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iOS 27 New Features: Core AI, Smarter Keyboard Explained

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The Siri chatbot overhaul will dominate the WWDC keynote on June 8. Given that the promised iOS 27 new features tied to a smarter Siri have been delayed since iOS 18, that attention is earned. But the release contains three other changes with nothing to do with the assistant layer, and each one will affect how the iPhone works day to day, regardless of whether Siri's chatbot debut goes smoothly.

Reports suggest Apple may introduce a new AI-focused developer framework, but Apple has not officially announced a Core ML replacement. The keyboard is getting its most significant upgrade in years, with word-suggestion capabilities that go beyond error correction. And iOS 27 is expected to include speed and battery improvements, landing alongside new iPhone hardware. Apple is expected to preview its next software updates at WWDC in June; release timing for these specific features remains unconfirmed.

Taken together, these aren't three unrelated rumor items. They form a coherent picture of what Apple is actually building: better input at the keyboard, a more capable framework for developers to build on top of, and enough performance headroom to make both tolerable on devices already in people's pockets. The Siri headlines will come regardless. This is what's underneath them.

Why these three iOS 27 changes belong together

Think of it as a stack. The keyboard improvement sits at the top, where users touch the device. Core AI sits in the middle, where developers build the apps that users open. Performance work sits at the bottom, keeping the whole thing from slowing to a crawl as the computational load increases.

None of the three requires Siri to succeed. The keyboard works whether or not the chatbot ships on schedule. Core AI gives third-party developers new tools independent of how Apple's own apps use them. And performance improvements that ship with new silicon benefit every app on the device, not just the ones Apple builds.

That's what separates them from the Siri story. The chatbot overhaul could slip, underdeliver, or get overshadowed by competitors who've had a two-year head start. These changes are quieter and harder to demo on a keynote stage, but they don't carry the same execution risk.

The keyboard upgrade

The most immediately noticeable change will be at the keyboard. Apple has been testing an autocorrect update that suggests alternative words in addition to fixing errors, similar to how tools like Grammarly operate, MacRumors reported this week, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The distinction matters. Today's autocorrect catches mistakes after the fact; the rumored upgrade would propose better word choices mid-sentence.

Apple has not made a final decision on whether to ship it, Gurman noted. The mention came as an aside in a report focused primarily on Siri's multi-request handling, not a dedicated keyboard story. That context is worth keeping in mind.

Still, there's supporting evidence that the company is moving in this direction. Recent reporting has pointed to keyboard-related improvements, but Apple's public release-note summary does not clearly confirm that specific claim, MacRumors reported this week. A "Write with Siri" shortcut above the keyboard is also in testing, designed to surface Apple's Writing Tools without switching apps, Bloomberg reported via MacRumors last week.

The keyboard upgrade is the least certain item here. Treat it as something to watch at WWDC rather than something to plan around in September.

Core AI replaces Core ML: what changes for developers, and eventually users

Apple is replacing Core ML with a new framework called Core AI for developers, MacRumors reported earlier this month. Core ML has been the foundation of on-device machine learning in iOS apps since 2017, built for an era of smaller, task-specific models running locally.

Core AI is the replacement. What it actually enables beyond that replacement is something WWDC sessions in June will clarify. At WWDC 2024, Apple described three specific ways it wanted Siri to improve with Apple Intelligence: personal context, screen awareness, and the ability to act across apps. Apple has said those capabilities are in development for a future software update, but has not officially tied them to iOS 27, and Core AI is the framework that's expected to give third-party developers access to the same stack, not just Apple's own apps, MacRumors reported earlier this month.

For users, this matters only if it makes apps feel less bolted together.

The kinds of features that currently require developers to build custom AI integrations from scratch, whether that means context-aware suggestions or cross-app task handling, become easier to ship when the underlying plumbing is standardized. Whether Core AI delivers on that potential depends on what Apple actually exposes at the API level. The full picture won't arrive until June.

Performance and battery: the unglamorous part

The third change is the one Apple rarely leads with, but users reliably notice. iOS 27 is expected to include under-the-hood optimizations targeting both speed and battery life, MacRumors reported earlier this month. Details are thin ahead of WWDC, but the expectation fits a pattern Apple has followed before: major feature releases tend to come paired with efficiency work, partly to offset new overhead and partly because new silicon opens gains that weren't available in prior cycles.

The timing matters here. iOS 27 arrives alongside the future iPhone hardware, which means Apple's efficiency work will be tuned for new chips from the start rather than back-ported to hardware that's already shipped. That's a more favorable position.

It's also somewhat required. The Siri overhaul in iOS 27 will involve significantly more compute than the current assistant layer. Performance headroom isn't optional for the release to feel acceptable on devices already in use. iOS 26.4's keyboard accuracy improvement is a small data point in the same direction: Apple has been cleaning up system-level behavior in recent point releases. Whether the battery and speed gains are substantial enough to notice will only become clear once the developer beta is out.

What to expect, and when

Two of these three changes are widely reported but not yet officially confirmed by Apple: the Core AI framework replacement and the performance work. The keyboard word-suggestion feature is real but unfinished. If Apple commits to it at WWDC, it will be one of the more noticeable day-to-day changes in iOS 27 for anyone who writes at length on their phone. If it doesn't ship at launch, a point release is the likely destination.

WWDC on June 8 will answer the open questions: which features reach which devices, when the Core AI API opens to developers, and whether the keyboard upgrade makes the cut. Developer beta in June, public release in September, MacRumors confirmed this week.

The Siri chatbot will get most of the stage time. These three changes will still be in the OS when the keynote is over.

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