On 14 September 2026 Apple released iOS 27 with the new generation of Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, its new assistant, in beta and in English. In the European Union Siri AI is not on iPhone and iPad, while apps can use the Foundation Models framework, including a model on Apple's servers that is free on specific conditions. If you have an iOS app, you need to decide which AI features to build now and which not to promise yet.
What arrived on 14 September
The new generation of Apple Intelligence runs on the device and on Apple's servers (Private Cloud Compute). According to Apple, the models are built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models. It needs an iPhone 15 Pro or later, or an iPad with an M1 chip or later (or an iPad mini with A17 Pro), with the device language and the Siri language the same and supported.
Siri AI is in beta and starts in English. For October Apple announces French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish; Italian is not among them. Apple's list of Apple Intelligence languages has 16 entries and includes Italian.
Siri AI in Europe
On 8 June Apple wrote that it could not ship Siri AI in the EU with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 because of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which, it says, would require giving any AI system almost unlimited access to the device. Apple says it proposed an intermediary system, the Trusted System Agent, to be introduced gradually over 18 months, and that the Commission accepted none of its proposals.
On 14 September Apple confirmed that in the EU Siri AI is not available, at least at first, on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS. On Mac and Apple Vision Pro (macOS 27 and visionOS 27) EU users can use it, and the other Apple Intelligence features remain available, such as advanced photo editing.
For the Commission, according to the Associated Press, spokesman Thomas Regnier said in Brussels on 9 June that the decision not to launch Siri AI is "Apple's and Apple's only": nothing in the DMA prohibits new products, and Apple, instead of looking for a compliant solution, asked for an 18-month exemption, which the Commission will not grant.
What apps can use
With the Foundation Models framework in iOS 27 the same code uses the on-device model, Apple's model on Private Cloud Compute and, through the LanguageModel protocol, third-party models (Apple says Anthropic and Google are publishing Swift packages).
| Route | Where it runs | What Apple says | When it makes sense (in our view) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple on-device model | On the iPhone, even offline | No request limit; accepts images | Summaries, classification, data extraction |
| Apple model on Private Cloud Compute | On Apple's servers, needs a connection | 32,768-token context; three reasoning levels; daily limit | Long texts, complex requests |
| A vendor's model | On the vendor's servers | Per-token cost and contract are the company's | Features that also work on Android |
The Private Cloud Compute model costs developers nothing if, according to Apple's page, they are enrolled in the App Store Small Business Program, have fewer than 2 million first-time downloads from their apps and have the Private Cloud Compute entitlement assigned to their account. If an app passes the threshold or the enrolment ends, Apple notifies the developer, who has 6 months to move to another solution. The page describes no paid option.
Each user has a daily limit, higher with iCloud+, and Apple does not state its value. The support page lists apps using Apple's models on Private Cloud Compute among the features that will get usage limits "in the future", and says greater access will be paid, with no price. The app has to work when the limit is reached and without Apple Intelligence: Apple recommends checking availability.
Siri and apps
An app makes itself reachable by Siri with the App Intents framework and predefined schemas for content and actions. Apple recommends testing in stages: AppIntentsTesting, Shortcuts, Spotlight, then Siri. But on 8 June Apple wrote that developers located in the EU will not be able to test or use the new Siri AI features for their apps on iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27.
What to do now
- The first figure to have is how many users have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence and the right language.
- Summaries and classification are best run first on the on-device model: in our view the feature must stay usable without Apple Intelligence. Apple advises choosing the model based on data, with the Evaluations framework.
- Before relying on Private Cloud Compute, the three conditions and the app's behaviour when the limit is reached need checking.
- The privacy notice has to say which texts stay on the device and which leave for a cloud.
What we do not know yet
- There is no date for Siri AI on iPhone and iPad in the EU, or for Italian.
- Apple does not say how long the model stays free, what the daily limit is or what greater access will cost. It does not explain whether the 2 million threshold applies per app or in total: it writes "any of their apps" and "any app".
- The sessions do not say whether the model for apps works the same way in the EU and in Italian: Apple only writes that it can be used where Apple Intelligence is available.
What we check first
If a client asks us for an AI feature in an iOS app, we propose a written analysis before any code. It starts from how many users have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence in the right language, how the feature behaves for everyone else and on Android, and Apple's conditions for the no-cost model.
SpaceClub, our nightlife platform, runs on iOS, Android and the web: a feature only for iPhone with Apple Intelligence would cover only part of its users. Foundation Models is a Swift framework, which a Flutter app would reach through native code. If the model has to live in the app without depending on Apple, Fluttorch, our open-source library, brings a PyTorch model into a Flutter app and stops the build if the export moves the results beyond the recorded tolerance.
We do not promise European clients features that depend on Siri AI on iPhone. We work from Italy, so the limit on developers in the EU applies to us too and we could not test them; we can check the rest with AppIntentsTesting, Shortcuts and Spotlight.
If you want us to look at your app or an idea for a new one, see how we work in mobile app development or get in touch.
Sources
- Apple Newsroom: Siri AI, a profoundly more capable and personal assistant, is here
- Apple Newsroom: Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 (8 June 2026)
- Associated Press (WTOP): Apple and Brussels blame each other for delaying European Union rollout of Siri AI (9 June 2026)
- Apple Support: How to get the next generation of Apple Intelligence
- Apple Support: Learn about Apple Intelligence usage limits
- Apple Developer: Accessing Private Cloud Compute
- Apple Developer (WWDC26): Build with the new Apple Foundation Model on Private Cloud Compute
- Apple Developer (WWDC26): What's new in the Foundation Models framework
- Apple Developer (WWDC26): Build intelligent Siri experiences with App Schemas
