Apple’s smartphone AI ambitions are gaining momentum, raising the question of whether the company could eventually lead the category despite arriving later than rivals. At present, Google’s Pixel line is widely regarded as the frontrunner in smartphone AI, but Apple has a track record of refining technologies it did not originally create.
The pattern is familiar. Apple did not invent the smartphone, yet it reshaped the category. It did not invent the MP3 player, but it improved on the concept. The same approach may now be applied to artificial intelligence, an area where Apple has been perceived as a late entrant.
Where the Google Pixel Currently Leads
The Google Pixel 11 is arguably the current benchmark for smartphone AI. It uses Gemini as its AI assistant and introduces a Rambler feature that cleans up voice dictation by removing filler words such as “Um” and “Ahh.” The Magic Capture tool reviews video footage, identifies the best still frames and extracts them automatically.
Additional Pixel capabilities include Magic Cue, first seen on the Pixel 10 series, which surfaces relevant information at the moment it is needed. Camera Coach, another AI-driven feature, improves photographs by advising on positioning, lighting, framing and layout.
How iOS 27 Strengthens Siri
Apple Intelligence did not launch smoothly, but progress has been evident. Since the iOS 27 beta became available in June following the WWDC 2026 keynote, Siri AI has shown clear improvement, although occasional issues remain, including cutting off before a prompt is finished or failing to capture a request accurately. Apple has been refining Siri with each successive beta release.
Several AI upgrades in iOS 27 centre on Siri. The assistant will be able to process content shown on screen in real time. It will also work across a range of apps, drawing on email, texts, calendar entries, photos, notes, reminders, maps, wallet, Safari, Phone and FaceTime to locate requested information.
Siri will additionally be able to access selected third-party apps such as Uber Eats, Gmail and Delta Airlines. Users will be able to ask questions such as “What time is my Delta flight arriving in New York?” and Siri will retrieve the relevant flight details from a confirmation email or a message in the Messages app.
Once it has the flight number, Siri will check live flight status to calculate an up-to-date arrival time. In iOS 27, Siri will also be able to advise exactly when to leave for the airport from the current location in order to catch the flight on time, drawing on email, texts and real-time flight status changes to reach its answer.
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