Sonos 27, the company's next-generation audio operating system, begins rolling out today as a free software update. The update introduces AI control, portable surrounds, and a redesigned app with easier navigation.
The update adds Sonos 27mcp, an Early Access feature available today that supports ChatGPT and Claude through the open Model Context Protocol, letting you adjust music without leaving your AI platform. A separate voice assistant, Sonos 27voice, is due later this fall in Early Access. Sonos says it was built and tuned in-house, trained to handle referential, feeling-first requests, and able to assemble a soundtrack from a described mood. Looking further ahead, Sonos Custom Agents, which will let users create agents with their own model, persona, and voice, are previewed for 2027.
Also available today is the portable surrounds feature, which works with Move 2 or Sonos Plays speakers and is compatible with Arc Ultra, Arc, Beam Ultra, and Beam Gen 2 soundbars. These speakers can automatically switch roles between backyard listening and home theater surround duty.
Headphone linking arrives in Early Access on September 29 with the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones, letting you push and pull sound between out-loud and personal listening without a phone nearby. It runs on Sonos Headphone Engine 2, which includes redesigned WiFi antennas and secure credential storage.
The Sonos 27app itself gets a new layout organized into Home, System, and Search, with a refreshed iPad design. You can pin favorite rooms to the top, use native swipe gestures, and adjust volume with a virtual knob that responds to a two-finger twist. Presets, which save speakers, content, and volume, arrive later this fall, along with new system health views.
Sonos says the app was shaped and tested with its community. The company also emphasizes that Sonos 27 expands its open platform for AI choice. As CEO Tom Conrad put it, "Most of the tech industry ships new capability by shipping new hardware, but we built Sonos differently."
