Apple has officially unveiled macOS 27 Golden Gate, the next major update for the Mac, bringing Apple’s next-generation Apple Intelligence platform to compatible devices. The update introduces an all-new Siri AI assistant, major upgrades to apps including Safari, Photos, Messages, Mail and Calendar, as well as expanded child safety features, design refinements and performance improvements throughout the operating system.
Golden Gate continues Apple’s tradition of naming macOS releases after iconic Californian landmarks. Among the headline additions are Siri AI, a completely redesigned version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, new AI-powered tools across Apple’s apps, enhanced photo editing capabilities, smarter web browsing in Safari, and new automation features that make it easier to get things done on a Mac.
macOS 27 will be supported on all Macs powered by Apple silicon, marking the end of the road for Intel-based Macs. While Intel models are no longer eligible for the new operating system, Apple is expected to continue providing security updates for those devices for some time.
The developer and public betas of macOS 27 are available now. Following several months of testing, Apple is expected to release the finished version to all users this autumn. This hub covers everything Apple has announced for macOS 27 Golden Gate, including new features, compatibility details, beta release information, Apple Intelligence enhancements and the all-new Siri AI experience.
Apple’s biggest focus in macOS 27 Golden Gate is Siri AI, a completely redesigned version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. Rather than functioning as a simple voice assistant, Siri AI is designed to act as a conversational AI assistant that can answer questions, understand personal information, access web knowledge, and perform actions across apps and services.
Conversational AI assistant: Siri AI will be far more capable than previous versions of Siri, according to Apple, allowing users to ask open-ended questions, brainstorm ideas, conduct research, and hold natural back-and-forth conversations rather than relying on simple voice commands.
Dedicated Siri app: macOS 27 will offer a standalone Siri app that stores conversations in one place and sync them across Apple devices through iCloud. For example, users could start a conversation on their Mac and continue it later on their iPhone or iPad.
Personal context awareness: Siri will be able to understand information stored across your messages, emails, notes, photos and files. Apple says Siri will be able to locate specific information, find content you’ve saved in the past, and surface relevant details based on your personal data.
Web-powered answers: Unlike previous versions of Siri, Siri AI will be able to access up-to-date information from the web to answer questions on virtually any topic. Apple says it will be able to help with research, interview preparation, learning new subjects and gathering information quickly.
App actions and automation: Siri AI will be able to take action across apps including Messages, Music, Reminders and more. Users will be able to edit messages, manage playlists, create reminders and perform other tasks using natural language rather than navigating menus manually.
Spotlight integration: Siri AI will be built directly into Spotlight Search on macOS. Users will be able to type questions into Spotlight, receive AI-generated answers, and launch Siri-powered searches without opening a separate app or switching to a web browser.
Visual Intelligence on Mac: For the first time, Visual Intelligence is coming to macOS. Users will be able to select content on screen and ask Siri questions about images, files, documents and text, allowing the assistant to understand and respond to onscreen content.
Integrated Writing Tools: Siri AI will generate text from scratch, rewrite drafts, summarise content and refine existing writing. Apple says it will even adapt its tone, wording and punctuation to match how users typically communicate with individual contacts.
Improved dictation: Apple says it will significantly upgrade systemwide dictation with better speech recognition. Dictation will automatically add punctuation, capitalisation and formatting while improving accuracy, making it easier to turn spoken words into polished text.
Custom Siri voices: Users will be able to personalise Siri by selecting a voice and adjusting its pace and expressiveness. Apple says this allows Siri to sound more natural and better suited to individual preferences, although the feature requires newer Apple silicon hardware.
