By Alex Harrington
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Apple's biggest event of the year lands on Monday, June 8, and for once, the rumor mill has been unusually productive.
The keynote kicks off WWDC 2026, which runs through Friday, June 12. It starts at 10:00 a.m. Pacific, 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Apple pre-records the keynote and streams it on Apple.com, YouTube, the Apple TV, and the Apple Developer app, so there's no excuse to miss it. Developer betas for every major platform will drop the same day, with public betas expected in July and full releases in September.
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The headline story going into this conference isn't hardware. It's Siri, and whether Apple can finally deliver what it promised two years ago.
Siri Gets a Genuine Overhaul, Powered by Google
Siri improvements announced at WWDC 2024 were delayed, but a January 2026 partnership with Google, bringing Gemini models into the mix, is what's expected to finally enable the more advanced capabilities.
Apple is partnering with Google and plans to use a custom AI model built in collaboration with Google's Gemini team for some of the new Siri features, including the chatbot functionality.
The practical changes have got me excited for what's to come from the tech brand. Apple reportedly plans to debut an all-new dedicated Siri app with an "Extensions" feature across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27, letting users interact with the assistant in both text and voice modes, with access to their full conversation history.
iOS 27 is also rumored to include a new Siri interface inside the Dynamic Island. Triggering it would reportedly surface a "Search or Ask" prompt alongside a glowing cursor. The AI assistant is also reportedly getting opened up to third-party chatbots, allowing it to hand questions off to services like Claude or Gemini if they're installed on the device.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the following on an earnings call: "We look forward to bringing a more personalized Siri to users coming this year."
iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 will also let users set third-party AI services as the default for Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Image Playground, per Bloomberg.
For an ecosystem that has historically been tightly closed, this is a big change.
iOS 27, Mac Hardware, and the Foldable Elephant in the Room
Beyond Siri, iOS 27 has been described as a Snow Leopard update - Apple addressing bugs and stripping out old, outdated code to make iOS run faster. The update is also expected to include expanded Apple Intelligence capabilities in apps like Wallet, Safari, and Shortcuts, an upgraded keyboard with improved autocorrect, and Apple Maps satellite connectivity.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple had plans to implement a Liquid Glass slider letting users adjust the level of transparency and contrast more precisely - something that didn't make it into iOS 26.
Compatibility rumors suggest iOS 27 will support iPhone 12 and newer, with the iPhone 11 series likely losing support.
Then there's the foldable. Apple is launching its first foldable iPhone this September, and iOS 27 needs to accommodate it - the iPhone Fold will support two apps side-by-side for the first time, with an iPad-like display when open and a standard iPhone layout when closed.
The device, referred to as the iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra depending on the source, is expected to carry a price tag as high as $2,400.
Apple won't announce the hardware at WWDC, but the software groundwork for it will almost certainly be on full display.
On the Mac side of things, WWDC tends to be software-first, and Apple already completed a major spring hardware cycle in March 2026 that included the MacBook Neo and updated MacBook Pro models.
Still, the Mac Studio is expected to gain M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, the Mac mini is in line for an M5 and M5 Pro refresh, and the iMac is also a candidate for an M5 update - though global RAM shortages could push some of those launches to later in 2026.
There's also speculation that Apple could preview its rumored smart home lineup, including a "HomePad" hub with a 7-inch display, A18 chip, and a new operating system called homeOS that would support FaceTime without requiring an iPhone.
WWDC 2026 is shaping up as Apple's most consequential developer conference in recent memory - not because of any single product, but because the company is under real pressure to prove that its AI ambitions are more than vaporware. The Siri overhaul either lands this year or the conversation about Apple's relevance in the AI era gets considerably louder.
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