Siri AI Arrives with iOS 27 as an English Beta: What Can iPhone Users in Taiwan Use?

On September 14, 2026, Apple released iOS 27 along with its other new operating system versions, and began rolling out Siri AI as a beta. Apple describes Siri AI as a rebuilt Siri powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence. Five days earlier, on September 9, 2026, Apple announced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with the A20 Pro chip. Taiwan was in the first wave, with pre-orders opening at 8 p.m. Taiwan time on September 12 and availability starting September 18.

This article was fact-checked on September 15, 2026, against Apple's US and Taiwan Newsrooms, the support article “How to get Siri AI,” and Apple Taiwan's iOS feature availability page. Siri AI is currently a beta and supports English first; Apple says French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish are expected to be added in October. Apple has not listed a timeline for Siri AI in Traditional Chinese. Mokaair has not tried Siri AI: the feature descriptions below are Apple's claims, and the travel scenario is an example designed by our editors.

What Siri AI Is: The Four Capabilities Apple Lists

In its September 14 press release, Apple groups Siri AI's capabilities into four areas: personal context understanding, broad world knowledge, onscreen awareness, and even more systemwide app actions. The support article is more specific. Personal context lets Siri find information across apps such as Messages, Mail, Calendar, Notes, and Reminders; onscreen awareness means asking about, or taking action on, what is on the screen; and app actions include sending messages and creating events.

Apple is also launching a standalone Siri app that syncs conversation history through iCloud, so a conversation can be picked up on another device. On iPhone, besides saying “Hey Siri,” users can press the side button or swipe down from the Dynamic Island to start a conversation, and the Camera app gains a Siri mode for asking about what is in front of you. Apple's third-party examples are sending a message with WhatsApp and playing an audiobook in Audible. It says actions in Microsoft Outlook, Notability, and Tripsy are coming “soon,” which means they were not yet available on launch day.

Apple also states that certain features relying on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits, and Siri AI is one of them. The limits vary with factors such as the feature, the complexity of the request, and system demand, and expanded usage will be offered for a fee in the future. Siri AI is not available to users under 13.

What You Can Use in Traditional Chinese After Updating to iOS 27

iOS 27 is a free software update. Apple Taiwan's Newsroom lists 16 supported languages for Apple Intelligence, and Traditional Chinese is one of them. But that is the language list for Apple Intelligence, not for Siri AI. On an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, setting both the device language and the Siri language to Traditional Chinese gives you some features of the next-generation Apple Intelligence after the update, while Siri AI currently supports only English.

Apple Taiwan's iOS feature availability page lists supported languages feature by feature. New features that appear under Traditional Chinese include Spatial Reframing and Extend in Photos, Group tabs into topics and Notify me in Safari, Describe an event in Calendar, Describe a shortcut in Shortcuts, and Call Context in Phone, which shows a confirmation code or reservation number when you call a business. Suggestions in Mail, however, is currently listed for English only.

On the same page, the Siri AI entry says it is available in English and not available in the China mainland or the European Union, and Expressive Voices lists only English (United Kingdom) and English (United States). Taiwan is not listed as an excluded region, but that does not mean Apple has confirmed Siri AI works for Taiwan accounts; region requirements are covered in the next section. Apple also notes that some features may not be available in every region or in every language.

Trying Siri AI: Devices, Language Settings, and the Waitlist

Apple's support article lists the iPhone requirements as iOS 27 on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 models or later, or iPhone Air. The device list in the September 14 press release does not name iPhone Air separately, so the two sources are inconsistent; this article follows the support article. In addition, the device language and Siri language must be set to the same supported language, and Siri AI currently supports only English. Your Apple Account must also be in an “eligible region,” and the support article neither lists those regions nor says whether Taiwan is included.

To turn it on, update your device, go to Settings, tap Siri, then tap Try Siri AI (Beta); if Siri is turned off, you need to turn on Siri first. Then follow the onscreen instructions to pick a voice, complete voice enrollment, and review your privacy settings. Apple states that this adds you to a waitlist, that wait times can vary, and that Siri AI downloads automatically only once your wait is over, so tapping the option does not mean you can use it right away.

Language settings are the biggest trade-off for users in Taiwan. Because the device language and Siri language must match, using Siri AI means switching the entire iPhone interface to English, not just Siri, and the features in the previous section's table will also run under English settings. Apple has not said whether Siri AI set to English can handle Chinese messages and emails, so people who mainly communicate in Chinese may want to think it through before deciding.

Who Handles Your Personal Data: Reading Apple's Own Words

Siri AI's convenience comes from reading personal data, so it is worth checking first where that data is processed. In its press release, Apple says Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute to help protect privacy. It adds that when Private Cloud Compute processes a request, users' personal data is not stored or made accessible to Apple or anyone else, and that outside experts can continue to verify this commitment.

Apple also explains that Siri AI uses the system orchestrator to tap into core capabilities such as the Spotlight index and App Toolbox, which work entirely on device. The press release adds that the next-generation Apple Foundation Models were built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models, and that the models run on device and on servers using Private Cloud Compute. This is Apple's description, and Mokaair cannot independently verify it.

What users can do themselves is actually read the privacy settings during setup instead of tapping Next all the way through, and keep in mind that Apple lists Siri AI among the features that rely on server-side models and have daily usage limits. Earlier this year we covered Google's Personal Intelligence; the two companies' privacy explanations should not be read as interchangeable, so check each against its own official documentation.

Asking About Bookings While Traveling: An Editorial Scenario and the Limits of a Beta

The following is an example designed by our editors, not a hands-on test. Suppose your account region is eligible, you have set your iPhone to English, and Siri AI has finished downloading. Before leaving for Osaka, your hotel confirmation is in Mail, the meeting time a friend sent you is in Messages, and your flight is in Calendar. Based on Apple's description of personal context understanding, you could ask in English about your check-in date or meeting place and have Siri AI look across these apps; with a hotel's web page open, you could also ask about what is on the screen.

Apple does not define the scope of the beta on the pages above. Generally speaking, a beta is a version still being tested: answers may be wrong, and features and rules may change. For information that affects your trip, such as booking codes, dates, and terminals, open the original email to confirm rather than relying on a summary. As for Call Context, which shows information such as a reservation number when you call a hotel, it is listed under Traditional Chinese on the feature availability page, so on a supported device you do not need to switch to English for it.

Frequent travelers may also find this useful: Apple's support article says that after you turn on Siri AI, it continues to work when you travel to other regions. Two other notes are written for residents: in the European Union, Siri AI is not available on iOS, iPadOS, or watchOS; and when the Apple Account region is in China mainland, Siri AI currently does not work.

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