On Monday, June 8, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) kicks off. As its name suggests, the weeklong event is primarily aimed at developers who make apps for Apple’s myriad operating systems. But it’s also a big day for Apple consumers, who get to see previews of the software that will be available on Apple devices this fall.
Thanks to an AI focus, WWDC26 may be one of the most consequential Apple developer conferences ever. Here’s what to expect from Apple when the company’s keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time in a few days—as well as some possible surprises.
An all-new Siri AI
In a move that will surprise no one, Apple is expected to focus heavily on its latest artificial intelligence advancements. As a matter of fact, it is highly likely that a new AI-powered Siri will be the star of the show (unless there is a surprise hardware announcement—but more on that below).
And yet, Apple’s Siri AI will also be the least surprising announcement out of the keynote. That’s because we’ve already known for months that a version of Google’s Gemini will power the new Siri. Indeed, Apple and Google announced this collaboration all the way back in January.
But don’t expect a Gemini-branded experience on the iPhone. Instead, the Gemini foundational models will power a revamped Siri and the overall Apple Intelligence experience. Besides getting much smarter Gemini brains, the new Siri is also expected to take the form of a chatbot app, like other modern AI chatbots—something Apple should have done years ago.
Refined Liquid Glass
Last year at WWDC25, the star of the show was the most radical user interface redesign on Apple’s devices since iOS 7 in 2013. Apple’s iOS 26 and the company’s other operating systems introduced the Liquid Glass design language, in which user elements appear as transparent panes of glass that warp and refract light when you interact with them.
As with all user interface changes, aspects of the new interface were controversial, and Apple has spent nearly every minor operating system update since then tweaking the look and feel of Liquid Glass on its devices, including giving users more control over how it appears.
With the rest of its new software to be announced on Monday, Apple is widely expected to unveil further design tweaks to Liquid Glass, particularly on the Mac; as Bloomberg reported, it didn’t debut in macOS 26 as Apple’s software designers had intended.
The ’27 versions of all Apple’s major operating systems
Apple has six major operating systems, and all of them are expected to see new versions previewed on Monday.
As in past years, iOS on the iPhone will likely be the main focus. Besides Siri AI upgrades, iOS 27 is expected to include additional AI editing tools in the Photos app; a revamped, more customizable Camera app; and improved Apple Intelligence writing tools, including an upgraded grammar checker. As Apple tends to offer feature parity across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, expect these features to come to iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 as well.
Less certain is which new features Apple’s Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro will get with the updated tvOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 expected to be announced on Monday. Besides the new Siri AI coming to these devices and some reports suggesting more health features and watch faces coming to watchOS 27, not much is known about other possible features for these operating systems.
A spotlight on incoming CEO John Ternus
WWDC is primarily known as a software event. However, there are a few other things Apple fans and industry watchers will be keeping an eye out for on Monday. The first involves Apple’s leadership.
In April, Apple announced the retirement of CEO Tim Cook, who is being succeeded by John Ternus, the current hardware chief, in September. Historically, Cook has given both the opening and closing remarks in the company’s WWDC keynote.
Given that this will be Apple’s final WWDC with Cook at the helm, it’s likely that he will still be part of the event. But it will be interesting to see whether Apple gives Ternus more face time in order to help fans and industry watchers become more familiar with him before he assumes the reins at the end of the summer. I suspect that they will, but I’m unsure whether the CEO transition will be addressed directly.
The iPhone Fold and new Apple TV?
Finally, it’s also possible Apple may announce—or at least preview—new hardware on Monday. While Apple usually sticks to software announcements at WWDC, there are reasons the company may choose to show off new devices as well.
If it does, the most likely device it will preview is the iPhone Fold (also currently colloquially called the iPhone Ultra). The reason Apple may preview its first foldable iPhone on Monday, while not planning to release it until later this year, is that it would be the company’s first foldable device, and developers will need time to learn how it works and to upgrade their apps to support the foldable screen. Giving developers a heads-up will help ensure that their apps are ready for the iPhone Fold when it launches this fall.
There’s also the outside possibility Apple may launch new Apple TV hardware (and perhaps new HomePods) on Monday. The Apple TV was last updated nearly three and a half years ago and isn’t powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence. It’s also been long rumored that Apple has had the new Apple TV ready to ship for nearly a year, but is waiting until the new Siri AI is available for it.
By introducing an Apple TV at WWDC26, Apple would give developers the opportunity to see how the new Siri AI will run on it and give them time to upgrade their apps to work with it before tvOS 27 ships to the public this fall.