Latest iOS 27 Beta Lets Users Personalise Siri Voice with Pace and Expressivity Controls

Apple is giving developers an early opportunity to try new customisation features for its AI-powered Siri with the latest iOS 27 developer beta. Released today as iOS 27 beta 3, the update activates the long-awaited Pace and Expressivity voice controls, which were previously marked as “Coming soon” in earlier developer beta releases.

The addition is part of Apple’s broader effort to transform Siri into a more natural and personalised AI assistant as it continues rebuilding the service around generative artificial intelligence. Like other conversational AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Apple is placing greater emphasis on allowing users to customise how the assistant sounds, making interactions feel more personal and engaging.

Even so, OpenAI currently offers a wider range of voice customisation for ChatGPT. In December 2025, the company introduced controls that allow users to adjust factors such as warmth and enthusiasm, as well as broader personality settings. Those options let users choose conversational styles ranging from friendly and professional to candid or quirky, affecting not only the assistant’s voice but also how information is presented in conversations.

Apple first introduced Siri’s expanded voice controls during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 26) in June. Rather than simply selecting between male- or female-sounding voices, users can now choose from multiple voices featuring different accents and then fine-tune two additional settings.

The new Pace control lets users decide how quickly or slowly Siri speaks, while the Expressivity slider adjusts the level of emotion and human-like expression in the assistant’s voice.

As users experiment with these settings, Siri provides spoken sample phrases—such as “You have one new message”—so they can immediately hear how different combinations of voice, pace, and expressiveness sound before finalising their preferences.

The upgraded AI-powered version of Siri is deeply integrated throughout iOS 27. Users can interact with the assistant in several ways, including speaking directly, typing after swiping down from the Dynamic Island, pressing the iPhone’s side button, or launching conversations through Apple’s newly introduced standalone Siri application.

In addition to the new Siri voice controls, iOS 27 beta 3 includes several smaller updates, including a redesigned icon for the Reminders app.

Some early beta testers have also reported unexpected behaviour following the update. According to posts shared on X, several users temporarily lost access to the new AI-powered Siri after installing the latest beta. In contrast, others noticed their iPhones beginning another round of device indexing. This process typically occurs as the system prepares and optimises on-device data for Siri’s AI-powered search capabilities.