Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote was a little different this year, and not just because it was Tim Cook’s final public appearance as CEO. Rather than the usual single-stream tour of new features, Apple broke the presentation into three parts: interface refinements and performance improvements, updates to parental controls and child safety, and a deep dive into Apple Intelligence and the new Siri AI.
Apple previewed a lot during the keynote and listed even more on its website afterward. Below, we’re highlighting the features most likely to make you want to upgrade this fall. We also encourage you to check Apple’s platform pages for the full picture, including hardware requirements to see if your devices are eligible:
- macOS 27 Golden Gate: Apple silicon Macs only, including MacBook Neo (2026), MacBook Air (2020 and later), MacBook Pro (2020 and later), iMac (2021 and later), Mac mini (2020 and later), Mac Studio (2022 and later), and Mac Pro (2023)
- iOS 27: iPhone SE (2nd generation and later) and iPhone 11 and later (unchanged from iOS 26)
- iPadOS 27: iPad (9th generation and later and A16), iPad mini (6th generation and later and A17 Pro), iPad Air 11-inch (4th generation and later, M2, M3, and M4), iPad Air 13-inch (M2 and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation and later), and iPad Pro (M4 and later)
- watchOS 27: Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 9 and later, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later
- visionOS 27: All Vision Pro headsets
Siri AI Everywhere
The long-promised “more personalized” Siri is finally taking shape. Now called Siri AI, it’s shipping later this year as a dedicated app for conversations much like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. It’s being integrated deeply across Apple’s platforms: swipe down from the Dynamic Island on iPhone, pull it up via Spotlight on Mac, or use contextual menu commands to focus it on specific images, files, or text. It’ll also work with AirPods and in CarPlay.
Siri AI uses personal context from your messages, emails, calendar, photos, and other data to tailor its responses. It’s also screen-aware, so you can ask about what you’re looking at or have it take action based on what’s showing. With developer support, it’ll be able to work directly in compatible apps to create contacts, send emails, make calls, and more. It can also pull in information from the web when you need broader context.
More expressive voices and advanced dictation are coming too, though those features require newer hardware: an iPhone Air or iPhone 17 Pro, an iPad with M4 or later, or a Mac with M3 or later.
Better Performance
Apple has put meaningful work into performance across the board. Apps on iPhone and iPad launch up to 30% faster, new photos appear in your library up to 70% faster, AirDrop transfers are up to 80% faster, and copying files from an iPad to an external drive is up to 5x faster, now on par with macOS. If you’re on an older iPhone, you’ll likely notice the difference thanks to a new CPU scheduler that improves general performance across the board.
More Reliable Spotlight
If you’ve ever searched for a file you know exists and watched Spotlight come up empty, you’re not alone. Apple has rearchitected Spotlight’s search index to make it faster and more thorough. Search in Mail and Photos gets the same improvements.
Liquid Glass Refinements
Apple addressed some of the most common feedback about Liquid Glass, the interface design that debuted last year. A new transparency slider lets you dial it back from ultra-clear to fully tinted, giving you more control over legibility. On the Mac, apps are getting a new uniform toolbar, and sidebars will extend to window edges and bring back colored icons.
Visual Intelligence on More Devices
Visual Intelligence, which lets you point your camera at something and get information about it, has been limited to iPhones with the Camera Control. In version 27, it’s moving to a dedicated Siri mode in the Camera app, which brings it to iPad for the first time. On Mac, you’ll be able to select on-screen items and ask Siri about them directly.
Automatic Updates to Weak or Compromised Passwords
Most of us have old accounts with weak or reused passwords we keep meaning to fix. Apple’s Passwords app is getting Apple Intelligence built in, which means it can now log in to eligible websites and update those passwords to something strong and unique on your behalf. It won’t nag you, it’ll just handle it.
More Comprehensive Parental Controls
Apple made significant updates to parental controls, partly in response to parent feedback and partly to get ahead of potential regulation. A new setup assistant makes it easier to configure child accounts, which now include Ask to Browse (requiring parental approval to visit specific websites) and communication controls (limiting who kids can contact outside the family). Communication Safety has been expanded to flag gore and violence in addition to nudity, and a redesigned Screen Time app gives parents a clearer at-a-glance view of their child’s device activity.
New Photos Features
The Clean Up tool has been a hit, and Apple says it’s gotten even better at removing distractions and filling in backgrounds naturally. Two new features are also worth knowing about: Extend lets you expand an image outward, generating a realistic background around your subject, and Reframe lets you reposition the virtual camera after the fact, shifting perspective or changing zoom with new content generated only for the areas that moved. It’s a genuinely impressive set of additions for anyone who takes a lot of photos.
Build Shortcuts with Natural Language
Shortcuts is powerful but has always had a learning curve that kept a lot of people away. With Apple Intelligence, you can now just describe what you want a shortcut to do and it’ll be built for you. If it doesn’t work quite right the first time, you can keep refining it until it does. For anyone who’s ever wanted to automate something but didn’t know where to start, this is a big deal.
Image Playground Gets More Capable
Image Playground’s earlier output leaned more playful than practical. That’s changing. Apple says it can now generate photorealistic images, incorporate multiple people from your Photos library, transform existing images using natural language descriptions, and produce images in multiple dimensions. It’s not a replacement for a professional illustrator, but it’s a solid option for quickly putting together something for a presentation, website, or invitation.
Aside from Siri AI, none of these are dramatic overhauls, and that feels intentional. Apple is focused on making the experience better without changing too much too fast. We’ll share more specific upgrade recommendations for each of your devices after the beta wraps up this summer.
(Featured image by Apple)
