How to Change Siri’s Voice

The upcoming release of iOS 27 has generated buzz about Apple’s attempt to revamp its AI assistant, Siri. While some view this as a major overhaul, others see it as a lukewarm response to Google and Samsung’s deployment of advanced agentic AI features. The truth lies somewhere in between.

One significant improvement touted by Apple is the introduction of “expressive voice” for Siri. This feature promises to make Siri’s voice more natural-sounding, but with a caveat: only those with the latest hardware will be able to fully customize their experience. Devices such as the iPhone 17 Pro, Pro Max, and Air, as well as iPads with an M4 chip or newer and 12GB of RAM, will get access to this feature.

The expressive voice feature is more about providing users with control over Siri’s delivery than offering new voice varieties. Users can adjust the pace and expressiveness of Siri’s voice but won’t necessarily get more voices to choose from in the current menu. This raises questions about what exactly this feature is supposed to achieve.

Users can already change Siri’s voice or tweak its responses on current versions of iOS and iPadOS by heading to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Voice, where they’ll find a range of options available for selection. Some features may require a stable internet connection until they’re fully downloaded.

However, users who don’t have the latest hardware will be left behind in terms of Apple’s AI ambitions. iPhones going back to the SE second generation and iPhone 11 will receive the iOS 27 update, but the degree of Apple Intelligence features will vary. This patchwork approach is likely to leave some users feeling frustrated.

Apple’s move is an attempt to play catch-up with its competitors in the agentic AI space. While Google and Samsung have been pushing the boundaries of what AI assistants can do, Apple has been lagging behind. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – sometimes it takes someone to shake things up before we realize how far we’ve come.

A closer look at the various features available for tweaking Siri’s behavior reveals that some users may not even need iOS 27 to get more control over their AI assistant. The Accessibility menu within Settings offers several adjustable options, including Speaking Rate, Siri Pause Time, and Spoken Responses. Apple is trying to provide users with a range of tools to customize their experience, but the limitations imposed by hardware constraints will likely leave some users feeling shortchanged.

Ultimately, this move by Apple raises more questions than it answers. Will the expressive voice feature be enough to make Siri more appealing to users? Or will it simply be another example of the tech giant’s tendency to focus on aesthetics over substance? Only time – and user feedback – will tell.