A hierarchy within the compatible lineup
Owning a Siri AI-compatible iPhone is not enough: Apple has introduced an additional layer. To access the most advanced features — specifically customizable expressive voices and enhanced system-wide dictation — you need an iPhone 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, or iPhone Air. Both TechRadar and Tom's Guide confirmed this in their post-keynote coverage.
The base threshold for Apple Intelligence remains iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 and later. But the middle tier — iPhone 15 Pro, 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro — gets Siri AI in a version Tom's Guide describes simply as having a less powerful on-device model. Apple has not clearly specified which additional features are excluded beyond expressive voices and advanced dictation; full documentation will arrive through developer sessions.
Why it matters
This effectively makes iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air a practical requirement for the complete Siri AI experience, increasing upgrade pressure. Fragmentation is not new in the Apple ecosystem, but communicating it quietly — buried in spec pages rather than the keynote script — is a deliberate editorial choice. Anyone who bought an iPhone 16 Pro less than a year ago may find themselves with partial Siri features without prior warning.