Apple launches AI-enhanced Siri and Image Playground in iPadOS 27
Apple announced that iPadOS 27 would bring an AI-powered version of Siri and a new Image Playground app, expanding the assistant’s capabilities on its latest iPad operating system. The company explained that the on-device Siri model requires 12 GB of unified memory, so the base iPhone 17 does not meet the threshold and cannot use two of the advanced features, as reported by MacRumors. Apple also listed the hardware that will support Siri AI, confirming compatibility only with newer iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro models, according to 9to5Mac. At a later event, Apple unveiled a major overhaul of Siri, adding screen-analysis, personal context and new voice capabilities, with analysts noting the potential impact on device upgrades and services revenue, per CNN.
KSL News echoed the description of the contextual understanding upgrade, while 9to5Mac added that the redesign required rebuilding Siri from scratch, which extended the development timeline. In the final iPadOS 27 release, MacRumors reported that the AI-enhanced Siri and the Image Playground app are limited to newer iPad models and are not available in the European Union or China. The update also includes performance enhancements for the operating system.
