Apple brings customizable pace and expressivity to Siri in iOS 27

The update, first teased at WWDC 26 in June, marks a shift in Apple’s strategy to make its assistant feel more human-centric as it pivots toward generative AI. By enabling these controls, which were previously marked as coming soon, Apple is catching up to competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which introduced deeper voice personality settings in late 2025. Users can now toggle through various accents and use dedicated sliders to modify the assistant’s cadence and emotional weight.

To ensure the settings align with user preference, the system provides real-time audio previews, having the assistant recite common phrases like "You have one new message" as adjustments are made. This version of Siri is woven into the fabric of the updated iOS, accessible via the Dynamic Island, the side button, or a new standalone app. While the beta introduces these personalization features, early reports from the testing community suggest some instability, with certain users experiencing access issues or background indexing processes following the update.