WWDC 2026 recap: iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, Siri AI and everything Apple announced

Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote kicked off with CEO Tim Cook in what was likely his final appearance in the role before handing over the reins to John Ternus on 1 September. “On a personal note, some of the greatest highlights of my time as CEO have been events like this. Sharing powerful tools with all of you and then seeing what you create with them has been a constant reminder that imagination has no limits. And with the incredible capabilities we introduced today and so many more still to come, I truly believe the best is still ahead,” Cook said in his concluding note. The Cupertino giant announced sweeping updates across every platform with Siri AI at the centre of a late but renewed AI push that draws on Google’s Gemini models within the Apple ecosystem. Here is everything that was announced.

Siri AI

The headline announcement is Siri AI, Apple’s complete rebuild of its digital assistant. It is powered by the next generation of Apple Foundation Models in collaboration with Google and Gemini. Siri AI is a conversational, do-it-all assistant that can draw on a user’s personal data across messages, emails, photos, calendar and notes to answer questions and take action. It features onscreen awareness, broad world knowledge via an in-house web search capability and deep integration across every Apple platform.

A dedicated Siri app is launching with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, offering conversation history synced privately via iCloud across devices. Users can invoke Siri via the Dynamic Island, the side button or a downward swipe, with results appearing as rich cards in a dark-toned interface. On Apple Vision Pro, a 3D Siri orb can be placed anywhere in a user’s space and activated simply by looking at it.

Other Siri AI capabilities include Write with Siri for drafting text anywhere, an expanded Visual Intelligence experience, a Siri mode inside the Camera app for real-world object recognition and bill splitting and multi-command support so users can stack several requests into a single prompt. Voice dictation has also been significantly improved in accuracy and now handles capitalisation and punctuation automatically.

Siri AI will launch as a beta in September 2026 in English, with more languages following. It will not be available on iPhone or iPad in the EU due to Apple’s dispute with regulators over the Digital Markets Act and will not launch in China initially due to regulatory requirements.

Apple Intelligence

The broader Apple Intelligence platform has been rebuilt around a new architecture co-developed with Google. The new Apple Foundation Models run both on-device and on servers through Private Cloud Compute, with Apple maintaining that personal data is not stored or accessible to anyone, including Apple, when cloud processing is used. Some features, including image generation, have daily usage limits that can be expanded with iCloud+ subscriptions.

Apple Intelligence is compatible with iPhone 15 Pro and later, iPhone 16 and later, iPad mini with A17 Pro, iPad with M1 or later, Mac with M1 or later, Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch SE 3.

iOS 27

iOS 27 is compatible with devices going back to the iPhone 11, which is a broader support than many had expected. Some of the key platform improvements include 30% faster app launches, 70% faster loading of captures in Photos, 80% faster AirDrop transfers and CPU scheduler updates that improve performance on older iPhones. Network transitions between Wi-Fi and cellular are now more seamless, and Messages shows a progress bar for message delivery.

Photos

The Photos app gains three new AI editing tools: Clean Up, Extend and Reframe. Spatial Reframing lets users shift the perspective of a photo after it is taken, as if the camera had been repositioned in the original scene. The Extend tool adds background content to change the aspect ratio or straighten a crooked horizon. Clean Up has been significantly improved for a more realistic removal of distractions. Photos edited with Apple Intelligence will carry a hidden SynthID watermark. In addition, iCloud Shared Albums now support full-resolution sharing with Android and Windows users.

Safari

Safari can now automatically organise open tabs into topics using Apple Intelligence. A Notify Me feature lets users ask Safari to monitor a webpage for changes, such as a product restock or price drop and send an alert when it happens. Describe an Extension is a new tool that generates a custom Safari extension from a plain-language description. Passwords can now automatically navigate to a website and upgrade a weak or compromised password with one tap.

Messages, Mail and Calendar

Messages offers one-tap suggestions based on conversation context, including finding relevant photos from your library when asked. Smart Reply in both Mail and Messages now adapts to a user’s personal writing style with each recipient. Calendar allows events to be created or modified through plain-language descriptions. Call Context in the Phone app surfaces relevant information, such as a confirmation code, automatically when you call a business.

Image Playground and Genmoji

Image Playground now supports photorealistic image generation via a new model running on Private Cloud Compute, a significant expansion from the stylised outputs available previously. Generated images carry a SynthID watermark. Users can also modify images using natural language or by tapping, circling or brushing elements. Genmoji quality has been improved, and users can now describe changes they want to make to existing Genmoji. Image Playground can also generate Lock Screen wallpapers and Contact Posters.

Shortcuts, Home and other updates

Shortcuts gains a Describe a Shortcut feature that builds automation workflows from a plain-language description. The Home app now groups related security notifications into a single updating alert and adds generated video descriptions for camera clips. The Health app adds support for tracking perimenopause and menopause. Maps gets Flyover improvements and Workout Buddy is now available in Spanish and works without an iPhone nearby.

macOS Golden Gate

macOS 27 is named Golden Gate and introduces a more uniform toolbar and sidebars that extend to screen edges, along with a consistent tight corner radius across all windows and Liquid Glass directly applied to app icons. A systemwide Liquid Glass slider will let users adjust the intensity from ultra-clear to fully tinted. Search has been rebuilt across Photos, Spotlight and Mail with a new index that processes new content almost immediately.

Availability

Developer betas are available today, public betas arrive in July. The full release ships this fall.

Also Read: WWDC 2026: What new tools Apple is giving parents to manage kids’ screen time