From Siri AI to iOS27: Everything Apple announced at WWDC 2026

Apple just wrapped its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026 keynote, and it was one of the most significant in the company’s history. Tim Cook took the stage one last time as CEO, and Apple used the moment to finally deliver on a promise it made two years ago: a completely rebuilt Siri. 

The tech giant also announced iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 “Golden Gate,” watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27. No new hardware was shown. This was a software-only event, and AI was the whole story.

Here is everything Apple announced, broken down by platform.

Tim Cook’s final keynote as CEO

This was Tim Cook’s last WWDC keynote as Apple’s chief executive. Cook steps down as CEO on August 31, 2026, and John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, takes over on September 1. Cook moves to the role of executive chairman. Ternus did not appear on stage during the keynote, which many observers found notable given the transition.

Software chief Craig Federighi kicked off the announcements by laying out Apple’s three focus areas for this year: platform improvements, trust and safety, and a major push forward for Apple Intelligence. Federighi was blunt about the privacy angle from the start: “We believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable. Data is only used to execute your request, and outside experts can continue to verify this promise at any time.”

This keynote carried some extra weight. Apple promised a smarter, context-aware Siri at WWDC 2024 and did not deliver it for nearly two years. In May 2026, the company also sought approval for a $250 million class-action settlement over those undelivered Siri features, covering roughly 36 million iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max units sold between June 2024 and March 2025. Eligible owners could receive between $25 and $95 per device. Apple denied wrongdoing. 

Today’s keynote was Apple’s chance to show it has finally followed through.

All the major announcements from Apple’s WWDC 2026

1. Siri AI: 

Apple is calling the new assistant “Siri AI,” and it is a complete rebuild. VP Mike Rockwell introduced it as “the biggest overhaul since Siri launched in 2011.” The new version is powered by Apple’s next-generation Foundation Models, which Apple says were built in deep collaboration with Google using Gemini. 

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is paying roughly $1 billion a year for a 1.2 trillion-parameter Gemini model, and The Information reported that the heaviest queries route to Google Cloud, which runs on Nvidia Blackwell B200 GPUs, because running that model inside Apple’s Private Cloud Compute was too slow at scale. 

Apple did not confirm those numbers on stage, so treat them as credible reporting rather than official figures.

What Siri AI can do:

• Dedicated Siri app: There is now a standalone Siri app across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. Your chat history syncs privately across all your devices via iCloud and Private Cloud Compute. You can set conversations to expire after a set period.
• Conversational mode: You can go back and forth with Siri in a natural, multi-turn conversation for research, planning, and brainstorming. Apple demoed asking Siri to pull up the FIFA 2026 World Cup schedule, then plan a viewing party and suggest dishes from both competing countries.
• On-screen and personal context awareness: Siri can see what is on your screen and act on it. It can access your emails, messages, files, and photos to give you relevant answers. Apple demoed asking about a location seen in an Instagram post and getting directions instantly.
• Visual Intelligence: This feature, first introduced with iPhone 16, becomes a dedicated “Siri mode” inside the Camera app. You can point your camera at a restaurant bill to split it through Wallet, scan a poster to add an event to your calendar, or identify nutrition information on a food package.
• Customisable voice: You can now adjust Siri’s pace and expressiveness beyond the existing preset voices.

• Cross-platform: Siri AI is available on watchOS, visionOS, CarPlay, and AirPods.
• Mac integration: On Mac, Siri is built into Spotlight (Command+Space) and accessible via Ctrl+click on images, text, and videos. There is a dedicated Mac app and a new monochrome menu-bar icon. Apple demoed selecting three presentations and asking Siri to compare them.
• Writing tools: Highlight any text and Siri will suggest improvements. “Write with Siri” can learn how you communicate with specific contacts and adapt accordingly. System-wide automatic proofreading works even inside third-party apps.

On iOS, you access Siri AI by swiping down on the Dynamic Island, which shows a “Search or Ask” prompt. Siri AI launches in English first and expands to more languages later. Some features will have daily usage limits, with higher limits for iCloud+ subscribers.

Important: Siri AI will NOT be available on iPhone or iPad in the European Union at launch, due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Federighi said Apple is “deeply disappointed” and that there is currently no timeline for Siri AI arriving on iOS or iPadOS in the EU. EU users will still get Siri AI on Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. Siri AI is also unavailable in China while Apple works through regulatory requirements.

2. iOS 27: 

iOS 27 is built around two things: significant performance gains and AI features woven into the apps you use every day.

Performance improvements:

• Up to 30% faster app launches
• Up to 70% faster loading of new photos in your camera roll
• Up to 80% faster AirDrop transfers, Mail loading, and Apple Music playback start
• Faster Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoff when you leave a network
• A modified CPU scheduler that makes older iPhones feel faster

iOS 27 runs on every iPhone that supported iOS 26, so iPhone 11 owners and second-generation iPhone SE owners benefit too. No devices were dropped.

Rebuilt search:

Apple rebuilt the foundation powering search across Spotlight, Photos, and Mail. VP Stacey Ford said the new infrastructure indexes your content almost immediately after you update it, and that Mail now has an improved ranking system.

iCloud Shared Albums:

Shared albums now support full-resolution photos. This works on Android and Windows too.

AI in your core apps:

• Passwords: Siri AI will now automatically find and update old or weak passwords for you, using Safari to act on your behalf across websites.
• Messages: Intelligence shortcuts let you add items to your Calendar or Notes, or find photos, based on what someone texts you. There is also a new lightweight status indicator at the top of conversations.
• Mail: The app surfaces suggested actions based on your email content.
• Phone: The app pulls up relevant information during calls. For example, if you are on the phone with an airline, it can show your flight number on screen.
• Home: The app learns from frequent notifications and presents them as ongoing activities instead of a flood of alerts. Security camera footage can be summarised and described using Apple Intelligence.
• Safari: AI organises your tabs by topic automatically and keeps those groups up to date. A new “Notify Me” feature lets you monitor any page for changes using plain language. Safari also gains support for vibe coding extensions.

