Apple’s annual developer conference, WWDC 2026, kicked off on June 8 at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, with AI dominating the agenda. The event was particularly notable as it marked Tim Cook’s final WWDC keynote as CEO.
The company used its annual developer conference to unveil iOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, major Siri upgrades, new Apple Intelligence features, stronger parental controls, performance improvements across devices, and a range of AI tools integrated into everyday apps.
Here’s everything that was announced:
1. Siri Gets a Complete Rebuild
The biggest announcement of the day by far was Siri AI. Apple rebuilt Siri from the ground up on a brand new architecture.
Siri can now understand personal context. Users can ask it to find a hotel confirmation buried in an old email or pull up photos from a recent trip. It can also remember previous requests, allowing users to ask follow-up questions without repeating information.
A new visual intelligence feature allows Siri to understand what is on your screen and take actions based on it. Users can point their iPhone camera at an object and ask questions about it, or use a photo to get suggestions and ideas.
Apple has also introduced a standalone Siri AI app that syncs conversation history across devices through iCloud. The upgraded assistant will be available across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, and will initially launch in English, with additional language support arriving later.
Under the hood, Apple has completely rethought how Apple Intelligence works. The next generation of Apple Foundation Models (AFM) comes in two forms. A smaller, highly efficient model runs entirely on-device.
For heavier and more complex requests, a more powerful model runs on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers. This is Apple’s own secure cloud infrastructure built specifically to handle AI workloads while protecting user privacy.
2. Apple Intelligence Powered by Google Gemini
The next generation of Apple Intelligence runs on Apple Foundation Models that were developed in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models.
For the most demanding AI tasks, Apple will use AFM Cloud Pro, a model that the company says delivers performance comparable to leading frontier models. The service runs on NVIDIA GPUs hosted on Google’s cloud infrastructure.
The partnership extends to developer tools as well. Xcode 27, its integrated development environment, will support coding agents from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, while Apple’s AI-generated images in iOS 27 will carry Google’s SynthID watermarking technology.
3. Safari Gets Smarter
Web browser Safari is getting smarter with Apple Intelligence.
A standout addition is Notify Me. Users can ask Safari to monitor a webpage and receive an alert when something changes, such as a product coming back in stock or a price drop. The feature can be useful for tracking waitlists, flight fares, concert tickets, and other time-sensitive updates.
Safari can also automatically group open tabs by topic using Apple Intelligence. For example, tabs related to planning a trip, researching a project, or shopping for a product can be organised into a single group without manual sorting.
The third addition is Describe an Extension, which allows users to create simple custom Safari extensions by describing what they want the extension to do in plain language. No coding is required.
4. Image Playground Goes Photorealistic
Apple’s built-in image generator can now create photorealistic images, expanding beyond the cartoon-style artwork it previously supported.
Users can edit images by describing the changes they want in plain language or by selecting objects directly through tapping, circling, or brushing.
Apple also said that every image generated in Image Playground and every photo edited with Apple Intelligence will carry a hidden SynthID watermark. The watermark is designed to help identify AI-generated content and edited images.
5. Powerful New Parental Controls
Apple has introduced several new parental control features in iOS 27. One of the biggest additions is Ask to Browse, which requires children to request permission before opening a new website in Safari.
A redesigned Screen Time dashboard and new Time Allowances also let parents set usage limits for games, entertainment, and social media.
Child accounts are now available across Apple devices, mandatory for users under 13 and optional for those up to age 18.
Communication Safety, which is already enabled by default for users under 18, now blocks gore and violent content in addition to nudity.
Apple has also introduced a Declared Age Range API, allowing apps to adjust features based on a user's age group without requiring parents to share an exact date of birth.
6. Say Hello to macOS Golden Gate
Apple officially unveiled macOS 27 Golden Gate, the latest version of its Mac operating system. The update brings more AI-powered features to the Mac, including Siri AI within its universal search engine Spotlight, allowing users to get help and complete tasks more easily.
Apple is also bringing Visual Intelligence to macOS, which can understand what is displayed on the screen and offer relevant actions or information.
In addition, macOS 27 includes faster search performance, better automation tools, and improved connectivity between Mac, iPhone, and other Apple devices.
7. Liquid Glass Gets More Customisation
After receiving mixed feedback following its introduction last year, Apple’s Liquid Glass design language is getting a major refinement.
Users can now adjust the transparency level using a new opacity slider.
The feature lets users make interface elements more transparent or more opaque, improving readability and accessibility. The update is available across both iOS 27 and macOS 27.
8. Passwords App Gets Smarter
Apple is adding new AI-powered features to the Passwords app to make account management easier. The app can help users update login credentials, identify security issues, and manage passwords more efficiently across devices. Apple says the goal is to simplify everyday security tasks while continuing to keep user data protected.
9. Call Context Brings Helpful Information During Calls
Apple also introduced a new feature called Call Context, which uses Apple Intelligence to provide useful information during phone conversations. The feature can surface relevant details during a call, helping users quickly access information without having to switch apps or search manually.
10. Major Performance Improvements Across Devices
Apple is introducing performance upgrades across its devices, including older models.
The company says apps can launch up to 30% faster, photos can load up to 70% faster immediately after being captured, and AirDrop transfers can be up to 80% faster. On iPad, file transfers to and from external drives are now up to five times faster, making file management much smoother.
Apple conducted its app launch testing on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, suggesting that many of these performance gains will also benefit older hardware.
Apple confirmed that iOS 27 will be available on the iPhone 11 and every device that currently supports iOS 26. The company said this gives iOS 27 the broadest device compatibility of any iOS release to date.
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