Apple’s WWDC 2026 event kicked off yesterday at Apple Park, kicking off a week packed with announcements about Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, and more, as well as developer events and demos as Apple looks to reassert itself to users and developers unimpressed by its releases in the competitive AI field. This will also be the last WWCD at the company for CEO Tim Cook, who announced that he will be handing over his duties to John Ternas, senior vice president of hardware engineering, effective September 1.
were they successful? Stay tuned to this page and for continued coverage.
TL;DR — Apple spent WWDC 2026 playing catch-up.
This is far from Consumer News Editor Sara Perez’s first WWDC, and with all that context in mind, she provides subtext for much of what was introduced.
For the past two years, Apple has been racing to catch up with AI, but frustrations with its core software have been quietly building. A redesign that users hate, a search feature that barely works, a file sharing feature that routinely fails, and a healthcare app that doesn’t focus enough on half of its user base. Apple said nothing of the sort on Monday. But the structure of the WWDC keynote was telling, putting fixes before features and positioning a better Siri as one item on a long list of improvements rather than the main event.
Apple announces Siri AI
As expected, Apple insisted on improving the experience of its long-standing Siri assistant, acknowledging that users have higher expectations in the AI era. With Google Gemini under the hood, Apple claims that the new Siri update will improve Siri’s capabilities, improve conversation capabilities, improve compatibility with visual intelligence, and include it in standalone apps in addition to existing apps. Get a complete overview of all new Siri AI updates here.
Before rolling out extensions and features, Apple stuck to a privacy-centric approach to AI. “We believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” Apple’s senior vice president Craig Federighi said during the broadcast, going so far as to say that “data will only be used to fulfill requests, and outside experts can continue to verify this promise at any time.”
Teases the possibility of a foldable iPhone
No, Apple didn’t make that big of an announcement during WWDC, but researcher @M1Astra examined files within the iOS 27 developer beta and found references to things like “foldState” and “angleDegrees” that hint at the states that foldable devices can be in. The last few years have not been without rumors of a foldable iPhone. Unless Tarnas really intends to shake things up in the post-Cook era, stay tuned to Apple’s annual iPhone event in September for an official announcement.
Next generation Apple intelligence
In line with the new Siri AI overhaul, the tech giant announced a number of new Apple Intelligence updates across apps, including tab management for Safari, one-tap password updates, and cross-app context awareness. Additionally, Messages gets AI-powered reply suggestions, and the Phone app can now get context from other apps like Email and Messages during calls.
Apple said it collaborated with Google and the Gemini family of models to develop the next generation of Apple Foundation Models that power the unified Apple Intelligence experience.
Liquid glass gets opt-in rollback
If you weren’t too keen on last year’s design updates to Liquid Glass, you’re not alone. And while Apple isn’t switching to a new aesthetic, it could bring back some of its elements or emphasize them if that’s what you’re into. And for app icon critics, fresh off Spotify’s disco ball update, Apple has unveiled a new layered approach to liquid glass within apps.
Everything else is scheduled for iOS 27
As is the case every year, the many small tweaks and updates that come with the next iOS update weren’t featured on Apple’s broadcasts, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t noteworthy. Ivan Mehta has collected some of them here.
Full screen home page widget. Separate volume controls for alarms, timers, alerts, etc. Tweak the design of your weather app to highlight upcoming notable events.
Image Playground has another chance
AI image generation app Image Playground hasn’t necessarily taken the world by storm, but depending on your perspective on AI advancements, that might be a good thing. However, Apple has rolled out a new proposal to exclude training based on photos generated using the app, as well as focus on its possible use in the device’s many features, and to allow users to actually start generating images. Add to that the performance updates that come with the Apple Intelligence upgrade, which may move it out of the “worst” category, at least for TechCrunch senior writer Amanda Silberling.
iOS 27 dates back to iPhone 11
Apple claims that the upcoming update will be “available to more users than any previous iOS release,” and revealed that all devices starting with iPhone 11 will be eligible for the upcoming software update. And that update includes a series of performance improvements that the company has been touting in many OS releases this year, with Apple claiming new photos display 70% faster, AirDrop transfers 80% faster, and an improved CPU scheduler to aid multitasking.
New parental controls for iPhone
Apple spent a good chunk of its WWDC event introducing a suite of tools for parents who want more control over what their kids can and can’t do on their devices. Parents will now be able to decide who their kids can call on their phones and what apps and websites they can access, and Apple will make suggestions about how these limits may change over time. However, by default, its “Ask to See” feature limits access, and “Ask to Buy” for App Store and in-app purchases is set as the default on devices configured for children under 13. You can learn more about parental controls here.
Search gets a complete overhaul
Frustrated by searching for almost anything on your iPhone? Search held a dedicated session during WWDC touting a series of improvements. Click here for more information.
“We’ve all had the experience of searching for something we know exists, but it never shows up,” said Stacey Ford, vice president of OS program management. “So we’ve rebuilt the foundation of search on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to power Spotlight, Photos, and Email.
To compete with popular AI photo editing apps, Apple is introducing new AI features to its Photos app. A new spatial “reframe” feature allows you to use AI to adjust the perspective of an image as if you had changed the camera position in the original scene. The new Enhance tool allows you to enlarge your image, adjust its aspect ratio, or add more to your scene. The app’s popular “cleanup” tool has also been upgraded, allowing users to use generative AI to remove distractions with higher quality, more realistic embeds.
Apple takes on AI dictation app
Apple is launching a new system-wide dictation experience built into the keyboard in iOS 27 that lets you correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. This update comes amid the growing popularity of AI dictation apps such as Wispr Flow and Willow. These apps clean up filler words like “um” and “ah” and format text based on context after transcription.
Subscription bundles are available for the App Store
For the first time, developers will be able to partner with each other to offer access to a variety of subscriptions at lower bundle prices. This isn’t unusual for people who have been touted by various streaming services to increase their subscriber numbers, but this is the first time it’s available for things like productivity and photo apps on the App Store.
App Store launches personalized recommendations
And if bundled offers aren’t compelling enough, user interests and behavior can provide new discovery tools for developers. It’s personalized recommendations that appear in multiple places in the App Store. These recommendations include “app notes” that detail why they appear in other apps.
Add natural language creation with shortcuts
Apple is using AI to make Shortcuts, a visual scripting tool, easier to use in iOS 27. The updated experience allows users to create prompts and easily describe what they want to do. AI updates make the Shortcuts app more approachable and expand what non-technical people can do.
Get perimenopausal insights into your health
Apple’s Health app adds perimenopause and menopause support to its existing cycle tracking features. The update picks up on a mainstream theme, giving Apple an opportunity for new products in a rapidly expanding market, as digital health tools targeting this demographic have attracted significant investment in recent years.
Tim Cook says goodbye
At the end of his keynote speech, Tim Cook reflected on his time as CEO and gave the following farewell message.
For years, you’ve helped people connect, create, learn, and experience the world in amazing new ways. With all the great features I’m introducing today and many more to come, I truly believe that the best from Apple is still ahead. Acquiring the world’s best products and delivering experiences that enrich people’s lives has always been our north star. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to work with a team that continues to make a lasting difference in people’s lives through creativity, care and faith, and to help advance that mission.
See the rest of the WWDC 2026 reveals here
Don’t miss WWDC? An archive of the entire event is always available in the stream above or on Apple’s YouTube page here.
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