Bloomberg News reporter Mark GurmanThe latest issue of the Power On columnIt was revealed that Apple expects to...This year's releases of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27In the meantime, Apple is undertaking a complete overhaul of Siri. In addition to launching the first standalone Siri app, it will introduce a new mechanism called "Extensions" and even set up a dedicated AI marketplace in the App Store. This means that Apple is no longer insisting on a closed, single assistant user experience, but is preparing to transform the system's underlying layer into the "ultimate entry point" for various AI models (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude).
Standalone Siri App: From Voice Control to an All-in-One Chatbot
For over a decade, Siri has existed as a voice assistant "hidden in the system background." However, Mark Gurman points out that Apple is internally testing a standalone "Siri App."
• Dual-mode interaction:Users can not only wake up Siri with their voice, but also interact deeply with it through pure text input.
• Dialogue history:This standalone app will allow users to access their historical conversations with Siri. Its overall operating logic and interface will be highly comparable to the mainstream ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude Apps currently on the market, giving the AI assistant "long-term memory" and the ability to connect different contexts.
"Expanded Functionality" Mechanism: The App Store is Coming Soon with an AI Zone
Since iOS 18.2 opened up Siri connectivity with ChatGPT, Apple has clearly tasted the benefits of an open ecosystem. In the internal beta settings of iOS 27, Mark Gurman discovered a key description: "Extensions allow agents in installed apps to work in conjunction with Siri, the Siri app, and other features on the device."
• A large influx of third-party models has entered the market.This mechanism will allow more third-party chatbots and AI agents to be deeply integrated into Apple's system.
• Exclusive AI Marketplace:To support this massive ecosystem, the App Store will establish a dedicated "Extensions" section, which is essentially a software marketplace tailored for third-party AI integration services, allowing users to freely expand Siri's capabilities.
System-level interface redesign: Apple Intelligence is everywhere
In addition to the openness of its underlying logic, Siri's external presentation will also undergo a major upgrade:
• Deep integration of dynamic islands:Siri's visual interface will be redesigned, with a focus on closer interaction and animation with Dynamic Island.
• System-level wake-up button:Apple will fully integrate the "Ask Siri" button into its native apps and add a "Write with Siri" button above the virtual keyboard, making AI text generation and editing features readily available.
Analysis of viewpoints
As can be seen from Mark Gurman's statement, Apple's strategy for iOS 27 (expected to be released as a developer preview at WWDC in June this year and officially released in September) is a perfect replication of the successful formula of "App Store changing smartphones" back then, except that this time the battlefield has changed to "AI agents".
Apple is well aware that relying solely on its own trained basic models makes it difficult to simultaneously outperform OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in all specialized fields (such as coding, long text analysis, and industry-specific logic). Therefore, Apple has chosen to step back and become an "infrastructure provider" and "traffic distributor." By launching the standalone Siri app and an add-on marketplace, Apple has made iOS devices the world's largest distribution platform for AI applications. In the future, users won't need to switch between various AI apps; Siri will become the single super-manager, responsible for assigning user tasks to the most suitable third-party AI add-ons.
However, this epic update still leaves one question unanswered: will these deep Siri refactoring and expansion features be rolled out to all devices supporting iOS 27, or will they remain strictly limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and later models with sufficient NPU computing power? Considering Apple's consistent business strategy of driving hardware upgrades through software, this brand-new "AI Marketplace" experience is very likely to become the most compelling sales point at this fall's new iPhone launch event.
