Apple’s iPadOS 27.3 beta adds a more direct route to Visual Intelligence from the iPad Camera app: a dedicated Siri tab alongside familiar shooting choices such as Photo, Video and Portrait. On compatible iPads, the tool lets people point the tablet’s camera at an object and ask Siri AI for information about what is in view.
The change is primarily about access rather than introducing Visual Intelligence to the iPad for the first time. Supported tablets can already reach the feature through hardware controls, but the new Camera tab puts it in the same on-screen mode switcher used for taking pictures and recording video. The beta became available in early November, while the public release of iPadOS 27.3 is expected in December.
There is one notable iPad-specific element: Apple Pencil support. A user can take a picture, draw a circle around an item with the Pencil, then use Siri AI to learn more about the selected object. That creates a visual-selection workflow comparable in broad purpose to Google’s Circle to Search, while keeping the interaction inside Apple’s Camera and Visual Intelligence system.
What the new Siri tab changes in Camera
Before iPadOS 27.3, Visual Intelligence on a supported iPad is accessed in the Camera app by long-pressing the Camera Control button. It can also be activated with the Action button when that button exists on the iPad and has been configured for the feature.
With the beta installed, users can instead swipe through the Camera viewfinder’s modes until they reach the Siri tab. In practical terms, Visual Intelligence becomes a visible camera mode rather than a function that depends on remembering a button press or having a particular hardware button available.
That distinction matters because a camera interface has two different kinds of controls. The viewfinder is the live camera screen where users frame a subject. Its mode strip changes what the camera is intended to do: capture a still photo, record video, take a portrait-style image, or now enter Siri’s visual-question workflow. A hardware shortcut is faster when someone already knows it; a labeled tab is easier to discover and understand at a glance.
The update does not mean every iPad gains a new AI feature simply by installing the beta. Hardware compatibility remains central. Apple limits Visual Intelligence to models with the listed chips, so an iPad that cannot use the feature today will not become compatible solely because iPadOS 27.3 adds a Camera tab.
Which iPads support Visual Intelligence?
The available compatibility list covers:
Related coverage includes iPadOS 27.3 Beta Adds a Siri Tab for Visual Intelligence.
- iPad Pro with an M1 chip or newer
- iPad Air with an M1 chip or newer
- iPad mini with an A17 Pro or A20 Pro chip
“M1 and newer” refers to Apple’s M-series chips in qualifying iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad mini requirement is expressed differently because its supported models use the A17 Pro or A20 Pro chipset. Checking the exact iPad model and chip before enrolling in the beta is worthwhile: it avoids installing pre-release software in pursuit of a Camera control that may not appear.
Visual Intelligence itself is Apple’s tool for asking questions about images or what the camera sees. The iPadOS 27.3 change integrates that capability more visibly into Camera. It should not be confused with ordinary photo recognition alone: the supplied feature description frames it as a way to ask Siri AI questions about an object in the camera’s view.
Apple Pencil is the iPad’s extra layer
Apple Pencil selection is the feature that most clearly differentiates the iPad implementation described for iPadOS 27.3. Rather than asking about an entire scene, users can snap a photo and mark the particular item that matters by circling it.
That could be useful when a frame contains several possible subjects. A table, shelf, poster or other busy scene may include more than one object that could be interpreted as the target of a query. Selecting one item with the Pencil gives the request a clearer focus. The feature is not presented as a replacement for taking normal photographs; it is a follow-up path for people who want information about something they have captured.
It is also an example of the iPad making use of an input method that iPhones do not have. The Pencil is not merely acting as a finger substitute here. It enables a precise, visual instruction: this object, rather than the rest of the image. That is a sensible fit for a larger-screen camera experience, where reviewing a picture and identifying a particular detail may be more comfortable than on a phone.
Apple showed this Siri AI camera mode at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Its arrival in iPadOS 27.3 brings the approach to compatible tablets while adding the Pencil-based selection method.
How to install the iPadOS 27.3 public beta
People who want the Siri Camera tab before the wider iPadOS 27.3 release can enroll their compatible iPad in the public beta from Settings. The basic route is:
- Open Settings on the iPad.
- Select General, then Software Update.
- Choose Beta Updates.
- Select iPadOS 27 Public Beta.
- Return to Software Update and install the available iPadOS 27.3 beta.
Once it is installed, open Camera and swipe through the modes in the viewfinder to look for the Siri tab. Because the feature is restricted to compatible hardware, its absence after updating can indicate that the iPad model does not meet the Visual Intelligence requirements rather than that the tab is hidden somewhere else.
Back up first: beta software is unfinished software
A public beta is still a beta. It provides earlier access to forthcoming software, but it is not the final release. Bugs, errors and applications that fail to work as expected are all risks associated with installing an unfinished operating-system build.
The sensible first step is a full iPad backup. Apple users can back up through iCloud, a Mac or a Windows PC. A backup is important as a routine safeguard, but it is especially relevant before changing to a beta operating system because it preserves the user’s files and other information if the update causes a problem.
There is no need to treat early access as mandatory. The expected public release is close enough that users who depend on their iPad for school, work, creative projects or reliably running specific apps may reasonably prefer to wait for the finished iPadOS 27.3 build. The headline feature is an extra entry point to a capability already present on qualifying tablets, not a reason for everyone to put their daily-use device on pre-release software.
For readers tracking Apple’s wider run of mobile software changes, the site has also covered a recent iPhone app roundup with details still under wraps.
What to expect when the public update arrives
If Apple releases iPadOS 27.3 publicly in December as expected, supported iPad owners should be able to reach Visual Intelligence by opening Camera and swiping to the Siri tab. The existing shortcut methods remain important context: long-press Camera Control, or use the Action button when the device has one and it has been assigned to Visual Intelligence.
The Camera tab’s value is clarity. It places the feature among the app’s visible choices and makes the relationship between the camera, Siri AI and visual questions explicit. For Apple Pencil users, the ability to circle a specific item adds a focused way to direct an inquiry after capturing an image.
For now, the decision is straightforward. Install the public beta only after making a complete backup and accepting the possibility of instability, or wait for the public iPadOS 27.3 release. Either route leads to the same core addition on a compatible iPad: a Siri tab in Camera that brings Visual Intelligence closer to the surface.
