Three iOS 27 features Apple did not show at WWDC: What we know so far
Follow UsGurman says Apple held back three features from WWDC
iOS 27 and macOS 27 betas contain clear code-level hints at a foldable iPhone and a touch-screen MacBook
Siri AI could eventually move to a paid subscription model
Apple spent a big part of WWDC 2026 talking about its new AI features and unveiled Siri AI which is an all revamped app dedicated to Apple’s smart assistant. However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, writing in his Power On newsletter, reports that Apple showed roughly 57 of the approximately 60 features he had previewed ahead of WWDC 2026. The three that were conspicuously absent: a new Modular watch face for Apple Watch, a fully customisable Camera app and Siri Extensions, the framework that would allow third-party AI chatbots beyond ChatGPT to work inside Siri and other Apple Intelligence features. The report claims that all three exist in internal Apple builds running on employee devices.
SurveyWhat was held back and why
The new Apple Watch face is expected to arrive alongside refreshed hardware in the autumn. The customisable Camera app, which would let users choose which controls appear on screen and where, is likely being held for the iPhone 18 Pro launch, given how closely it ties into the camera hardware upgrades expected with that device.
Apart from those, the Siri Extensions offers support for tapping into outside AI models is already present in the first iOS 27 developer beta, as is the App Store section Apple has built to support compatible apps. Apple has already held discussions with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google about the framework, including specifics about an entitlement developers would need to apply for. Gurman offers four theories for why it was not announced at WWDC: it could have complicated Apple’s public campaign against the EU’s Digital Markets Act; it might have overshadowed the Siri overhaul Apple did want to announce; the threat of potential litigation from OpenAI over dropping its exclusive status may have given Apple pause; and announcing a range of third-party AI options would have further complicated the already delicate messaging around why Apple is using Google’s Gemini models to power Siri. For the developers using the first beta, they can already see a chatbot picker that switches between Siri and ChatGPT. We could see the list expand by the time the new iPhone launch happens later this year.
Foldable iPhone and touch MacBook hints in the betas
The iOS 27 and macOS 27 developer betas contain what Gurman describes as the first tangible evidence from Apple itself of two significant upcoming products.
On the foldable iPhone side, the iPhone Mirroring app on macOS 27 has been updated to support wider, iPad-like layouts running on an iPhone which is a direct preparation for a device with a larger unfolded screen. iOS 27 beta code contains references to a product with multiple displays, additional sensors and a mechanism for detecting how open the device is. Apple also emphasised at WWDC that developers should design apps for what it called app adaptability, meaning software should work across a range of screen sizes. The foldable iPhone is expected to debut in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro.
On the Mac side, macOS 27 includes support for pull-to-refresh, a gesture native to touch screens rather than trackpads. Sidecar, the feature that lets users run an iPad as a secondary Mac display, now supports full touch input on the iPad screen. The pill-shaped Search or Ask interface in the new Siri on Mac is designed to emerge from a Dynamic Island, which does not yet exist on any Mac. Gurman has previously reported it will arrive as part of the first touch-screen MacBook. That device is expected between the end of 2026 and early 2027.
Could Siri AI eventually cost money?
Gurman also addresses the question of whether Apple will charge for Siri AI. His position is that Apple is not there yet, but the trajectory points in that direction. The new Siri AI, even in its current beta form, is capable enough that it could justify a fee once it improves further over the next year. The costs of running the server infrastructure for Siri conversations and Image Playground are significant, and Apple has already indicated that iCloud+ subscribers get higher daily usage limits, which is effectively the first step toward a tiered model.
Gurman’s prediction is that baseline Siri features will remain free without rate limits, while conversational AI, World Knowledge search and image generation will eventually be rate-limited and then moved behind a paywall, similar to how ChatGPT operates. He also raises the possibility of Apple bundling advanced Apple Intelligence features into Apple One, which has not meaningfully updated its offering since it launched in 2020.
Also Read: Not only Siri AI, here are the biggest Apple Intelligence features unveiled at WWDC 2026
