Apple Put Its Biggest iOS 27 Feature Behind a Settings Waitlist

I've been waiting for Apple to do something real with AI for years. They promoted iOS 27 like the big moment, especially the new Siri. So I downloaded the update expecting it to just be there.

It wasn't. I had to go into Settings, find the Siri AI option, and then put myself on a waitlist for the beta. If I hadn't already been looking for it, I would have had no reason to know it was there. People who are not following Apple's AI news could install iOS 27, use their phone normally, and never even realize the feature they were promised is sitting behind an opt-in screen.

That is what makes no sense to me. Why call Siri AI one of the biggest changes in the whole update if users have to hunt through Settings and ask for access? I understand testing a beta, but then Apple should say the feature is coming to iOS 27 or is available to some testers, not make it sound like everyone who installs the update is getting it.

I do not really care about the rest of the update if the thing people have been waiting years for is still not available. Maybe the waitlist moves quickly, and maybe Siri AI will be good once I get in. But right now it feels like Apple promoted the future again and delivered a sign-up form.