A new Siri is on the horizon, and we're getting a better look -- literally -- at how Apple's new AI assistant will appear and perform when it's unveiled later this year.

In a new report from Bloomberg, the news outlet created illustrations showing how Siri could look with the launch of iOS 27, the updated operating system for iPhones. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also outlined how people will be able to use Siri, which will pivot from a reactive assistant (for single, linear tasks) to an AI-agentic chatbot, capable of managing complex workflows without needing step-by-step guidance. 

Apple is scheduled to launch iOS 27 in mid-September and could discuss the updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled for June 8-12.

"The images are based on information viewed by Bloomberg and people with knowledge of the company's plans who asked not to be identified because the software isn't yet public," Gurman wrote.

An Apple representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri will look, feel and function differently after iOS 27 launches. It will live inside the Dynamic Island, always available to help iPhone users answer questions and perform tasks in the operating system and apps, Gurman said.

The Dynamic Island is a wide, pill-shaped region at the top of the home screen on certain iPhone models where you can see system alerts, apps running in the background, and track ride shares and food delivery. The Dynamic Island is available on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max and all models of the iPhone 15, 16 and 17.

You'll be able to launch Siri on iPhone in different ways, Gurman said. The original way -- saying "hey Siri" or holding down the power button -- will activate a Siri animation in the Dynamic Island and is still ideal for voice queries and search.

The second way to launch Siri is entirely new. By swiping down from the top center of the iPhone to launch a Search or Ask interface, you can either type or speak your question or command. When Siri responds, the results will appear in a text card that pops up from the Dynamic Island. You can swipe down further to initiate a conversation with the Siri chatbot, Gurman said.

In the Search or Ask field, iPhone users will be able to choose other AI agents to handle their queries, Gurman said. A drop-down menu of AI agents, such as ChatGPT or Gemini, will appear when people click a button. Apple has a partnership with OpenAI for ChatGPT and has also tested integrating Gemini and Anthropic's Claude with Siri, Gurman said.

The new Search or Ask array will also include a weather panel and Siri Suggestions, which are already on iPhones and typically show eight of your most used apps, Gurman said.

The Notification Center isn't going away, Gurman said. Right now, you can access it by swiping down from the top left or the top center, but with iOS 27, you'll get it only by swiping down from the top left.

The new Siri app abilities

As reported before, Siri will no longer be limited to answering rudimentary questions or performing typical tasks, such as calling someone or operating smart home devices. The new Siri will be much more AI-capable, partly using Google Gemini technology, to search the web and analyze on-screen content, Gurman said.

There will also be a dedicated Siri app, following in the footsteps of other phone AI apps such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.

According to Gurman, the home screen of the Siri app will display a conversation history, allowing you to return to previous chats. You'll be able to use voice or text to converse with Siri, and also upload documents and photos for Siri to analyze.

Siri will show rich text cards for people who ask for news, weather forecasts and sports scores, but will also show results based on the person's data, such as text messages, emails, appointments and more, Gurman said.

Gurman said that Siri will be able to write emails or text messages based on information from the internet and your device. Siri will also be able to scan your appointment calendar to let you know when you're booked or available.

Siri will also be integrated into the iPhone's camera app, Gurman said, enabling people to have them analyzed by a different AI agent or via a Google search, as they can now with Google Lens.

Siri reportedly won't do it all

In another report from The Information, Apple will use WWDC to show how well iPhones can process many AI queries on-device, without relying entirely on external data centers and the cloud, thanks to the chips used in iPhones, Macs and Apple Watches.

However, Siri won't be able to handle all AI queries, the report said. The more complex ones will be farmed out to Gemini, which CNET has reported on before. This two-pronged approach will help Apple show that it values customer privacy through on-device AI functionality and also save money by not having to build huge data centers, The Information report said.

The report said that Google's Gemini will train a smaller AI model that can run on Apple devices.