Rock out to WWDC all weekend
While we wait for the big event to kick off on Monday, check out Apple’s official WWDC playlist on Apple Music, including tracks by BTS, sombr, Teddy Swims, and Harry Styles.
Tim Cook’s last hurrah
Back in April, Tim Cook announced he will step down as Apple CEO on September 1. (He isn’t leaving, by the way. His new duties as chairman of the board are likely to include a certain amount of political wrangling.) This timing means new CEO John Ternus will be in place for the iPhone 18 Pro launch in early September, and Monday’s WWDC26 keynote will be Cook’s swansong: his last Apple event as host and compere.
This will surely be acknowledged in some way. Perhaps Ternus will be invited on stage for a symbolic passing of the torch: a handshake, a hug, a high five. Expect Cook to thank the colleagues and customers who’ve supported him for the past 15 years, much as he did in this letter to the Apple community.
And here’s a trip down memory lane. A video of Cook’s very first event in charge, back in October 2011. “This is my first product launch since being named CEO,” he says. “It is a pleasure to host you today.” The pleasure was all ours, Tim.
WWDC preview podcast: macOS 27 and Mac hardware
A couple of weeks ago, Michael, Jason, and I talked about WWDC and what could happen with macOS 27 and Mac hardware. You can check out that episode of the Macworld Podcast in the YouTube video below. Skip to the 12-minute mark if you don’t want to hear us talk about the Ferrari Luce.
Apple’s first search engine may power Siri
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will use “an in-house web search product” to power Siri’s upgraded knowledge base without leaning on Google or ChatGPT. If true, that’s a major step toward replacing Google in Safari, a rumor we’ve been tracking for years.
WWDC feature spotlight: New home for Visual Intelligence
As we get ready for the keynote kicking off on Monday at 10am PT, we’re going to spotlight rumored features that we’re excited about. Here’s one that I think people will love: Apple is reportedly moving Visual Intelligence from the Camera Control button to the camera to give it more, ahem, visibility. According to reports, there will be a new “Siri” option in the Camera app that will take you straight into Visual Intelligence to get information about something you see.
Visual Intelligence is an underappreciated feature that works quite well, but I fear most iPhone users don’t even know it exists. Moving it to a place where people will see it every day will be a great way to advertise it. And now that it’ll be using a smarter Siri rather than ChatGPT for most requests, it could be the killer feature of iOS 27.
Foundry
WWDC preview: Top 5 most wanted
WWDC is going to be filled with small changes and big features coming to your Apple devices later this year. We’ll be highlighting a few of them throughout the weekend, but to get started, here’s Filipe Esposito with a list of the top 5 things he hopes to see on Monday, including a tease for the folding iPhone. Will it happen? We’ll know in just a few more days.
More changes in store for notifications
Mark Gurman’s WWDC preview for Bloomberg doesn’t include much that we haven’t already heard, but we did spot this tidbit: “Notifications across iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 have a new effect for when alerts arrive. They now slide in from the left side of the screen, aligning with the new gesture system: Users swipe down from the left to open the Notification Center because swiping down from the center now opens the Search or Ask AI panel.”
So it sounds like notifications are changing yet again. Someday Apple will settle on a system it likes, but for now, we’ll be summoning Siri more often than we want until our fingers get used to the new system.
What exactly is “coming bright up”?
Apple loves a good clue, and the marketing materials for WWDC26 are no exception. Invites feature the tagline “Coming bright up,” while the company’s developer portal uses the phrase “All systems glow.” Nice puns, but what do they mean?
The most likely explanation is that these are references to an upcoming interface redesign. Once iOS 27 is here, Siri is going to look very different, and this will include a glow in the Dynamic Island to indicate that it’s been activated.
We discuss the WWDC taglines in more depth here.
Apple
New merch at Apple Park!
If you happen to be in Cupertino and want to stop by the store at Apple Park, there is some special new gear. According to Mr. Macintosh on X, Apple has started selling new rainbow hats and crewnecks, and stainless steel water bottles. Of course, they could be for Pride Month, but we think Apple is just really excited for the show Monday,
Google and Nvidia will play a major role in the new Siri
When Apple announces the new Siri next week, you’ll hear a lot about what it can do, how smart it is, how much more capable it is, and how cool the new interface looks. What you might not hear much about is that at least part of it will run on Google servers, which are powered by Nvidia chips. The burning question is: How will Apple play up the privacy angle, and how does Private Cloud Compute fit into all this?
iOS 27 already has a game-changing feature
In late May, Apple announced a couple of iOS 27 features early as part of a spotlight on Accessibility. Among them is a huge upgrade to Voice Control, which will use natural language to control all sorts of things on your phone. That’s cool on its own, but it also speaks to a much more capable and contextual Siri that could change everything about how we use and interact with our iPhones.
Save $100 on the Apple Watch Series 11
Along with iOS 27, we’ll also get a look at watchOS 27 during Monday’s keynote. If you want to make sure you can get all the latest features, pick up an Apple Watch Series 11 for just $299, a savings of $100 and matching the lowest price we’ve ever seen.
Fix the iPhone camera please!
I’m a pretty casual iPhone photo taker, but Filipe Esposito made me realize just how underpowered the iPhone camera is. I don’t hate using it like he does, but I also don’t seek out many features because they’re just too hard to find. Filipe is hopeful that iOS 27 will fix things.
Macworld’s WWDC Preview podcast: iOS 27 and more!
Roman, Jason, and myself spend an hour talking about what we expect next week from iOS 27, Siri, and Apple Intelligence—plus a few predictions on how Apple will start the show. Join us and send us a comment at [email protected] with your thoughts.
You might hate iOS 27
If there’s one thing we’re sure of next week, it’s that iOS 27 will feature a lot of AI. As AI skeptic Jason Cross explains, there’s a bit of a backlash against AI right now. There are hallucinations, confidently wrong answers, inappropriate images, bias—the list goes on. What kind of AI will iOS 27 bring? And more importantly, will iPhone users embrace the new Siri or turn against it?
Will Apple bring any new Macs to the show?
While WWDC is primarily a software show, we’ve gotten our share of Apple hardware announcements at the event, including Vision Pro, HomePod, and the 15-inch MacBook Air. However, much like last year, this year’s show looks to be entirely focused on software. That’s a bummer, but Filipe Esposito explains why there’s still plenty of time for new hardware this year.
Welcome to the WWDC 2026 live blog!
Come on in, everyone! We’re starting this year’s live blog a little early this year to make sure you don’t miss a thing. We’ll have full coverage of every leak, rumor, and announcement leading up to the keynote at 10 am on Monday, followed by minute-by-minute reporting of everything announced as it happens. So keep coming back!
