Siri AI hints at new iPhone 18 Pro design change

Siri

iOS 27

iPhone 18 Pro

iPhone 18 Pro Max

Siri AI is available now in the iOS 27 beta after you get off the waitlist, and it includes a not-so-subtle hint about a design change that’s rumored for this fall’s iPhone 18 Pro.

Siri AI’s shape in iOS 27 supports rumors of reduced Dynamic Island coming with iPhone 18 Pro

This fall’s iPhone 18 Pro is expected to have a very similar design to last year’s iPhone 17 Pro, including the full-width camera plateau, aluminum unibody, and more.

But a trio of new design updates are rumored nonetheless.

One of those changes is a smaller Dynamic Island. It could be about 35% smaller than last year’s cutout.

And the new Siri AI design in iOS 27 beta 1 seems to provide confirmation that a smaller Dynamic Island is indeed coming this fall.

Siri AI on current iPhones has an unusual ovular shape, as seen above. But on iPad and Mac, as shown below, Siri’s design uses the more classic orb shape.

This discrepancy strongly hints that Siri AI will similarly look like a sphere on iPhone 18 Pro and other new models that have a smaller Dynamic Island.

Top comment by OrangeFish

Wut. All things might be true but I don't see how they hint at anything.

Apple wanted to go back to an orb - probably for many reasons including it just working better on all platforms than a giant glow around the screen. I could argue VisionOS, with its "infinite display", is the reason Apple is going back to Orb.

Siri is built into Dynamic Island because swipe down from the island makes for a good gesture. Siri is not an orb because DI is too wide and would make a giant orb that clips the top of the screen.

Dynamic Island will shrink.

Dynamic Island shrinking may afford for Siri to be an smaller orb on future iPhone hardware.

None of these things confirm each other or hint at the other. They are just separate things.

Essentially, Apple wants to make sure the new Siri design integrates the full width of the Dynamic Island. It would likely look strange if it didn’t.

But on current iPhones, that means stretching Siri into a wide oval—more of a pill shape.

Apple designed the new Siri with the iPhone 18 Pro/Max in mind, as with the rumored smaller Dynamic Island it's a perfect orb

This explains why it's not a pill in iPadOS and MacOS pic.twitter.com/SpyOCxDxPa

— Lorenzo (@loreciac) June 12, 2026

Apple designed the new Siri with the iPhone 18 Pro/Max in mind, as with the rumored smaller Dynamic Island it's a perfect orb

This explains why it's not a pill in iPadOS and MacOS pic.twitter.com/SpyOCxDxPa

If you buy a new iPhone this fall though, you’ll get to see Siri AI as it was intended, just like it appears now on iPad and Mac.

What do you think of Siri AI’s new design in iOS 27? Let us know in the comments.

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Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.