WWDC 2026: Key Highlights on Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, and More

Yesterday marked the beginning of Apple’s WWDC 2026 at Apple Park, launching a week filled with announcements regarding Siri AI, iOS 27, and Apple Intelligence, along with various developer events and demos. This comes as Apple strives to reconnect with users and developers who have been underwhelmed by its recent releases in the fiercely competitive AI market. Notably, this is CEO Tim Cook’s final WWDC event, as he transitions leadership to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus on September 1.

Did Apple succeed? Stay updated on this page for our continuous coverage!

TL;DR — Apple utilized WWDC 2026 to bridge the gap

Consumer news editor Sarah Perez, having attended multiple WWDCs, highlighted the underlying messages in this year’s showcase.

For the past two years, Apple has been striving to keep pace in AI while user frustrations with its core software have silently compounded: a design overhaul that missed the mark, a scarcely functioning search function, a file-sharing feature with frequent failures, and a Health app that overlooked significant portions of its user demographic. While none of this was explicitly addressed on stage, the structure of the WWDC keynote conveyed those sentiments, prioritizing fixes over new features and presenting an enhanced Siri as just one item on a lengthy improvement list.

Apple unveils Siri AI

As anticipated, Apple championed an enhanced experience with Siri, acknowledging the heightened expectations users have in an AI-centric era. With Google Gemini powering the backend, Apple asserts that the new Siri updates will enhance its capabilities, making it more conversational and visually aware, while also being available as a standalone app alongside existing applications. For a complete overview of the new Siri AI enhancements, click here.

Before detailing updates and features, Apple emphasized its commitment to privacy in AI. “Privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” stated Apple Senior Vice President Craig Federighi during the stream, adding that “data is only utilized to execute your request, and external experts can periodically verify this promise.”

Hints of a foldable iPhone

Although Apple didn’t unveil anything monumental during the event, researcher @M1Astra delved into files from the iOS 27 developer beta and uncovered terms like “foldState,” “angleDegrees,” and other references that suggest functionalities related to foldable devices. Rumors about a foldable iPhone have been circulating for years. Keep an eye on Apple’s September iPhone event to see if a formal announcement will be made, particularly with the changes anticipated in the post-Cook leadership era.

The next evolution of Apple Intelligence

Along with the Siri AI revamp, Apple announced a variety of new updates under the Apple Intelligence umbrella, including tab management in Safari, one-tap password updates, cross-app context awareness, and more. Additionally, the Messages app now features AI-assisted reply suggestions, while the Phone app can gather context from apps like Mail and Messages during calls.

Apple mentioned collaborating with Google and utilizing the Gemini family of models to develop the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, which drive its integrated Apple Intelligence experiences.

Liquid Glass receives optional rollbacks

If you weren’t thrilled about last year’s Liquid Glass design updates, you’re not alone. While Apple isn’t adopting a completely different aesthetic, it is allowing users to adjust certain elements for a more personalized experience. For those who prefer the previous style, Apple showcased a new layered approach to Liquid Glass in its apps.

Additional features coming to iOS 27

As usual, numerous smaller tweaks and updates are heading to the upcoming iOS release, even if they were not highlighted during Apple’s livestream. Ivan Metha compiled a list of noteworthy updates, including:

• Full-screen homepage widgets
• Individual volume controls for alarms, timers, alerts, and more
• Design enhancements for the weather app with emphasis on significant upcoming events

Image Playground gets a revival

The AI image generation application has not yet gained massive traction, depending on your perspective on ease of use, but Apple made a renewed push for users to begin creating images, emphasizing its utility across various device features, while also assuring that it won’t be trained on images created by the app. Coupled with performance upgrades aligned with Apple Intelligence enhancements, it may finally escape the “suck” category, as noted by our Senior Writer Amanda Silberling.

iOS 27 compatibility extends to the iPhone 11

Apple declared that its forthcoming update will be “accessible to more users than any previous iOS version,” revealing that all devices from the iPhone 11 onwards will receive the update. This release includes a range of performance enhancements, boasting that new photos will appear 70% faster, AirDrop transfers will be expedited by 80%, and improved CPU scheduling will facilitate better multitasking.

Enhanced parental controls for iPhones

Significant attention was devoted to showcasing tools for parents seeking more control over their children’s device usage. Parents will be empowered to establish who their child can contact via phone, what applications and websites they can access, with Apple providing suggestions for evolving those restrictions over time. By default, features like “Ask to Browse,” which regulates access, and “Ask to Buy” for app and in-app purchases, will be activated on devices for children under 13. You can find more details about these parental controls here.

Search experiences a revamp

Are you frustrated by searching for things on your iPhone? Search received special attention during WWDC, highlighting a series of improvements you can read about here.

“We all have moments when we search for something we know exists, but it just won’t appear,” remarked Stacey Ford, Vice President of OS Program Management. “Thus, we have rebuilt the underlying foundation of search that powers Spotlight, Photos, and Mail on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.”

In an effort to compete with popular AI photo editors, Apple is introducing new AI features to its Photos app. A novel spatial “Reframe” feature will allow users to utilize AI to modify the perspective of images as if the camera had been repositioned in the original scene. Additionally, the new “Extend” tool will broaden images to adjust their aspect ratios or to add elements to a scene. The app’s widely-used “Cleanup” tool will also receive enhancements, enabling users to eliminate distractions more effectively with realistic infill using generative AI.

Apple steps into the AI dictation arena

Apple is releasing a new dictation system that integrates into the keyboard in iOS 27, capable of correcting spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. This update comes in light of the growing popularity of AI dictation apps like Wispr Flow and Willow that efficiently remove filler words such as “ums” and “ahs” and format text contextually after transcription.

App Store introduces subscription bundles

For the first time, developers can collaborate to offer various subscriptions at a reduced bundled price. This approach mirrors strategies commonly seen in the streaming industry, but it’s a new development for productivity or photography applications available in the App Store.

Personalized recommendations come to the App Store

In the event that a bundled offer isn’t enticing enough, your preferences and activities will inform a new method of discovering apps: personalized recommendations, which will be displayed across multiple sections in the App Store. These will include “App Notes,” elucidating why specific apps are recommended.

Shortcuts introduces natural language creation

Apple is leveraging AI to enhance its visual scripting tool, Shortcuts, within iOS 27. The revamped experience allows users to input prompts and describe desired actions. This AI modification makes the Shortcuts app more accessible, expanding capabilities for non-technical users.

Health app adds insights on perimenopause

The Health app from Apple is incorporating support for perimenopause and menopause within its existing cycle tracking feature. This update addresses a significant topic that has gained mainstream attention, presenting Apple with a new opportunity in a rapidly growing market, as digital health tools targeting this segment have seen considerable investment recently.

Tim Cook’s farewell

At the conclusion of the keynote, Tim Cook delivered a farewell message reflecting on his time as CEO.

“Over the years, you have enabled individuals to connect, create, learn, and experience the world in extraordinary new ways, and with the amazing capabilities we are unveiling today, and many more to follow, I genuinely believe that the best is yet to come for Apple,” Cook stated. “Delivering the best products in the world to create experiences that enhance people’s lives has always been our guiding principle. It has been the honor of a lifetime to advance that mission with teams whose creativity, care, and conviction continue to create a lasting impact.”

Catch up on all the WWDC 2026 reveals here

Did you miss out on WWDC? You can rewatch the full event through the stream above or on Apple’s YouTube channel here.