What Do the Rumors Say About WWDC 2026?
WWDC 2026 is just around the corner . On Monday, June 8, Apple will hold a virtual keynote where it will announce all the major software features for next year. Unless the company drops a big surprise, we’re entering the “27” era, which will include iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27. That’s a lot of updates.
The company typically keeps everything under wraps, meaning we don’t know what it’ll unveil next week. However, there are plenty of leaks and rumors (reliable ones, mind you) that provide a pretty detailed picture of what WWDC 2026 will look like. Spoiler alert: expect a lot of AI.
WWDC 2026: Siri with artificial intelligence is finally here.
The new feature that the tech world is expecting Apple to announce this year was actually announced by Apple several years ago: a new Siri, enhanced with artificial intelligence. Apple first unveiled this enhanced Siri at WWDC 2024 , planning to release it with iOS 18. While the company did include some AI features in iOS 18, dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” an AI-powered Siri has been absent for two years. A class-action lawsuit has even been filed over the matter .
While it might seem a bit unreasonable to pin high hopes on the debut of the new Siri given Apple’s repeated delays, it does seem likely that the updated assistant will arrive this year. Rumor has it that Apple’s new Siri will be much more contextual, meaning it will understand what’s happening on your screen to help answer your questions. You’ll be able to swipe down from the top of the screen at any time to summon the new assistant, though there will also be a separate chatbot app if you need a more specialized AI experience. The arrival of a real Siri app on iOS for the first time might seem odd, but if Apple truly does significantly improve the assistant, it would make sense.
Furthermore, the promise of AI-powered Siri, due in 2024, should hold true: Siri will supposedly be able to perform actions on your behalf, such as editing images or sharing files with contacts. She should also be able to find the information she needs across apps. For example, when you ask her a question like, “What time does my mom’s flight arrive?” Siri should know where to look: the Messages and Mail apps, where she can find her travel itinerary, flight number, and any other sources that can provide the necessary context to answer the question. In this way, Siri in iOS 27 should be more like ChatGPT or Gemini. Of course, you can use ChatGPT instead of Siri whenever you want, and Apple is reportedly using Gemini to implement some of these new features.
WWDC 2026: iOS 27
The focus of the iOS 27 presentation will likely be on artificial intelligence-powered Siri, but that doesn’t mean the iPhone will be without other new features. To temporarily shift attention away from AI, Apple will likely update Apple Intelligence with new features and capabilities. Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning a series of improvements based on natural language processing that will allow you to tell iOS what you want to see so that AI can perform actions on your behalf. This will include things like wallpaper generation, shortcut creation, and photo editing.
Speaking of photos, the Photos app will receive two new AI-powered tools : Reframe and Expand. The former lets you adjust the cropping of a photo, while the latter lets you expand it using AI-generated images. The company is also making minor improvements to features like Image Playground and Genmoji, and may introduce a new AI-powered web search tool similar to Perplexity or Google’s AI mode.
Interestingly, Apple has already announced a number of new AI-powered accessibility features that are likely to arrive in iOS 27. In recent years, the company has unveiled accessibility features ahead of the keynote, and this year is no exception. These include the ability to use natural-speech voice control, automatic captioning for any video, and VoiceOver-powered environment descriptions, among other new capabilities. While Apple hasn’t confirmed these features will arrive in the new update, they are almost certainly coming.
The Camera app in iOS 27 will be more customizable than ever , thanks to a new widget system that allows you to customize the app. A new Siri mode will also be introduced, potentially bringing visual intelligence features directly to the Camera app, making them more visible to users who might otherwise miss them. AirPods users may also get a simpler settings menu, though the company is long overdue for a dedicated AirPods app .
iOS 27 will likely be very similar to iOS 26, which may disappoint Liquid Glass detractors. However, Apple may release a new slider that will allow further control over the overall appearance of Liquid Glass, building on features added in subsequent iOS versions .
While there will be many new features, they may not be as numerous as in previous years. Apple may be using iOS 27 as an opportunity to release more stability updates this year , similar to what it did with Mac OS X “Snow Leopard” back in the day.
WWDC 2026: iPadOS 27
iPad rumors have been fairly quiet this year. So, I expect all of the above to apply to iPadOS 27 as well: a new Siri with AI, new AI features, and stability updates. We might also see some unexpected Apple features for larger screens, but for now, I expect iPadOS to be mostly similar to iOS.
WWDC 2026: macOS 27
Like iOS and iPadOS 27, macOS 27’s biggest new feature will likely be artificial intelligence. It will also feature a new AI-powered Siri, as well as many of the AI improvements mentioned above. The Photos app in macOS 27 should have the same editing tools as iOS 27, and you might be able to control Liquid Glass with a slider. Overall, the two operating systems seem more in sync than ever.
However, the main question is whether Apple will introduce any touch-based features in macOS 27. The company is working on a touchscreen MacBook , which will require Apple’s first-ever touch-compatible version of macOS. The company may showcase some of these new changes at WWDC, but it could also wait until the MacBook announcement. WWDC isn’t a hardware event, so Apple likely won’t unveil the new computer at that time.
WWDC 2026: watchOS 27
You know what’s happening: Apple Watch users updating to watchOS 27 will get the new AI-powered Siri (provided your watch supports Apple Intelligence). What this actually means for Apple Watch users remains to be seen: the user experience on watchOS should be quite different (you almost certainly won’t be able to edit photos with AI on a wearable), but we’ll have to see what features make their way to the Apple Watch when WWDC kicks off next week.
But watchOS 27 is also getting other new features. Bloomberg reports that Apple’s commitment to stability will also affect watchOS, but the company intends to take this opportunity to improve heart rate monitoring with this new update. How they do this remains to be seen, but if Apple can improve my heart rate monitoring without buying a new Apple Watch, I’ll be impressed. Apple may also release a new watch face based on a design previously exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra.
WWDC 2026: tvOS 27
We don’t know much about the tvOS 27 updates, though I suspect Apple will release some improvements to Siri. However, we do know about one new feature: in its major accessibility announcement, Apple announced that users will be able to adjust text size in tvOS for the first time.
WWDC 2026: visionOS 27
Apple Vision Pro fans can expect many updates similar to those available to iPhone and Mac users. This includes AI-powered Siri support, new AI features (such as photo editing and improved natural language processing), and stability updates.