iOS 27 Review: AI Finally Takes Over The iPhone

With the Release Candidate version of iOS 27 rolling out just after the iPhone Duo event, we're now just days away from Apple officially releasing iOS 27 to the public on Monday, September 14. With the foldable iPhone Duo now official and the new iPhone 18 Pro models finally revealed, we now have a clearer picture of the true capabilities of this upcoming software update.

Over the past few months, we've been using iOS 27 on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, putting this update to the test all over the world — from mainland China and Paris to Budapest and Berlin. Not only have we noticed significant improvements since the first beta, but also how the new features and changes will reinvigorate Apple's smartphone lineup. While the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models will be acquiring powerful new Siri AI features, Apple says that older models will get snappier with tons of bug fixes, improved AirDrop reliability, and apps opening faster than ever.

After months of testing, we've learned about how the new features improve the iPhone experience, how the update impacts battery life, and who should be updating to this software once it becomes available for the iPhone 11 and beyond. Here's everything you need to know about iOS 27, Apple's biggest leap into AI so far.

Visually, iOS 27 looks similar to iOS 26, but it's far more polished. Some apps have improved contrast and look more vivid. Even the Clear option for Liquid Glass, which on iOS 26 was washed out and hard to see with some backgrounds, has evolved. The entire iOS 26 update cycle seemed to focus on fixes and changes for Liquid Glass, but it took until the arrival of iOS 27 to bring the new design language up to the company's typical standards.

Liquid Glass has been Apple's push into a more unified design language across its operating systems, and, unlike during the Steve Jobs era, the company is willing to make compromises to appease users. For example, users can decide whether they want a glassy, translucent experience or a tinted look closer to iOS 18. In general, refraction is more uniform across the OS with the latest update. It's also important to note that the company requires iOS 27 apps to be easily resized to any format of display, which we now know was an effort to maximize compatibility with the foldable iPhone Duo.

iOS 27 not only looks beautiful, but owners of older iPhones should notice apps opening faster. With the modern powerhouse that is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it's impossible to say that Instagram, iMessage, and other apps were suddenly opening dramatically faster, as the experience remains consistent with what was already present in iOS 26.

Apple's long-delayed promise of Apple Intelligence is finally a reality — even if it's still in beta. Rolling out to users globally in iOS 27 – except for those with a European Apple Account – the new Siri AI seems to be everything the company envisioned and, perhaps, a little bit more. It's such an enormous leap forward from Siri having a hard time setting a timer, sharing a weather report, or knowing what month it is.

The truth is, Siri AI is incredibly useful, and it's yet another push for the company's own services. The personal assistant shines when it's accessing Messages, Notes, Mail, and other first-party Apple apps. Nine out of 10 times, Siri was able to help me find a very specific message, document, podcast link, or even something I didn't fully remember. The personal assistant is conversational, gives me insights about my travel, can answer nearly any question, and translates on the fly. I've ever used it to figure out exactly how early I should wake up to eat breakfast before leaving a hotel for the airport.

Of course, Siri is not always perfect, and it sometimes forgets it can use Google. For example, if I ask for translation of an unsupported language like Hungarian, the personal assistant quickly tells me it's incapable of doing that. However, all it takes is reminding Siri it can browse the internet to find the translation online. Other features that have impressed me include asking Siri to replace a phrase with translated copy, adding information to a form, and proactively making my day easier by rearranging my schedule to avoid conflicts.

Every Apple Intelligence feature has been upgraded. Genmoji creation, for example is very proactive as you send messages — even though Apple will suggest some bizarre images. Image generation is also faster on Image Playground, Writing Tools is a constant reminder you might not know how to construct a phrase properly, and the AI-powered image editing tools impressed me the same way Pixelmator did years ago with how it used the iPad's machine learning capabilities to remove objects from photos.

iOS 27 features an improved Clean Up tool, which is much better at removing unwanted objects and people in the background of your photos. The Expand tool is great for adding to your photo to fill out the frame, and it also works surprisingly well. Finally, the ability to use Spatial Reframing, which lets you tweak the angle of a photo, almost makes me question if we should have so much added control over our shots.

While there's plenty worth being excited about, and anyone with an iPhone 15 Pro or newer model is going to have a wealth of new features to explore — after they join the wait list for the new AI features, anyway – it's also somewhat odd to be celebrating the efforts of a trillion-dollar company that is only now catching up with the demand for AI. Even though I'd consider Apple Intelligence one of the best applications of AI on the market, Apple took its sweet time getting here. That said, there's no shame in asking Google for help — I just wish Apple had done so sooner.

Besides the full adoption of AI, iOS 27 is fundamentally a minor upgrade. There are no notable new features for Apple Music, most of Apple's apps look the same, and highly-anticipated additions, like the ability to update passwords with a single tap, aren't ready yet. Rather, Apple decided to deliver an update focused on fixing bugs, polishing up the code, and making the experience feel snappier.

For an iPhone 17 Pro Max user, it's honestly hard to tell the difference between iOS 26 and iOS 27. After all, every beta release introduces new bugs, though, with the iOS 27 Release Candidate now installed on my device, I can say that the software feels as stable as ever. For owners of an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 13, their devices should feel even faster than they did on iOS 26.

Of course, battery life is always a major concern when updates arrive. I've been charging my iPhone twice a day throughout the summer, which is due to a mix of Parisian heatwaves, testing every Siri AI feature, and a seemingly dry vapor chamber (that's not really how it works, but my iPhone 17 Pro Max does feel warmer around the camera plateau). However, for those who haven't been using the iOS 27 beta, Apple has been doing something clever: indexing Siri and its apps for the iOS 27 release. What this means is that, the iOS 26.6 update already did most of the hard work, so iOS 27 should run even better than usual on day one. For me, every weekly update means a new round of indexing.

iOS 27 is a welcome upgrade for any iPhone owner — even those without the latest models and those who aren't interested in upgrading to an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo. While an iPhone 11 owner might not find many new features in iOS 27, they will gain a more reliable AirDrop, faster speeds, and some battery improvements. For those with an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, the highlight is Apple Intelligence, which truly transforms the iPhone experience.

I personally really enjoy how the new Siri lives on the Dynamic Island and how notifications sit right next to the clock. That said, iPhone users will need to retrain their brains a bit, as the upper-right corner is dedicated to the Control Center, the upper-left corner is for notifications, and everything else around the top of the display is Siri AI and Spotlight.

Overall, I've been satisfied with iOS 27, and I'm looking forward to see what the new cycle of updates will bring. iOS 27.1 is still a mystery for now — it could add even more AI features or just make small tweaks. We've also put together a checklist to prepare your iPhone for iOS 27, which is worth reading before the launch on September 14. Overall, this is one of the most polished software updates Apple has delivered in recent years.