New Safari Features in the 27.3 Beta
Apple has released the initial developer betas for 27.3, bringing a trio of substantial new features to Safari across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, according to AppleInsider. The updates are expected to arrive for users in December.
The first major addition is vertical tabs, a long-requested feature that is more space-efficient and makes it quicker to scan full tab titles. According to AppleInsider, vertical tabs work on iPad, Mac, and the iPhone Duo. However, Gizmodo notes that the feature is not launching on regular iPhones like the iPhone 18 Pro, likely due to screen size and aspect ratio limitations. On Mac and iPad, users can enable vertical tabs from the View menu, or via dedicated Safari settings on the iPhone Duo.
Safari is also receiving an Adaptive Dark Mode designed to intelligently darken light backgrounds on websites that do not natively support a dark appearance. According to AppleInsider, the feature uses Apple Intelligence to analyze each site individually, prompting users with an alert at the top of the page. It can darken light backgrounds, tune text contrast, invert logos and graphics, recolor vector artwork, and rebalance layered shadows. Developers retain full control via a tag that forces sites to appear as-is if desired. Gizmodo adds that users can view a preview and choose to try the mode for a single visit, set it to always turn on, or apply it only to specific websites. According to AppleInsider, Adaptive Dark Mode will require an Apple Intelligence device and is available on macOS 27.3, though Gizmodo states it only works on macOS and not iPhone or iPad.
Finally, Siri AI is expanding its support within Safari. According to AppleInsider and Gizmodo, Siri AI now has broader context and on-screen awareness of entire web pages. Users can ask questions about page content—such as the weight of an item described on a long product page—without needing to scroll through the whole article. Siri AI can also execute cross-tab actions, such as grouping or closing specific tabs, and clearing site history over a designated period like the last 20 days.
Audio Intelligence for Apple Watch
The 27.3 developer beta rollout also introduces Audio Intelligence features for Apple Watch, which rely on the S11 chip, microphones, and on-device and cloud-based AI models, as detailed by Gizmodo and official Apple support documentation. These opt-in features include:
- Sound Recognition: Detects critical sounds such as sirens, alarms, and doorbells to notify the user, which Apple notes is useful for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Music Recognition with Shazam: Automatically detects background music and displays titles and artists in the Smart Stack widget.
- Live Rewind: Triggered by a double-press of the Digital Crown, it shows a text snippet of the last 15 seconds of ambient audio heard by the watch, allowing users to recall missed information. The text can be saved to the Siri app.
- Siri Recap: Ambiently takes notes on daily conversations to generate high-level summaries using Apple Intelligence. According to Apple sources, these summaries exclude sensitive details like banking numbers, unmentioned names, or emotional tone, and automatically delete after seven days unless explicitly saved to Notes or the Journal app.
Apple emphasizes that raw audio is never recorded or stored, passing instead through a protected buffer inside the S11 chip’s hardware-isolated Secure Exclave where data is immediately deleted after processing.