Photos AI editing tools:

Inside a new “Apple Intelligence Tools” section in Photos, you get three AI-powered editing tools:

• Clean Up: A significantly improved version with more realistic results even in complex scenes.
• Extend: Expands your photo beyond its original frame or changes its aspect ratio. You control how much to add and what gets filled in.
• Spatial Reframing: Lets you reposition the virtual camera angle of a photo after you took it. Touch and drag to adjust framing, and Apple Intelligence fills in the gaps using on-device spatial models.

Shortcuts:

You can now describe what you want a shortcut to do in plain language, and the app builds it for you.

Image Playground:

Apple’s AI image generation tool gets a major upgrade. You can now generate images in far more styles, including photorealistic ones that were previously limited to the ChatGPT model. It is available across nearly all Apple platforms, supports more sizes, and allows easier voice and touch-based editing. You can restyle existing photos, generate wallpapers, create Message backgrounds, and design event invitations. Developers also get a new Image Playground API.

3. macOS 27: 

Craig Federighi confirmed the name on stage: macOS 27 is called macOS Golden Gate. Pre-event speculation had pointed to names like “Emerald” and “Big Bear,” but Apple went with “Golden Gate.”

What is new in macOS Golden Gate:

• Apple silicon only: macOS Golden Gate drops Intel Mac support entirely. It is the first macOS to require Apple’s own chips. The four Intel Macs being left behind are the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2019), MacBook Pro 13-inch (2020, four Thunderbolt 3 ports), iMac (2020), and Mac Pro (2019). If you own one of those, you stay on macOS Tahoe, which will continue receiving security updates from Apple.
• Liquid Glass refinements: Apple has added a global opacity slider to control how transparent the Liquid Glass interface appears. Drop shadows are now more diffused, window corners are tighter and more consistent, and toolbars look more uniform across apps. Sidebars now stretch to the edges of the screen to reduce visual clutter. App icons have been refreshed, with sidebar icons regaining colour.
• Siri AI in Spotlight: Pressing Command+Space now routes AI queries directly to Siri AI, which can access your personal data and general knowledge. A keyboard shortcut also brings up Visual Intelligence for whatever is on your screen.
• Context menus and Ctrl+click access: Siri AI is accessible via Ctrl+click on images, text, and videos anywhere on the system.
• Trust and safety tools: Parents can block specific apps. New tools prevent unsuitable images, including nudity and violent content, from appearing on screen. Users under 13 are prompted before visiting certain websites in Safari, and Screen Time gains additional controls.

4. iPadOS 27:

iPadOS 27 carries over all the Siri AI features, Apple Intelligence upgrades, Liquid Glass refinements, and core app improvements from iOS 27. Apple did not give iPadOS its own dedicated segment during this year’s keynote, but there are confirmed iPad-specific improvements:

• Up to 5x faster browsing and file transfers in the Files app when working with external storage.
• Up to 30% faster app launches, matching the iOS 27 improvements.

The same EU exclusion applies here. Siri AI will not be available on iPadOS 27 in the European Union at launch.

5. watchOS 27: 

watchOS 27 is a refinement release focused on stability and a handful of meaningful additions.

• New watch faces: Apple is bringing a simplified version of the “Modular Ultra” face, previously exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra, to all non-Ultra Series models. This face features a large time readout with three complications below it.
• Heart rate tracking improvements: Apple confirmed enhancements to heart rate monitoring but kept the details limited on stage.
• Siri AI on your wrist: Siri AI is now available on Apple Watch with a new app grid. Apple Intelligence features are delivered through your paired iPhone.

EU users will get Siri AI on watchOS 27, unlike on iPhone and iPad.

6. visionOS 27:

Apple Vision Pro owners get a meaningful Siri AI upgrade and several new spatial features with visionOS 27.

• 3D Siri visualisation: Siri AI appears as a floating orb you can place and move anywhere in your space. You do not need to say “Hey Siri” to activate it. Just look at the orb and start talking.
• Visual Intelligence support: Siri can recognise objects in the real world around you and answer questions about them.
• Spatial panoramas: You can turn regular panoramas into spatial scenes and use them as immersive Environments.
• Enhanced Apple Maps Flyover features.
• New windows with curvature for a more natural spatial look.
• Next-generation Apple Intelligence features across the platform.

What developers  are getting

Developer betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27 are rolling out today, June 8. Public betas follow in July.

Confirmed developer features:

• Foundation Models image input: Apple’s on-device model now accepts images as input, not just text. Developers also gain access to custom skills and the ability to run Apple models on servers.
• Core AI framework: A new framework that lets developers plug in third-party or external AI models inside their apps, giving you more flexibility about which model powers a given feature.
• Agentic Xcode: Federighi described it as “the best place to build” in the agentic coding era. The Xcode coding assistant can now localise apps, interact with simulated devices, and be extended with custom skills. Developers can choose the model and agent they prefer.
• Siri AI integration via App Intents: The existing App Intents framework remains the integration layer for connecting third-party apps to Siri AI.

When can you get all of these?

• Developer beta: Available today, June 8, 2026.
• Public beta: July 2026.
• Public release: This fall, around September 2026, alongside the iPhone 18.
• All updates are free for compatible devices.

If you own an Intel Mac, macOS Golden Gate will not be available for your device. Apple will keep delivering security updates for those machines on macOS Tahoe.