What happened
Apple has activated Pace and Expressivity voice controls in iOS 27 beta 3, released today, allowing beta testers to adjust how quickly and emotively Siri speaks. Users can choose from multiple voices with different accents and use sliders to customize speed and emotional tone, with Siri providing sample phrases like "You have one new message" as they adjust settings.
Why it matters
Apple is rebuilding Siri around generative AI and voice customization is a key part of making the assistant feel more natural and personal, similar to what ChatGPT offers. This aligns with Apple's broader effort announced at WWDC 26 in June to integrate an AI-powered Siri deeply across iOS, accessible by speaking, swiping, typing, or using a new standalone Siri app.
What to watch
ChatGPT's voice options already go further — it allows users to adjust warmth and enthusiasm (rolled out in December 2025) as well as base style and tone (friendly, professional, candid, or quirky), which affects not just how it sounds but how it presents information. Some beta testers are reporting losing Siri access or data re-indexing after updating to beta 3.
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Apple first introduced Siri's voice personalization capability at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 26) in June, positioning voice customization as central to rebuilding Siri as an AI-powered assistant. The activation of Pace and Expressivity controls in today's beta 3 release marks the first time beta testers can actually use these features; they were previously labeled "Coming soon" in earlier developer betas. This rollout reflects the broader industry pattern where voice-based AI interfaces are becoming more personal and user-configurable — a trend evident in how ChatGPT introduced its own voice warmth and enthusiasm controls in December 2025.
However, the body indicates that Siri's voice customization, while launching now, remains more limited in scope than what ChatGPT offers. ChatGPT's approach allows adjustment of warmth, enthusiasm, and base style across multiple tones (friendly, professional, candid, quirky), and these choices affect not only how the assistant sounds but also how it structures and presents information. Siri's current beta implementation focuses on two dimensions — pace and expressivity — suggesting Apple may be phasing in voice personalization incrementally. The technical challenges beta testers are reporting (losing Siri access, unexpected data re-indexing) underscore that this is still an early-stage feature in active refinement.
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