WWDC 2026 Highlights: Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, and Every Major Apple Announcement

Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote began yesterday at Apple Park, kicking off a week filled with announcements surrounding Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, and a wide range of software and developer-focused updates. The event arrives at a time when Apple is seeking to strengthen its position among users and developers who have questioned the company’s pace in the rapidly evolving AI market. It also marks the final WWDC under CEO Tim Cook, who recently announced that Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus will take over leadership on September 1.

Did Apple deliver what users were hoping for? The company packed the keynote with updates to address long-standing concerns and introduce new AI-powered capabilities across its ecosystem.

Apple focuses on fixing the fundamentals

Rather than centring the entire presentation on AI, Apple used much of its keynote to address areas where users have voiced frustration. Over the past few years, the company has faced criticism over software design decisions, underwhelming search capabilities, unreliable file-sharing features, and shortcomings in the Health app experience.

Instead of directly acknowledging those issues, Apple structured the keynote around improvements to core experiences, presenting a more capable Siri as part of a broader package of updates rather than the headline attraction.

Siri receives a major AI overhaul

As expected, Apple unveiled significant enhancements to Siri, positioning the assistant for a new era shaped by artificial intelligence. Powered in part by Google Gemini technology, Siri is becoming more conversational, context-aware, and capable of working with visual intelligence features.

The updated Siri experience will also be available through a dedicated standalone application while continuing to function across Apple’s existing ecosystem of apps and services.

Before introducing the new capabilities, Apple reiterated its commitment to privacy.

“We believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. He added that user data is used only to fulfil requests and that independent experts can continue to verify those privacy protections.

Hints of a foldable iPhone emerge

Apple did not officially unveil a foldable iPhone during WWDC, but speculation intensified after researcher @M1Astra discovered references within the iOS 27 developer beta.

The files reportedly include terms such as “foldState” and “angleDegrees,” suggesting support for devices with foldable displays. Combined with years of rumours about a foldable iPhone project, the findings have fuelled expectations that Apple may reveal more at its annual iPhone event later this year.

Apple Intelligence expands across the ecosystem

Alongside Siri’s transformation, Apple introduced a wide range of Apple Intelligence enhancements throughout its software lineup.

New features include smarter tab management in Safari, one-tap password updates, improved cross-app context awareness, and AI-generated reply suggestions in Messages. The Phone app is also gaining the ability to access context from applications such as Mail and Messages during calls.

Apple said it worked closely with Google and the Gemini family of models while developing the next generation of Apple Foundation Models that power Apple Intelligence.

Liquid Glass becomes more customizable

Following mixed reactions to last year’s Liquid Glass design language, Apple is offering users greater control over the visual experience.

Rather than abandoning the design entirely, the company will allow users to adjust certain Liquid Glass effects to suit personal preferences. Apple also showcased updated layered visual elements throughout its applications as part of the continuing evolution of the interface.

Additional iOS 27 features

Several iOS 27 improvements received less attention during the keynote but remain notable additions.

Among the updates are full-screen home screen widgets, separate volume controls for alarms and alerts, and redesigned weather app elements that place greater emphasis on significant upcoming conditions and events.

Image Playground gets another push

Apple’s AI image-generation tool, Image Playground, has not achieved widespread popularity since its debut. Nevertheless, the company renewed its efforts to promote the feature during WWDC.

Apple highlighted new ways Image Playground can integrate across devices and emphasized that images generated on the platform will not be used for AI training. Combined with broader Apple Intelligence upgrades and performance improvements, the company hopes the tool will become more useful for everyday users.

iOS 27 supports devices back to iPhone 11

Apple announced that iOS 27 will be available on every iPhone model beginning with the iPhone 11.

The company described the release as its most widely supported iOS update yet. Apple also highlighted several performance gains, claiming that new photos will load up to 70% faster, AirDrop transfers will improve by up to 80%, and scheduling improvements will enhance multitasking performance across supported devices.

Expanded parental controls arrive

A substantial portion of the keynote focused on new parental-control features designed to help families better manage children’s devices.

Parents will gain more control over communications, app access, and website permissions. Apple will also provide recommendations on how restrictions can evolve as children grow older. Features such as “Ask to Browse” and “Ask to Buy” will be enabled by default on devices configured for children under 13.

Search receives long-awaited improvements

Apple also introduced a major overhaul to search functionality across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

“We’ve all had that moment where you search for something you know is there, but it just won’t show up,” said Stacey Ford, Vice President of OS Program Management.

According to Apple, the company has rebuilt the underlying search technology powering Spotlight, Photos, and Mail to improve accuracy and discoverability.

New AI-powered photo editing tools

The Photos app is receiving several AI-driven editing capabilities to compete with dedicated AI photo-editing services.

A new feature called Reframe can adjust image perspectives as though the camera had been positioned differently during capture. Another tool, Extend, can expand scenes and modify image aspect ratios using generative AI. Apple is also upgrading Cleanup to deliver more realistic object removal and scene reconstruction.

Apple enters the AI dictation race

Apple announced a redesigned systemwide dictation experience integrated directly into the iOS 27 keyboard.

The feature can automatically correct punctuation, spelling, and capitalization while transcribing speech. The move places Apple in more direct competition with popular AI-powered dictation tools that have gained traction by removing filler words and formatting text intelligently.

Subscription bundles come to the App Store

For the first time, developers will be able to partner with one another to offer subscription bundles through the App Store.

The initiative allows customers to access multiple services at a discounted combined price, bringing a model already common among streaming platforms to productivity, photography, and other app categories.

Personalized recommendations expand

Apple is also introducing new recommendation systems across the App Store.

The platform will use user interests and behaviour to surface more personalized app suggestions. Recommendations will include App Notes that explain why a particular app is being featured.

Shortcuts embrace natural language

Apple is making the Shortcuts app easier to use through artificial intelligence.

Instead of manually creating automations, users can describe what they want to accomplish with natural-languageprompts. Apple says the change will make automation more accessible to non-technical users.

Health app adds menopause support

The Health app is expanding its cycle-tracking capabilities with new features focused on perimenopause and menopause.

The addition reflects growing interest in women’s health technology and positions Apple within a rapidly expanding market that has attracted significant investment in recent years.

Tim Cook’s farewell message

The keynote concluded with a farewell message from Tim Cook as he prepares to step down as Apple’s CEO later this year.

Reflecting on his tenure, Cook thanked developers and users for helping shape products that connect, educate, create, and inspire. He expressed confidence in Apple’s future and reiterated that delivering products that enrich people’s lives will continue to guide the company’s mission.

According to Cook, the innovations announced at WWDC 2026 represent only the beginning, with many more advancements still ahead for Apple and its users.

Catch up on the rest of WWDC 2026’s announcements

If you missed Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote, you can still watch the complete event on demand. Apple has made the full presentation available in its official event archive, allowing viewers to revisit all the announcements, demonstrations, and developer-focused sessions from the conference.

The keynote is also available on Apple’s official YouTube channel, where users can watch the entire presentation and catch up on everything announced during the company’s biggest software event of the year.