Apple is fixing Siri with the next iOS release. All kinds of new AI features are sliding onto iOS 27, and it sounds like Apple Intelligence is becoming a core part of the operating system.
But all the features won't make their way to every iPhone. Unfortunately, during the WWDC 2026 keynote, Apple said that only the latest and greatest devices will get access to the on-device AI model and features it enables.
Specifically, Apple's Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering, said, "Our most powerful on-device model and the features it enables, like expressive voices and more advanced dictation, will be coming to our most capable iPhone, iPad, and Mac systems."
Which devices support the latest on-device model?
The list of devices that support all of the AI features is fairly limited. Here's the full range of supported devices:
- iPhone 17 Pro
- iPhone 17 Pro Max
- iPhone Air
- iPad models with M4 and later and at least 12GB of unified memory
- Mac models with M3 and later and at least 12GB of unified memory
- Apple Vision Pro (M5)
That means even if you have the popular iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max and all the Apple Intelligence features it supports, you'll be missing out on some of the new features. Sure, these devices support iOS 27, but some things will be left out.
Which features are exclusive?
Apple didn't provide a full rundown of the features that will be left off older devices, but, as noted in Craig Federighi's quote, "expressive voices and more advanced dictation" are part of the on-device functionality limited to new devices.
The company demonstrated the expressive voices feature during its keynote; essentially, it lets you fine-tune how Siri sounds. You can adjust the pitch and speed at which the personal assistant speaks. While it sounds useful, it's hardly a game-changer.
The more advanced dictation wasn't dove into as deeply, but Apple did say that it "now captures what users say as polished text with greater precision, automatically handling capitalization, punctuation, and formatting as they speak. With improved speech understanding, users can speak naturally and trust that their words will appear clearly, accurately, and as intended."
Presumably, there will be other advanced AI features limited to the newer, more powerful devices, but it makes sense that Apple wouldn't want to lead too aggressively with what it's holding back from a large percentage of users and instead focus on the positive items it's bringing to everyone, which we've detailed in our full breakdowns of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.
