Here's how you can get iOS 27 on your iPhone today – this free upgrade will transform your phone

Apple has released the full version of iOS 27 for the iPhone. While the public beta of iOS 27 has been available since July, this is now the final finished version, which means it's freely available for everyone to upgrade – as long as you have a compatible handset.

As long as you have an iPhone 11 or newer, including the iPhone SE 2nd generation, then iOS 27 will work on your handset. That means phones up to seven years old can benefit from a range of new features.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will ship with iOS 27 when they go on sale on Friday 18 September. For older phones, however, you will need to go into your settings to accept the upgrade for the time being.

How to upgrade to iOS 27

To try it for yourself, simply go to Settings > General > Software Update. You may see two options, the first to upgrade to iOS 26.7, and then lower down, an option to upgrade to iOS 27. You don't need to upgrade to iOS 26.7 first, you can just select the iOS 27 option.

Even though this is a full release, it's still recommended to do a backup of your phone before you start the update. This can be done using your iCloud Backup, or by connecting your phone to your computer.

You'll ideally want to have your phone plugged in to a power source and using WiFi before starting the update too. The iOS 27 download is just under 23GB in size, so will take a long time over a data connection.

What are the big changes on iOS 27?

The big change with iOS 27 is the introduction of the new Siri AI, the next generation of Apple's voice assistant, which now goes way beyond just voice control. Siri AI is integrated into every part of iOS 27, providing contextual responses and suggestions to make tasks quicker and easier.

The voice responses have a more conversational tone and allow follow-up questions or it to take the context of what you're doing at the time. Siri AI is now also available in its own app, which means you can review past conversations and pick them up again at any time.

Siri AI will also provide quick actions for you to help speed up tasks. for instance, in messaging it may offer to set a reminder or a calendar event for something you're planning. Meanwhile, the call context can bring up booking references from emails while you're calling your hotel or enquiring about a flight.

Other big changes include improvements to the photo editing features, with new extend and reframe features, as well as an improved image cleanup, to help you remove unwanted elements of a picture. Image Playground has also been expanded to offer more features.

Liquid Glass has an a refresh and there are stronger child safety features, so you can control exactly what your kids access on their phones.

Full list of compatible models

iPhone 17 Pro Max
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone Air
iPhone 17
iPhone 17e
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16
iPhone 16e
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11
iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)

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As T3's Editor-in-Chief, Mat Gallagher has his finger on the pulse for the latest advances in technology. He has written about technology since 2003 and after stints in Beijing, Hong Kong and Chicago is now based in the UK. He’s a true lover of gadgets, but especially anything that involves cameras, Apple, electric cars, musical instruments or travel.