Apple sharpens Siri with safer AI

Apple has unveiled a major overhaul of Siri and a broad set of child safety tools at its Worldwide Developers Conference, placing artificial intelligence and family controls at the centre of its next software cycle.

The new Siri AI is available immediately for developer testing across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 and visionOS 27, with support for watchOS 27 due in a later developer beta. A wider beta for users is scheduled later this year, initially for supported devices set to English, before a staged expansion to more languages.

The announcement marks Apple’s most direct attempt to close the gap with rivals that moved faster in generative AI. Siri AI has been rebuilt to handle more conversational exchanges, understand what is on a user’s screen, draw on personal context from apps such as Messages, Mail and Photos, and search the web for answers. Apple is also giving Siri a dedicated app, allowing users to revisit past conversations across devices through iCloud syncing.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice-president of Software Engineering, said the upgraded assistant was designed to help users find information and complete tasks through deeper app integration. The system can draft emails, edit and share photos, answer questions about visible content, and respond to follow-up queries in a more natural exchange than the older voice assistant.

Apple’s push is built around its Apple Intelligence platform, with processing split between on-device models and Private Cloud Compute for heavier tasks. The company has emphasised privacy as a central difference from competing AI systems, saying personal data used in cloud-based requests is not stored or made available to Apple. That claim will remain under scrutiny as Siri AI gains broader access to messages, emails, images and screen content.

Availability will be uneven at launch. Siri AI and the wider Apple Intelligence upgrades will work on iPhone 16 models or later, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini with A17 Pro, iPads with M1 or later, Macs with M1 or later, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later, and Apple Watch SE 3 when paired with a compatible iPhone. Some of the most powerful on-device AI functions will require newer hardware with higher memory capacity.

Apple said Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro users in the European Union will be able to access Siri AI when using a supported language, but the feature will not initially be available on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 in the bloc. The company has linked the delay to regulatory requirements under the Digital Markets Act. Siri AI and other new Apple Intelligence tools will also not be available in China at the outset as Apple works through regulatory approvals.

Alongside Siri, Apple announced a redesigned set of parental controls aimed at giving families tighter command over children’s device use. The tools include a simpler child account setup, a recommended set of essential apps, Ask to Browse for Safari, Time Allowances for app categories, and an updated Screen Time dashboard.

Child accounts will allow age-based protections such as limiting adult websites, restricting media by age rating and setting App Store boundaries. Parents will be able to choose which apps a child can use from the start, approve new websites in Safari, and manage communications across Messages, FaceTime and Phone. Communication Safety, already used to blur nudity in Messages and FaceTime for under-18 users, will expand to intervene when gore or violent images and videos are detected.

Time Allowances will let parents set limits across app categories including entertainment, games and social media. Apple is also adding daily schedules so families can restrict access during school hours, meals or other periods. Screen Time will show average usage and frequently used apps more clearly, while giving parents faster controls to pause access or extend time when needed.

Developers are being given additional tools to support age-appropriate experiences inside apps. These include SensitiveContentAnalysis, PermissionKit and a Declared Age Range API that lets apps adapt content without sharing a child’s exact birth date.