How to enable Apple Intelligence on your iPhone

Which iPhones can use Apple Intelligence?

Apple Intelligence runs on iPhones with an A17 Pro chip or newer. Every other iPhone that runs iOS 27 gets the update itself but not these features.

Not sure which model you have? Open Settings › General › About and look at Model Name. If you own a standard iPhone 15, our guide to iOS 27 on iPhone 15 explains what you get without Apple Intelligence.

What you need before you start

• A supported iPhone from the table above.
• The latest iOS. Apple Intelligence first arrived with iOS 18.1; today the current release is iOS 27.0.1 (24A446).
• Free storage. The on-device models take several gigabytes. Check Settings › General › iPhone Storage.
• Wi-Fi. The models download after you switch the feature on.
• A supported language. Your iPhone's language and Siri's language both need to be ones Apple Intelligence supports.
• A supported region. Availability can vary by country. Apple's Apple Intelligence page lists the current languages and regions.

How to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhone

The whole process takes a few minutes of tapping, plus however long the download takes on your connection.

1. Connect to Wi-Fi and plug in your iPhone.
2. Open Settings › General › Software Update and install any available update.
3. Go back to the main Settings screen and tap Apple Intelligence & Siri.
4. Turn on Apple Intelligence.
5. Read the privacy summary that appears and tap Continue.
6. Leave the iPhone on Wi-Fi while the models download. The Apple Intelligence & Siri screen shows progress.
7. When the download finishes, review the individual options on the same screen and turn off anything you do not want.

Check that it works

Try a few features to confirm everything is active:

• In Notes, select a paragraph and choose Writing Tools to proofread or rewrite it.
• In Photos, search in plain language, such as "beach at sunset".
• Ask Siri a question that follows on from the one before, to test Siri AI's memory of the conversation.

For ideas on what to try next, see our Apple Intelligence tricks to try first.

What's new for Apple Intelligence in iOS 27

The biggest addition in iOS 27 is Siri AI. Siri now remembers earlier questions, understands what is on your screen, draws on personal context from Messages, Mail, Photos and Notes, and can act inside your apps. It also has its own standalone app. Siri AI is part of Apple Intelligence, so it needs the same supported iPhone and the same switch turned on.

At launch Apple said English support would arrive later in 2026, with more languages to follow. If Siri AI features do not appear, check your language settings and that you are on the newest iOS build. The Apple Intelligence availability guide for iOS 27 covers devices and regions in more detail.

Apple Intelligence not showing up? How to fix it

The Apple Intelligence switch is missing

This almost always means the iPhone is not supported. Check the model in Settings › General › About. If it is an iPhone 15 or older non-Pro model, the hardware cannot run Apple Intelligence, and no setting changes that. If it is a supported model, update iOS and check your language and region.

The download stalls or fails

1. Make sure you are on a stable Wi-Fi network, not cellular.
2. Free up space in Settings › General › iPhone Storage. Our iPhone storage clean-up guide shows where to start.
3. Keep the iPhone on a charger.
4. Restart the iPhone and open Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri again.

Features are missing after setup

Confirm the download has finished on the Apple Intelligence & Siri screen. If it has, switch the individual feature off and on again. Some features only appear in apps that support them, so test in Apple's own apps such as Notes and Mail first.

Nothing else works

Turn Apple Intelligence off, restart the iPhone, then turn it on again. This makes the iPhone download the models again and clears most stubborn problems.

How to adjust or turn off Apple Intelligence

You can tailor Apple Intelligence to the features you actually use.

• Turn off individual features, such as notification summaries, in Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri or in the relevant app's notification settings.
• Change how Siri starts, by voice or by the side button, in the Siri options on the same screen. Type to Siri is useful in quiet places.
• Turn Apple Intelligence off completely with the main switch. Siri keeps working in its basic form, and turning it off can free the storage the models use.

Privacy: what happens to your data

Apple says most Apple Intelligence requests are processed on the iPhone itself. When a request needs a larger model, it goes to Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, and Apple says that data is used only to answer the request and is not stored. Our beginner's guide to Apple Intelligence explains how the on-device and cloud parts fit together.

What to do next

Once Apple Intelligence is on, Writing Tools is the feature most people use every day. Our guide to writing and editing with Apple Intelligence shows how to get the most from it.

Frequently asked questions