WWDC 2026: A brief assessment
At WWDC26, Tim Cook's last keynote before he hands the CEO role to John Ternus on September.
I've been waiting for WWDC 2026 for a long time. And somehow I got almost everything I wanted. But somehow I still expected more. Before I jump to conclusions, though, I should try everything out first.
Here's the first caveat: Apple Intelligence won't be rolled out in the EU initially. What a surprise. Not. The same disappointment every time.
Apple introduced "Siri AI," a full rebuild of the assistant that does the things the company first demoed in 2024 and then quietly pushed back twice. It reads what's on your screen, pulls context from your messages, mail and photos, and chains actions across apps. There's a standalone Siri app now, with a conversation history that syncs through iCloud, so it finally behaves like the chatbots people have spent three years getting used to.
Here's the part Apple said quietly and everyone else said loudly: the brains are Google's. Siri AI runs on Gemini under the multiyear deal the two companies announced in January. Reports put that deal at roughly a billion dollars a year for a custom large model. Apple paired it with its own on-device Foundation Models and wrapped the whole thing in a privacy story, with Craig Federighi insisting that privacy in AI is non-negotiable and that data is only used to execute your request.
The rest of Apple Intelligence is the steady stuff. Photos gets Spatial Reframing, which improves a photo's composition after it's been taken. Safari can monitor a page and notify you about restocks or price drops. Messages offers one-tap suggestions to create a reminder or note based on the conversation. Image Playground adds photorealistic generation and a "describe a change" edit mode. None of it makes headlines alone, but together it's Apple catching up to where the industry was a year ago.
Everything else was housekeeping, and some of it is genuinely good. Liquid Glass now has a slider that runs from ultra-clear to fully tinted. macOS 27, dubbed Golden Gate, brings back the uniform toolbars and edge-to-edge sidebars Mac users missed. Performance got real attention: apps launch up to 30 percent faster, AirDrop is up to 80 percent faster, and Apple retuned the CPU scheduler so older iPhones feel quicker.
Oh, and rebuilt search across Spotlight, Photos and Mail.
Oh, and for some reason almost no WatchOS updates other than a few performance improvements. Disappointed (big Apple Watch fan tho)
tl;dr:
*Apple Intelligence & Siri AI*
- "Siri AI," an entirely new Siri across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, built on a new privacy-focused architecture.
- Powered by Google Gemini (multiyear deal announced Jan 2026, reported at ~$1B/year for a custom model) combined with Apple's own on-device Foundation Models.
- On-screen awareness, personal-context search across messages/email/photos, systemwide app actions, and live web answers with world knowledge.
- A dedicated Siri app to revisit or start conversations, with history synced privately via iCloud.
- Adjustable pace, expressivity and accent for the conversational experience.
- Visual updates: Siri animation in the Dynamic Island; swipe down from mid-screen to launch Siri AI.
- Siri mode in the Camera app and expanded Visual Intelligence.
- Apple Intelligence in apps: Spatial Reframing in Photos, Safari "Notify Me" page monitoring, one-tap suggestions in Messages, photorealistic generation and "describe a change" editing in Image Playground, a new Top Hits ranking in Mail.
- Privacy framing front and center: data only used to execute the request, verifiable by outside experts.
*Availability & the regional catch*
- Developer betas today, public beta next month, free update this fall.
- AI features require iPhone 16 or later / iPhone 15 Pro, M1+ iPads and Macs, Vision Pro, Apple Watch Series 10+.
- Siri AI not in the EU on iOS/iPadOS at launch (Mac, Watch, Vision Pro yes), due to the DMA.
- No new Apple Intelligence features in China at launch, pending regulation.
- Image generation has daily limits; iCloud+ raises them.
*Design & performance*
- Liquid Glass personalization slider (ultra-clear to fully tinted), plus sharper app icons.
- macOS 27 "Golden Gate": uniform toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, colored sidebar icons, tighter corner radius.
- Apps up to 30% faster to launch, photos up to 70% faster to appear, AirDrop up to 80% faster, iPad external-drive transfers up to 5x faster; CPU scheduler retuned for older devices.
- Rebuilt search across Spotlight, Photos and Mail.
- iOS 27 supports iPhone 11 and later, the widest iOS reach yet.
*Everything else across platforms*
- iCloud Shared Albums now full-resolution and cross-platform (incl. Android and Windows).
- Health: perimenopause and menopause support in Cycle Tracking.
- Apple Watch: dynamic app grid of five Siri-suggested apps, a Smart Stack widget tap gesture, a consolidated Find My app.
- AirPods: custom EQ; AirPods Pro 3 heart-rate sync via GymKit.
- Vision Pro: panoramas convertible into spatial Environments; Wi-Fi up to 3x faster.
- Apple Maps: enhanced Flyover combining aerial imagery with AI.
So far this looks like a solid WWDC but not revolutionary. Looking forward to test updated Siri / Apple Intelligence although, as a european, I will have to wait :/
