WWDC 2026: The Rebuilt Siri, macOS Golden Gate, and Which Devices Lose AI Features

The full iOS 27 compatibility list includes :

• iPhone SE (2nd generation, 2020)
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd generation, 2022)
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 17 series
• iPhone SE (2025)
• iPhone 18 series (ships with iOS 27)

Apple called this its widest iOS release ever in terms of device support . Even phones from 2019 running the A13 Bionic chip get the update, which brings security patches, performance optimizations, and continued refinements to the Liquid Glass design language introduced last year. Early impressions suggest apps on iOS 27 launch up to 30 percent faster, and photo loading has been sped up by up to 70 percent .

The rebuilt Siri AI and its strict hardware requirements

But here's where the confusion starts—and it matters. Not every device that runs iOS 27 gets the new Siri.

The rebuilt digital assistant is the centerpiece of this year's update. Apple has partnered with Google to license a custom 1.2-trillion-parameter Gemini artificial intelligence model, reportedly costing about $1 billion annually . Swiping down from the middle of the screen summons a full-screen Siri AI interface that can access personal context—emails, texts, photos, calendar entries, contacts, and notes—to answer queries and perform multi-step tasks across applications .

A new "Siri Extensions" framework will let rival chatbots such as Claude and ChatGPT integrate directly through the App Store, giving users a choice about which artificial intelligence model powers Siri's responses . The interface also gets a dedicated Siri application, where users can hold back-and-forth conversations and review history, similar to standalone artificial intelligence chat applications .

But the on-device neural engine requirements are steep . The rebuilt Siri needs at least an A14 Bionic chip to function, which means :

• iPhone 12 and newer: Get the new Siri AI and core iOS 27 features.
• iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation): Run iOS 27 but do not get the new Siri AI .

Apple has said the most demanding Apple Intelligence features—especially those that process data fully on-device—will remain exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and newer . That means even people with an iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, or standard iPhone 15 will have the new Siri but may not get the full suite of future artificial intelligence capabilities .

EU users face an additional restriction: Siri AI won't be available at launch on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 in the European Union due to Digital Markets Act compliance requirements .

macOS 27 Golden Gate ends Intel Mac support

Apple's Mac lineup has officially completed the transition to Apple Silicon. macOS 27 Golden Gate requires an M1 chip or newer, plus the recently announced A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo .

Apple previewed this change during WWDC 2025, when it stated that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final Intel-compatible release . The June 8, 2026 keynote confirmed it: no Intel-based Macs will run macOS 27 .

Intel Macs will continue receiving security updates for three more years, but that's the end of the feature upgrade path for those machines .

The models losing support include the last four Intel Macs Apple sold :

• MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• iMac (27-inch, 2020)
• Mac Pro (2019)

Compatible Macs for macOS 27 include the MacBook Neo (2026), MacBook Air (M1 and later), MacBook Pro (M1 and later), iMac (M1 and later), Mac mini (M1 and later), Mac Studio, and Mac Pro (2023 and later) .

The first developer beta of macOS 27 was made available immediately after the keynote . A public beta is expected in July, and a broad release will arrive around September 2026 .

The real split: two tiers of iOS 27 users

The critical takeaway from WWDC 2026 is the two-tier experience for iPhone owners:

Tier 1 — iOS 27 without Siri AI (A13 Bionic) :

• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)

These phones will receive iOS 27's interface optimizations, security updates, and general speed improvements, but the artificial intelligence assistant won't be available to them.

Tier 2 — iOS 27 with new Siri AI (A14 Bionic and above) :

• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd generation)
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 17 series
• iPhone SE (2025)

But even within Tier 2, full Apple Intelligence features stay locked to the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models . That's a pattern Apple established with the original Apple Intelligence launch, and it continues with iOS 27 .

For the first time in years, Apple is preserving backward compatibility for the operating system itself while making the most valuable new features hardware-dependent in a way that previous updates hadn't. The software might be free, but the best parts are not.