Cook's swan song at Apple: 3 key highlights of WWDC26, the revolutionary Siri, new hardware and Apple's make-or-break moment

This year's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) is about to kick off at 12:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 9th. For Apple, this event is a very crucial juncture: First, the promises made at the 2024 WWDC have not been fulfilled yet, and the AI competition has reached a white - hot stage in 2026. Apple has fallen behind other manufacturers in the LLM (Large Language Model) field and can only cooperate with Google on Gemini. Second, Tim Cook is finally stepping back this year, and this will be his last WWDC. John Ternus is about to take over. Finally, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and ARM announced a new cooperation on AI PCs at the Taipei GTC in early June, posing new challenges to Apple Silicon. Meanwhile, OpenAI is also seeking to develop its own mobile phone.

Therefore, 2026 is also a "transformation year" for Apple. There isn't much time left for them to prove whether they can successfully embrace the AI era. Before the official opening of WWDC, I've collected some online leaks to give you a preview. Let's take a look.

Siri

Mark Gurman from Bloomberg released some information about the features and renderings of the new - version Siri at the end of May. Of course, it may differ from the product officially launched at the June WWDC, as Apple might still be testing different versions internally. Anyway, let's take a first look to see if Apple can fulfill the promises made in 2024.

First, Siri will use a brand - new large AI model, which is most likely the result of the cooperation with Google Gemini. Although Gemini is currently at a disadvantage in the T1 - level LLM competition, it seems to be an epic upgrade for Siri. Therefore, the new - version Siri will gain the model capabilities of Gemini and Google's AI search capabilities. Apple will also launch a separate Siri app to compete with products like ChatGPT and Claude.

However, Bloomberg also revealed that Apple is testing opening the system permissions of iOS 27 to third - party AI Agents through the App Store. This means that we may be able to choose different models such as Gemini, GPT, Claude, Qwen, and Kimi for Siri.

Second, Siri will have a new way to be summoned in iOS 27. In addition to the traditional voice call and long - pressing the power button to activate, we can summon Siri by swiping down from the middle of the top of the screen in iOS 27. In any app, we can use this method to activate a Siri that resides in the Dynamic Island, which helps us with searches or interacts with the current app interface.

In this way, the swipe gestures at the top of the screen will be adjusted. Swiping down from the left will open the notification center, swiping down from the middle will summon Siri, and swiping down from the right will open the control center.

Finally, the new - version Siri will finally gain the ability to break through the barriers between apps. In iOS 27, we can ask Siri to launch apps, write emails, send messages, check the weather, add calendar events, search for memos, trigger shortcut commands, etc. All results will be presented through the card view on the Dynamic Island. Swiping down will pop up a chat window for further interaction with Siri.

Siri Empowers System Apps

In addition to Siri itself, Apple will also add more AI features to system apps such as the camera and photos in iOS 27, making Siri the global AI entry point for the system.

In the camera app, Apple has integrated Siri into the mode - switching menu. We can directly perform image recognition and search through the camera viewfinder, replacing the original Visual Intelligence function limited to the "Camera Control" button.

In addition to the newly added Siri module, the camera app will also support custom widgets in iOS 27. Above the viewfinder, we can freely select and arrange function buttons such as timers, Live Photos, flashlights, night - mode, depth of field, and exposure to meet the personalized needs of every "mobile photographer", improve shooting efficiency, and help us better capture the moment.

The photos app will also be blessed with new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 27. In addition to the original removal function, Apple will add two functions, Reframe and Extend, in the new system, which are similar to the functions of the SKRWT app. The former can change the angle of the photo, and the latter can extend more of the photo's frame. Bloomberg also revealed that Apple may add a natural semantic editing function to the photos app, such as directly changing the color of an element in the photo or replacing an element.

Additionally, the shortcut commands app may be reshaped by AI in iOS 27. That is, new shortcut commands can be created through natural semantics, eliminating the need to manually piece together modules one by one. This greatly lowers the user - usage threshold, allowing more ordinary users to benefit from this function.

Bloomberg also mentioned some other possible AI - related changes in iOS 27, such as AI - generated wallpapers, grammar input checks, a new Image Playground, and Genmoji.

Other Update Contents

In addition to Siri, which is the biggest variable, Apple's main tasks for iOS 27 this time are to fix bugs and optimize the presentation of Liquid Glass. Large - scale new system functions will be put on hold for the time being, and only some existing functions will be patched.

First, in terms of accessibility features, Apple will support automatically generating subtitles for screen recordings, and voice control will support natural language. For example, users can operate by saying "Click on walking navigation".

The wallet function will add a custom - creation feature. In iOS 27, we can scan movie tickets, entrance tickets, membership cards, etc., turn them into electronic vouchers, and store them in the wallet app for convenient access and management.

The detailed interface of AirPods in the settings will be fully updated, but there won't be a separate AirPods app.

In the EU region, third - party streaming protocols such as Google Cast may be added to iOS 27 as an alternative to AirPlay for users to choose.

The satellite connection of the iPhone may support functions such as map navigation, picture sending, and 5G NTN.

On the macOS side, Apple will optimize some display effects of Liquid Glass, improve text clarity, and reduce interface confusion. In addition, the Safari browser will support tab grouping and automatic naming functions.

For watchOS 27, Apple will continue to focus on health monitoring. On the one hand, it will improve the heart - rate tracking performance of the Apple Watch, and on the other hand, it may launch a hypertension warning notification. New watch faces are also a must - have item for the annual update, and one of them is a simplified version of Modular Ultra.

Image source: 9to5Mac

New Hardware

WWDC rarely releases new hardware products, but this year's situation is a bit special. It's time for the Apple TV and HomePod mini to be updated. However, there won't be obvious changes in the appearance and functions of these two products. The main updates will be the installation of new chips and the new Siri.

The Apple TV 4K may be equipped with the A17 Pro chip and support Apple Intelligence, while the HomePod mini may be equipped with the S9 chip. Therefore, if the new HomePod mini has any new Apple Intelligence functions, it will probably rely on the cloud. As for the large - sized HomePod and the rumored HomePod Touch, the probability of their release is relatively low according to current rumors, especially the latter. If it is released, it will be a "One more thing".

So, is it possible for the M5 versions of the Mac Studio and Mac mini to be released at WWDC2026? Under normal circumstances, due to the soaring prices of storage and memory, the release is likely to be postponed to the second half of the year. However, as a supply - chain master, Cook may give us a surprise.

Above is the summary of all the leaked information about this year's WWDC2026. If you know other information or are interested in a certain update, welcome to discuss it in the comment section.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Sspai" (ID: sspaime) , written by Vanilla, and published by 36Kr with authorization.