Apple's iOS 27 Update Expected to Include New ‘Alternative Words’ Keyboard Feature: Report

Apple is expected to start rolling out the stable iOS 27 update later this year, along with the iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, following the unveiling of the iPhone 18 Pro lineup in September. However, the Cupertino-based tech giant might showcase the new feature during its upcoming developer conference, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2026). Months ahead of its anticipated release, the new features of the iOS 27 firmware have started surfacing online. According to a report, Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a new feature for the system keyboard, which might complement the suggested words and autocorrect functionalities.

iOS 27 Could Bring ‘Alternative Words' Feature to Keyboards on iPhone, iPad

Citing people in the know of the development, Bloomberg reports that the Cupertino tech giant is planning to bring “alternative words” suggestions to keyboards on eligible iPhone and iPad models with the purported iOS 27 update. It is expected to expand the autocorrect capabilities of Apple's native system keyboard, which might offer the same functionality as Grammarly.

However, the decision to release the same has not been finalised yet. The rumoured keyboard functionality could provide an alternative to specific words entered by a user. It is also said to build on Apple's recent efforts of algorithmic fine-tuning of the existing autocorrect feature to provide better suggestions. Since the “alternative words” functionality is still reportedly in development, it is unclear how exactly it will work or whether it will provide context-based suggestions to users.

This comes soon after a report highlighted that Apple is also mulling the release of a dedicated Siri app for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac models, which could rival Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT apps. The app will reportedly arrive on eligible Apple devices with the iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 updates, respectively. Currently, Siri redirects users to ChatGPT for complex queries, while not recording conversation history. The new app is said to resolve this problem.

With the iOS 27 update, Apple's voice assistant could allow users to revisit previous chats, recorded within the purported Siri app. The app will reportedly let users enter both text and voice-based queries. First introduced during the WWDC 2024 event, the AI-powered Siri has faced multiple delays and is finally expected to arrive in September, which is still a few months away.