Apple Announces Major New Features in Tim Cook's Final WWDC

Tim Cook's swan song as Apple's CEO took place on June 8, in the form of the WWDC 2026 keynote address. The keynote broke from tradition by focusing almost entirely on new AI features that will span across devices rather than going through each new OS device by device. Based on the announcement, we'll likely see years' worth of AI promises from Apple finally come to life in a real, tangible way that the average user can take advantage of in daily life. Here's everything that was announced at WWDC 2026.

AI Takes Center Stage

Rather than announcing all the new features coming to iPhone with iOS 27, Apple's annual WWDC event focused on introducing the new Siri AI app and the long-promised smarter Apple Intelligence that will work across all devices. Apple Intelligence will remain private, using Private Cloud Compute, despite merging with Google's Gemini AI. Thanks to Gemini, we are finally getting the smarter Siri that we were promised two years ago, and then some. The new Siri will be able to handle more specific and complex requests across apps and will have on-screen awareness that allows it to understand more personalized context. Siri will also finally have a dedicated app and similar features to popular chatbots like ChatGPT. The app will store all your conversations with Siri for easy access and will allow you to start brand new chats, upload images for context, and more. The Photos app will have new AI editing features that will let you extend the background of your image by generating objects and landscapes that look natural to the original image. It will also be possible to reframe existing shots, letting you choose a better angle or position for the subject. Finally, the Shortcuts app will create entire automated multi-app shortcuts from scratch based on your written descriptions. Across the board, this update focuses on making Apple's operating systems—from iOS to macOS—AI-first. Read our full Siri AI roundup.

New Design & Interface Options

Apple also announced changes to Liquid Glass, performance optimizations to iOS, improvements to existing features, and some new features, too. While last year, Apple focused on overhauling the design of its operating systems, this year the company is focusing on refining them so that they're easier and faster to use. While many of these features will be subtler than the AI upgrades, things like faster app launching time and a slider to customize your Liquid Glass appearance should significantly improve user experience. These refinements also make way for the new and improved Apple Intelligence, including the newly introduced Siri AI. Read our full design and performance roundup.

Pumped-Up Parental Controls

Apple announced new and improved child safety features, including the ability for parents to approve websites before their children visit them, time limitations on apps for children, parental approval for whom kids can communicate with, redesigned Screen Time controls, and more. The tech giant also rolled out a new website to help parents and caregivers understand and use the new Child Account features. This move is a long-awaited solution to the problem of device and online safety for kids, and will have kids groaning and parents cheering across the Appleverse. Read our full Parental Controls roundup.

On the iPhone Life Podcast: Apple's AI Era Begins

In this episode, David and Donna dive into the most significant keynote in years: Apple’s AI Siri is finally here — it has its own app, on-screen awareness, and is woven throughout the OS (with help from Google’s Gemini). Plus, Tim Cook’s final WWDC as CEO marks the end of an era. Listen here.

The End of an Era

Next year, we can expect to see John Ternus at the forefront of WWDC, as he is stepping up to take Tim Cook's place as Apple's CEO on September 1 of this year. Cook is transitioning to executive chairman of Apple's board of directors, so what we see from Apple moving forward is likely to still involve his input and vision. Nevertheless, it will be strange to see a different face opening future Apple Events. Bon voyage, Tim!