Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2026, at Apple Park, unveiling a wide range of updates including a revamped Siri, iOS 27, expanded Apple Intelligence features, and new parental controls. The event also marked CEO Tim Cook’s final WWDC before handing leadership to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus on September 1.
The headline announcement was a significant Siri upgrade powered by Google Gemini. Apple described the updated assistant as more capable, conversational, and compatible with visual intelligence. Siri will now operate as a standalone app in addition to functioning across existing apps. Senior Vice President Craig Federighi emphasized Apple’s privacy stance during the presentation, stating, “We believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” and that “data is only used to execute your request.”
Apple Intelligence received a broad set of updates, including tab management for Safari, one-tap password updating, cross-app context awareness, AI-powered reply suggestions in Messages, and the ability for the Phone app to pull context from Mail and Messages during calls. Apple said it collaborated with Google and the Gemini family of models to develop the next generation of its Apple Foundation Models.
iOS 27 will support all devices from the iPhone 11 onward — which Apple described as available to more users than any previous iOS release. The update includes performance improvements: photos loading 70 percent faster, AirDrop transfers 80 percent faster, and improved CPU scheduling for multitasking.
Other announcements included a rebuilt search experience across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS; new AI photo editing tools in the Photos app including “Reframe,” “Extend,” and an upgraded “Cleanup” feature; a systemwide AI dictation tool built into the iOS 27 keyboard; natural language creation for the Shortcuts app; and perimenopause and menopause tracking added to the Health app. Apple also detailed new default parental controls for devices set up for children under 13, including “Ask to Browse” and “Ask to Buy” restrictions.
Cook closed the keynote with a farewell address, saying, “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to help advance that mission with teams whose creativity, care, and conviction continue to make a lasting difference in people’s lives.”
Source: TechCrunch