking calendar availability to kicking off a web search — powered by a new AI search system Apple is developing to rival tools like Perplexity.

Swipe down further, and you’re inside a full Siri app that looks a lot like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, complete with conversation history and an attachment picker for photos and documents. Apple is also internally testing integrations with Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, with a drop-down menu letting users route queries to whichever AI service they prefer.

Under the hood, Gurman reports the rebuilt Siri model draws on Google Gemini technology — a notable shift for a company that has historically kept core intelligence features in-house.

Camera gets smarter and more flexible

The Camera app is in line for a meaningful redesign as well. Visual Intelligence — currently tucked behind the Camera Control button on recent iPhones — would graduate into a proper Camera mode, making it far more prominent and accessible. From there, users could photograph an object and send it to a third-party AI for identification or run a Google reverse image search.

The app is also becoming more customizable. A new Add Widgets panel would let photographers replace the default top-row shortcuts with controls better suited to their shooting style — things like depth adjustments, timer, or Night mode.

Photos, Shortcuts and more

The Photos app would pick up two new AI editing tools: Reframe, for adjusting perspective, and Extend, which generates content to fill in parts of a scene that were left out of the original frame — similar to features Google has offered for some time.

A rebuilt Shortcuts app would let users describe automations in plain language rather than constructing them manually. 

Rounding out the update: AI-generated wallpapers, a systemwide grammar checker and improvements to Image Playground and Genmoji.

So we’re excited. June 8 can’t come soon enough.

David Snow

David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.

With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.

Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.

Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.