iOS 26.5 beta arrives with no Gemini-powered AI features as focus shifts to iOS 27

It’s safe to say that the Gemini-powered Siri and Apple Intelligence features won’t arrive in beta this month. iOS 26.5 beta 1 was released right on schedule. However, the upgraded AI features are not included.

No new Siri and Apple Intelligence features in iOS 26.5

To recap, Apple announced Apple Intelligence in June 2024. It shipped a lot of the features it showed off as part of iOS 18.1, iOS 18.2, iOS 18.3, and iOS 18.4.

Personal Intelligence, however, never made the iOS 18 release cycle. Neither did the kind of in-app action and on-screen awareness features that Apple originally announced.

iOS 26 came after iOS 18 as Apple changed the versioning system to reference the year ahead.

Now it looks like iOS 27 may be the first time we see Gemini-powered Siri and Apple Intelligence features.

Today’s iOS 26.5 beta 1 includes no new Siri and Apple Intelligence features. Apple could still surprise us in a future beta, but all signs point to putting everything inside iOS 27.

The first iOS 27 beta is a little over two months away. Still, if Apple felt like its Gemini-powered features would be in good shape before iOS 27.0’s release in September, an update to iOS 26 could deliver them before fall.

The issue may just be that Apple wants more time to continue developing these new features. Instead, it’s putting all its AI cards on the table with iOS 27, it seems.

Upgraded Siri and Apple Intelligence are coming this year

Apple officially delayed its “more personalized” version of Siri one year ago on March 7, 2025. This is what Apple said at the time:

“Siri helps our users find what they need and get things done quickly, and in just the past six months, we’ve made Siri more conversational, introduced new features like type to Siri and product knowledge, and added an integration with ChatGPT. We’ve also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps. It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”

Apple skillfully deployed the phrase “in the coming year” to mean that last year’s announcement wouldn’t be ready until next year at the earliest.

Then on January 12, 2026, Apple and Google made a joint announcement that the two companies were collaborating on a Gemini-powered upgrade to Siri and Apple Intelligence:

“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.

After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.”

Apple reportedly targeted iOS 26.4 for the first Gemini-powered enhancements. Prior to iOS 26.4’s first developer beta release, however, Mark Gurman correctly reported for Bloomberg that Apple wouldn’t make the iOS 26.4 release:

After planning to include the new capabilities in iOS 26.4 — an operating system update slated for March — Apple is now working to spread them out over future versions, according to people familiar with the matter. That would mean possibly postponing at least some features until at least iOS 26.5, due in May, and iOS 27, which comes out in September.

Gurman suggested that Personal Intelligence was most likely to slip until iOS 27. Now it seems anything related to Gemini might not make the iOS 26 timeline.

This month’s iOS 26.4 release may be Apple’s last big software update before shifting focus to iOS 27 in June and releasing the finished version in September.

WWDC 2026 is set to kick off on June 8 at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.