After years of chasing the artificial intelligence boom, Apple officially unveiled its new strategy: a massive partnership with Google to use Gemini AI as the backbone for Apple Intelligence. When the software updates drop this fall, this combo will be integrated across Apple’s entire ecosystem, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS.
Apple's AI can now peer into what’s stored on your device, what’s on your screen, and what your camera sees to answer questions, generate text, and perform tasks. Apple promises most processing happens on-device, though when it does use the cloud, it does so securely. Because of these high hardware demands, features will likely be limited to recent, top-tier devices. Additionally, due to regulatory hurdles, these new AI features will not initially launch in the European Union or China.
SIRI’S EXTREME MAKEOVER
Siri has evolved into a fully-fledged, chatty AI chatbot to rival Gemini and Claude. On the iPhone, Siri now lives in the Dynamic Island, bubbling up into an animated, listening blob when triggered. There is also a brand-new dedicated Siri AI app on iOS (and via Spotlight on Mac) that lets you view your past chat history.
Siri now boasts broad world knowledge, handles follow-up questions seamlessly without losing context, and can perform multi-app tasks, like drafting messages, creating shared photo folders, pinning calendar events, or helping you split a dinner check. Siri’s voice is now significantly more expressive, sounding remarkably like Scarlett Johansson’s AI character from the movie Her. Furthermore, integrated into the Camera app, Siri uses computer vision to identify real-world objects and pull up web results, functioning similarly to Google Lens.
OS UPGRADES: IOS 27 AND MACOS GOLDEN GATE
Beyond AI, Apple announced its annual slate of operating system refreshes, bringing a massive focus to speed and device longevity.
For iOS 27, in a rare move, Apple will support all devices all the way back to the iPhone 11, meaning no currently supported iPhones are being left behind this year. Apple also claims iOS has been heavily optimized: apps load 30 percent faster, photos pop up 70 percent quicker, and AirDrop transfers get a massive 80 percent speed boost. Additionally, iPhone users can now share photo albums with Android and Windows users at full resolution, and a new dedicated Perimenopause dashboard has been added to Apple Health.
On the desktop side, macOS Golden Gate marks the official end of an era. It is the first macOS to only work on Apple Silicon chips, officially cutting off Intel-based Macs from updates. For Vision Pro users, VisionOS introduces Siri Pro, which manifests as a floating, glowing orb that can see what you are looking at to answer questions. Users can also now transform standard pictures into panoramas inside the headset.
APP SMARTS: SAFARI, HOME, AND SHORTCUTS
Apple Intelligence is breathing new life into stock apps that have felt neglected for years.
Safari will now automatically analyze and group your open tabs into topical folders, such as throwing all your open shoe shopping tabs into a single "Shoes" folder. With a new feature called Describe an Extension, you can now build custom browser extensions simply by typing out a natural language description of what you want it to do.
The Home app will now intelligently bundle related smart home alerts together so you aren't bombarded by repetitive notifications. It also uses computer vision to summarize security footage with specific descriptions, like "Michael C. delivered a box to your front porch."
Finally, the Shortcuts app lets you build automated workflows just by describing them. For example, telling your phone to "let my partner know when I'll be home" will prompt the AI to look at your location, check real-time traffic via Maps, and automatically text your estimated arrival time.
DESIGN REFINEMENT: TAMING LIQUID GLASS
Last year, Apple introduced its ultra-transparent Liquid Glass design language, which critics called beautiful but incredibly hard to read. This year, Apple introduced refinements to ensure exceptional readability. A new transparency slider lets users take the interface from ultra-clear all the way to fully opaque. Sidebars now expand to the edges of the screen for a wider viewing window, and icons in the sidebars are getting their distinct colors back.
NEXT-GEN PHOTO MANIPULATION
Apple is leaning heavily into generative AI post-production tools that closely mirror Google’s Pixel features. The Photos app can now clean up backgrounds, remove unwanted signs, change aspect ratios, and even use generative AI to shift the perspective of a photo in virtual 3D space.
Apple’s AI image generator, Image Playground, has also been revamped to include a photorealistic style. Much like Google's recent updates, it can create entirely new images based on your existing photos, altering styles or adding new background or foreground elements.
ENHANCED CHILD SAFETY AND PARENTAL CONTROLS
Apple dedicated a significant portion of the keynote to giving parents stricter control over their kids' screen time and safety. New child safety features let parents restrict which apps kids can use at specific hours of the day and dictate exactly which contacts they are allowed to message.
In Safari, kids can send a digital request to browse a restricted website, which parents can approve or deny remotely from their own iPhones. On-device AI will also automatically detect and blur explicit, gory, or violent media on a minor's device while simultaneously flagging the incident to the parents.
THE HARDWARE MISS AND TIM COOK'S FAREWELL
Conspicuously absent from the keynote was any new hardware. Despite buzzing rumors of AI smart glasses or AirPods with built-in cameras, this WWDC was strictly a software affair.
This event also marked the final WWDC for outgoing CEO Tim Cook, who closed the keynote on a personal note, saying, "I still believe the best is yet ahead."
