Two years ago, at its own Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple announced a suite of AI features lumped under “Apple Intelligence.” It wasn’t Genmoji, Image Playground, or Writing Tools that floored everyone. It was the revamped and more intelligent Siri capable of “contextual awareness,” a technical way to say the assistant could understand what was happening on your iPhone’s screen and also pull information from across your apps so you didn’t need to look for it yourself.
Apple promised the new Siri would launch in the fall alongside the iPhone 16 series. It never arrived.
The company delayed the Siri reboot several times from that fall to spring. Then at WWDC 2025, Apple senior VP of software Craig Federighi finally admitted that work on the new Siri “needed more time to reach our high-quality bar” and that “we look forward to sharing more in the coming year.”
To paper over its massive fumble, Apple rolled out Liquid Glass to all of its platforms. The strategy worked; besides the most vocal tech enthusiasts, most consumers forgot all about the new Siri. Apple’s failure to launch the new assistant had next to no impact on iPhone or Apple device sales.
Well, it’s been two whole years since it was announced, and Apple still hasn’t released Siri 2.0, but that’s supposedly finally, finally happening this year. Needless to say, the WWDC 2026 spotlight will be on the assistant. How much of what was promised at WWDC 2025 will Apple deliver on thanks to its new Google Gemini brain?
Finally, a Siri app
The new Siri will reportedly have a new look, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Instead of the multicolored glow that surrounds the sides of your iPhone’s screen when you press and hold the side button, Siri will have a “dark-toned interface” that matches the theme for this year’s WWDC visuals and apparently pop out from the Dynamic Island.
Gurman also says that Apple will introduce a Siri app, which could work similar to other chatbot apps. You’ll be able to type in a prompt and view responses in a chat-style conversation. Past “chats” will be stored in the app. He also claims that Apple will open up Siri to third-party AI chatbots and let users choose between them for queries.
Another planned feature is reportedly on the “agentic” AI side, where you’ll be able to perform multi-step tasks just with a voice command. Gurman also says that Siri will be integrated into the Camera app for Visual Intelligence, the computer vision feature that lets AI chatbots identify objects and information within photos.
I’m sure there will be much more to unpack on Siri. It sure sounds like Apple is betting it all in an attempt to prove it’s not behind in the AI race.
Tightening software nuts and bolts
All rumors and reports suggest that Apple’s “27” software updates for all of its platforms will focus on improving performance, squashing bugs, and strengthening security.
That makes sense since Liquid Glass debuted last year, so this time around Apple will reportedly focus on under-the-hood changes. Gurman reports some platforms could see longer battery life with the updates.
Any visual changes to Liquid Glass are expected to be subtle—mostly refinements for increased contrast and legibility for transparent UI elements. Personally, I’m hoping Apple will offer some kind of slider so that users can decide how much of the Liquid Glass effect they want on their devices.
Don’t expect any major hardware
While Apple has announced hardware at WWDC before—notable ones include the ill-fated trash can Mac Pro in 2013 and the follow-up cheese grater tower in 2019—we’re not expecting Apple to drop anything new.
The anticipated foldable iPhone isn’t expected until the fall event in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. The Vision Pro is reportedly on ice, with Apple shifting its priorities to developing smart glasses—pairs with and without screens—for launch in 2027 and beyond.
The MacBook Pro was refreshed last fall. The MacBook Air and iPad Air were updated in March, debuting with the category-defining MacBook Neo.
If there is any new hardware, it could be an update to the Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini. Gurman said both are “ready to go and just waiting on the new Siri.” The devices would have an improved chip to support AI features. The Apple TV set-top box could get an “updated remote.”
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