Apple could allow Siri to be replaced by Claude or ChatGPT on iPhone and Mac

A reverse engineer who identifies himself as pdfu (known as mactracker on the MacRumors forums) has uncovered a hidden feature in the latest versions of iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate, both already rolling out, suggesting that Apple is preparing the option to replace Siri with third-party AI models, such as Claude, on iPhone and Mac. According to this research, Apple has designed a new architecture for Siri that includes a private Extensions Framework, with a dedicated section in Settings where users could choose which AI model they want to use as the default engine for tasks such as writing or image generation.

Under that scheme, Siri would not disappear but would act as an intermediary: it would receive the user's voice or text commands and redirect them to the chosen AI provider. The tipster describes two different mechanisms for achieving this. The first is a Model Delegation API, which allows external models such as Claude to work as an extension of Siri, similar to how ChatGPT's native integration already works within Siri's model selector.

To demonstrate it, pdfu opened the 'Search or Ask' bar on a Mac, selected Claude in the 'Ask' menu and asked Siri to have Claude create a reminder in the Reminders app. Since that task involved accessing a system app with privacy implications, it was ultimately Siri that executed it once Claude had processed and interpreted the request. In another demonstration, however, Claude went so far as to directly create a CSV file from a natural-language voice command, something Siri itself still cannot do, as it does not process CSV or other similar file formats.

The second mechanism identified, broader in scope, relies on a component called Model Manager Services within iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate, which would allow an inference provider to directly replace Siri's AI on the server side with a third-party service. The tipster mentions GPT-5.6 as one such possible provider, although Apple has not confirmed this. Under this scheme, the external model would process the prompt and prepare the response before handing it to Siri, which would present it through its own visual or voice interface; if it is a task rather than a simple query, the external model processes the request and passes it to Siri, which ultimately executes it following the user's instructions.

For now, this model selection is part of the iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate code, but it is not enabled or available to users. The article notes that the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) explicitly requires AI assistants built into devices to let users choose among several models, which suggests it is only a matter of time before Apple officially opens Siri to external providers.

It is worth stressing that these are reverse-engineering findings on code that has not been publicly activated, not an official Apple announcement, so details such as which specific models will be available, in which markets or under what conditions remain unconfirmed.