iOS 27 code shows you may be able to replace Siri AI with Claude or ChatGPT [Poll]

iOS 27 Code Shows You May Be Able to Replace Siri AI With Claude or ChatGPT

Private frameworks in iOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate indicate Apple has built Siri to work with third-party AI models at a considerably deeper level than the existing ChatGPT integration.

The findings come from developer "pdfu," who published video demonstrations showing Claude operating inside Siri's interface. None of it is switched on yet.

Two Separate Mechanisms

What has been found breaks into two distinct capabilities, and conflating them is where most coverage goes wrong.

The first is Model Delegation, which lets a third-party model appear as a Siri extension in the same way ChatGPT does today. In the demonstration, a macOS user brings up the "Search or Ask" bar and selects Claude through an "Ask..." contextual menu. Responses appear prefixed with the word "Claude" but otherwise look exactly like the standard Siri AI interface.

The second is the ability to replace Siri AI's server backend with a third-party model entirely — a more substantial change than routing individual queries.

Both use private hooks through the Model Delegation API in App Intents. Apple has not opened the model delegation entitlement to third parties, and none of it is user-facing.

What the Demo Actually Shows

The interaction pattern in pdfu's video is the interesting part.

The user enables the Claude extension and asks Siri to "Ask Claude" to set a reminder in Apple's Reminders app. Claude interprets the natural language request, then Siri creates the reminder.

That handoff is the architecture in miniature. When a request needs access to an Apple system feature, the third-party model passes the task back to Siri rather than touching the system directly.

A second example shows Claude receiving a request in a Siri conversation window to create a CSV file — something Siri cannot do on its own.

Both demonstrations appear to be running on a Mac rather than an iPhone.

Siri Stays in Charge

The design decision underneath all of this is that Siri remains the orchestration layer. Third-party providers do not take over the interface or replace Siri wholesale. They operate as specialised backends Siri calls on, with Siri answering first and deciding what to pass along.

That matters for the "replace Siri" framing in most headlines. Even under the most open version of this system, you are choosing which model handles the reasoning, not removing Apple from the loop.

It also explains how Apple squares this with its usual privacy and security objections to third-party system access. A model that must hand every system action back to Siri never gets direct access to your data or your device.

The Regulatory Angle

The Digital Markets Act is almost certainly shaping this.

The DMA requires Apple to give third parties effective access to iOS hardware and software features available to Apple's own services, and the European Commission has specifically said the principle extends to Siri.

That raises the real possibility that model delegation ships only in the EU, as has happened with several other Apple accommodations. If so, the feature would exist in the code globally while being enabled for a fraction of users.

There is an irony worth noting: Apple has confirmed Siri AI is delayed in the European Union on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 under DMA-related constraints, with no published timeline. macOS 27 is unaffected. So the region most likely to get model choice is currently the one without the feature it would apply to.

Where Things Actually Stand

A lot of guides have been published describing menus that do not exist. Worth separating the layers.

What works today: the ChatGPT extension, shipping since iOS 18.2 in 2024. Saying "Ask ChatGPT" to Siri skips the confirmation prompt, which is Apple's own documented behaviour. Anthropic also ships an App Intent, so "Ask Claude" functions as a route into the Claude app.

What exists in code but is disabled: model delegation for third parties beyond ChatGPT. In the macOS 27 Golden Gate Release Candidate, the "Ask..." implementation is limited to ChatGPT. Claude is not selectable.

What has been reported but not announced: Apple has not made a newsroom announcement about third-party Siri extensions. The story traces to Bloomberg reporting and strings found in betas. MacRumors reported in May that Apple had signed a Gemini deal for Apple Intelligence while also planning to let users choose alternatives.

Why Apple Might Actually Want This

The competitive logic cuts in Apple's favour more than it first appears.

Siri has been the weakest part of Apple's product line for years, and the gap against frontier models is not one Apple closes quickly. Letting users bring their own model keeps those users on iPhone instead of watching them evaluate alternatives.

It also creates external pressure on Apple's own Siri development in a way internal roadmaps do not. If a meaningful share of users switch to Claude or Gemini, that becomes a measurable signal rather than an abstract complaint.

The cost is that Apple gives up the assistant as a differentiator. Whether that trade looks good depends on how confident Apple is that it can catch up — and building the interoperability plumbing this thoroughly suggests the answer is: not quickly.

The Caveats

If and when this ships, a few things will not change.

Setting ChatGPT or Claude as your default does not unlock their paid features. Free tier limits still apply, and heavy use will hit them.

Apple Intelligence hardware requirements still apply — iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 or newer.

And you get one default, not a collection. Users who want to compare models across a task will still be better served by a multi-model app than by the system-level setting.

For now, none of it is activatable. It is visible in code, demonstrated in video, and waiting on a decision Apple has not made publicly.