Apple begins beta rollout of rebuilt Siri and Apple Intelligence, with hardware limits and EU iPhone/iPad delay

Apple has started rolling out its rebuilt Siri AI and the next generation of Apple Intelligence today, but the launch is not a blanket release. The new system begins in beta, starts in English only, is subject to hardware restrictions and daily usage caps, and remains unavailable on iPhone and iPad in the European Union. In a Newsroom update Monday, Apple said, “The next generation of Apple Intelligence is available today, powering Siri AI and making the apps and experiences users rely on every day more personal and helpful than ever.”

What Apple is shipping now is the more advanced Siri it has been previewing since 2024 as part of its broader Apple Intelligence push. Apple says Siri AI is a more capable and personal assistant that can draw on personal context and what is on a user’s screen, while tying into other Apple Intelligence features such as writing tools, Visual Intelligence and expanded actions in Apple’s own apps. The company has also introduced a dedicated Siri app and says conversational history can sync privately across devices through iCloud.

For now, though, access is limited. Apple says Siri AI starts rolling out today in beta in English and will expand to French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish next month. Apple Intelligence features are being delivered across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro through the company’s newly released software updates, but availability varies depending on the device and feature. That means the headline launch is broader than Siri alone, while the most advanced Siri experience is still arriving gradually.

The practical caveats are significant. Apple’s footnotes say its most advanced on-device Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, iPads with M4 or later and at least 12GB of unified memory, Macs with M3 or later and at least 12GB of unified memory, and Apple Vision Pro with M5. Apple also says some server-side Apple Intelligence features, including Siri AI, are subject to daily usage limits. Its press materials say expanded access will be available for a fee in the future, while developer materials say users may be able to raise limits through iCloud+, though Apple has not provided pricing or a date. Apple’s published footnotes also say, “Siri AI is not available for users under 13.”

As with earlier Apple Intelligence announcements, Apple is framing the system around privacy. The company says it combines on-device models with Private Cloud Compute, a cloud-based system for more complex requests. In a WWDC 2026 developer session, Apple said, “Private Cloud Compute is designed with end‑to‑end privacy in mind, ensuring that user data is never stored. The data is only used for requests.” That privacy pitch has been central to Apple Intelligence since Apple first introduced the initiative in June 2024.

The biggest geographic exception is the EU. Apple said June 8 that Siri AI would be delayed there on iPhone and iPad because of the Digital Markets Act, the EU law that regulates large digital platforms, though EU users would still be able to access Siri AI on macOS 27 and visionOS 27. Apple has explicitly blamed the law’s application for the split rollout. In June, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said: “We’re deeply disappointed that our EU users won’t have Siri AI on iPhone or iPad when we share our new software releases later this year … However, their refusal to engage constructively on solutions that preserve privacy and security means we do not currently have a timeline for Siri AI’s availability on iOS and iPadOS in the EU.”