Apple (AAPL.US) has released iOS 27! The new Siri AI open test cloud function has a daily limit and can be expanded for a fee in the future

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Apple (AAPL.US) officially released the next-generation iPhone operating system iOS 27 on Monday. Among them, the most popular update is the redesigned Siri AI personal assistant. This system update was launched just before the new iPhone officially went on sale this week, which also means that Apple's Siri artificial intelligence upgrade, which had been postponed many times before, has finally begun to be implemented for users.

Apple said that the new version of Siri AI is still in the testing phase, and users need to actively choose to turn it on in the “Settings” app. Due to the limited initial service capacity, some users may also need to join a waitlist before getting permission to use it.

Apple is positioning the upcoming iPhone 18 series as an important terminal running artificial intelligence functions. On the one hand, the new iPhone is equipped with a chip with better performance; on the other hand, the phone stores large amounts of personal data such as calendars and text messages, enabling Apple to create a differentiated experience with other artificial intelligence companies around “personalized AI.”

Apple CEO Tenus said at the iPhone press conference held last week: “This is personal intelligence that truly belongs to an individual.” This is the first time since Tenus succeeded Cook as Apple's CEO on September 1 to host a new iPhone product launch. He said that the iPhone is at the center of Apple's intelligent ecosystem, which allows a range of smart functions and experiences to seamlessly collaborate with the different Apple devices that users use on a daily basis.

Siri AI, which has been delayed for a long time, has finally landed

Apple first announced the new Siri AI assistant in June this year. In fact, the company announced the launch of a new generation of AI-powered Siri as early as 2024, but related features were later delayed, and it wasn't until this year that the redesigned version was introduced.

Unlike companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google (GOOGL.US), which pursue cutting-edge AI models on a larger scale, Apple has taken a relatively different technical route. The company mainly develops smaller artificial intelligence models that can run directly on iPhone and Mac chips, and hopes to complete AI calculations on local devices as much as possible.

However, for more complex Siri AI requests, Apple still needs to use cloud computing power. To this end, the company has built a private cloud computing system called “Private Cloud Compute”. The related systems use Google Cloud infrastructure and use Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Intel (INTC.US) chips.

At the same time, Apple is also using Google Gemini technology to help develop its own AI models. This means that while emphasizing autonomous AI technology and privacy protection, Apple is still using external partners such as Google to speed up artificial intelligence capacity building.

Some AI features will set daily usage limits or introduce payment limits in the future

Notably, as more AI computing moves to the cloud, Apple is also beginning to consider the cost of artificial intelligence services.

Apple said that some of the Siri AI and Apple Intelligence functions that require the use of cloud servers will set daily usage limits. If users want higher usage credits in the future, additional charges may apply.

Apple stated in the announcement that daily usage limits may vary depending on specific features, request complexity, system requirements, system policies, and other factors. At the same time, the company stated that higher usage limits “will be offered in the form of payment in the future.”

This arrangement means that Apple's AI services may no longer rely entirely on hardware sales for monetization in the future. As demand for cloud AI computing grows, Apple is expected to gradually explore payment models for high-frequency or high-computing power AI users, thereby establishing a new source of service revenue for Apple Intelligence.

Siri is more “conversational” and can search text messages, emails, and calendars

At the functional level, one of the biggest changes in the new version of Siri is the use of a large language model to understand and search users' personal data stored locally on the device, including text messages, emails, and calendar schedules.

For example, users can ask Siri to find an address, recipe, or operating instructions in historical messages without having to go through each message themselves. In addition to processing personal data, the new version of Siri is also capable of answering general questions and searching the internet.

Apple has also launched an independent Siri app that can save questions previously raised by users. Compared with the old version of Siri, the new version of Siri allows users to continue to ask questions about the answers given by the assistant, making the entire interaction process closer to the multi-round conversation experience of current mainstream AI chat assistants.

This is also one of the core of Apple's attempt to create a differentiated AI experience. Compared to simply providing general knowledge questions and answers, the company hopes to use personal data held by the iPhone and the Apple device ecosystem to enable Siri to understand information related to users' personal lives, thereby improving the practicality of AI assistants.

The first batch supports English only, French, Japanese, etc. will be launched next month

The new Siri AI currently supports English first. Apple says support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish will roll out next month.

For Apple, whether the new version of Siri can be recognized by users will be an important test for its AI strategy. In the past few years, companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have rapidly promoted the popularity of generative AI products, while Apple's products in the field of artificial intelligence have been relatively slow to launch, and the previously announced Siri AI upgrade has been delayed.

Today, with the launch of the iOS 27 and iPhone 18 series, Apple is embedding AI deeper into its hardware and operating system ecosystem. Compared to the largest AI model that directly competes with competitors, Apple is betting on a combination of device-side computing power, personal data, and cross-device ecology. Whether the new version of Siri can actually become the main entry point for users to use AI on a daily basis will also be the key for the market to observe whether Apple can close the gap with other AI giants.