Apple’s full AI revamp — including Siri AI — is finally here

🍏🤖 Apple has finally made its AI move. At its latest WorldwideDevelopers Conference (WWDC), the tech giant unveiled a slate of much-anticipated AI-powered features alongside the new iOS 27. Siri AI emerged as one of the WWDC keynote’s biggest highlights, joined by Apple Watch OS updates, macOS Golden Gate, privacy and safety modifications, and several overdue software updates. It looks like the EU might be a little late to the Apple x AI party, though. Let’s get into the details.

A better, AI-powered Siri

Everything’s better with an app: Siri didn’t just get an AI upgrade — it also got its own app. For the past few years, Apple has noticeably lagged behind its peers in the AI race, but this AI-powered Siri goes a long way toward closing the gap, especially as Apple’s partnership with Google’s Gemini AI finally comes to fruition.

Siri AI works across Apple’s whole roster: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, CarPlay, and AirPods. On the iPhone, Siri AI is situated in the Dynamic Island at the top of the screen and, when triggered by the side button, appears as an iridescent blob. The dedicated Siri AI app operates like a chatbot and, according to Apple, is a “profoundly more capable assistant.” The AI version is also supposedly a better conversationalist, with improved contextual awareness and a more expressive voice, with complete voice customization. Conversation history is also synced across your Apple devices via iCloud.

Siri AI has “broad world knowledge,” extracted from online sources and personal data stored on your device. Its capabilities extend beyond its own app, accessing multiple apps to draft messages with its writing assistant, gather photos and videos into shared folders, help you book tickets to an event, and set up reminders on your calendar. If splitting the bill at the end of a group dinner is your worst nightmare, it can help with that, too. Much like Google’s Lens, Siri will also be able to work through the iPhone’s camera app to help you identify objects when you point your camera at them.

Where else you’ll find Apple’s new AI features

Safari, in particular, picked up some of the most handy updates. If you’re prone to falling down shopping or research rabbit holes, the browser can understand the content of your tabs and automatically group them into topical folders for easier navigation. Waiting for your favorite shoes to go on sale or come back in stock? Safari’s new “Notify Me” feature can alert you whenever a change takes place on a website. If a website reports that your password has been compromised, Safari can even update it for you — a feature that plenty of netizens don’t seem too happy with. On top of that, Safari is becoming even more customizable with the new “Describe an Extension” feature, which lets users generate browser extensions simply by describing what they want them to do.

The feature that has the internet talking: Fumbled the angle of a once-in-a-lifetime picture? The photo app’s new AI-powered Spatial Reframing feature aims to save the day. This feature helps you modify a photo’s composition and perspective after it’s been taken, and it also generatively fills in the background when you crop or resize the image. Apple’s AI image-generation tool, Playground, also received an upgrade, with more photorealistic image generation and greater editing flexibility. AI-edited photos will also now automatically carry a hidden SynthID watermark.

Among Apple’s most ambitious updates this year, the AI-infused Photos app also proved one of its most controversial. Spatial Reframing, in particular, drew criticism from users who saw it less as a harmless editing tool and more as a manipulative tool that alters photos for the sake of aesthetics. Anticipating backlash, Apple stressed during the keynote that it has a “deep respect for the craft of photography.”

Design refreshes and software improvements

iOS 27 is here: The latest operating system will be available on iPhone 11 models and newer, a welcome boost for device longevity. Beyond the headline-grabbing AI features and Siri AI, notable additions include a new perimenopause dashboard in the Health app and the ability to share Photos albums with Android and Windows users while preserving full-resolution images. Apple also claims significant performance improvements, with iOS 27 running 30% faster overall, photos launching 70% faster, and AirDrop transfers seeing an 80% speed boost.

Mac users are also getting a new operating system: Golden Gate. It’s the first Apple OS designed exclusively for MacBooks using Apple’s custom silicon chips. The tech company also rolled out a number of much-needed tune-ups. The Liquid Glass design, introduced in 2025 and widely criticized for being “beautiful but hard to read,” is getting a readability boost thanks to a new material that diffuses light more effectively. A transparency slider lets users choose how glassy they want their interface to look. Elsewhere, sidebars will now extend edge-to-edge, and sidebar icons will become sharper and regain some of their color.

Privacy, parental control, and child safety

Apple’s AI rollout may be overdue, but the company used the keynote to highlight its privacy-first approach to AI. The AI features may need access to much of what’s on your device, but Apple assures users that most requests are processed on-device. When a query requires cloud computing, it will be handled through its secure Private Cloud Compute system. User data is neither stored nor accessible to the company or anyone else.

Healthier digital habits were a major focus of the keynote. Apple expanded its parental controls with tools that let parents decide which apps their children can access and when, approve website requests through the new “Ask to Browse” feature, and control who their children can contact. Gory and violent content, including nudity, will also be blurred and flagged to parents across communication apps.

Public and market reax

So, what’s the verdict? With the new features set to roll out in a public beta in July and a wider release after the annual iPhone event in September, users and investors alike are waiting to see if Apple’s demos deliver in practice. The company’s stock saw a modest uptick following the WWDC, bolstered by its AI-powered and safety-focused updates. But the intraday boost proved short-lived as Apple saw its worst day since February, with a 3% drop in shares last Tuesday.

Adding to the mixed reception is the EU dispute over Siri AI’s delayed rollout in the region. Apple points to EU tech rules, while the European Commission says the company has not yet met required privacy and security standards.

The keynote largely highlighted how far Apple still appears to be behind in AI, especially when stacked against companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, both of which are already promoting agentic tools for developers and office workers. Some viewed Apple’s AI-heavy keynote as overcompensating for a lack of broader innovation, while most felt its late arrival in the AI race made the announcement less groundbreaking than anticipated. Still, the personalized AI-powered Siri experience has left analysts optimistic, with some calling it the boldest consumer AI play yet — and a potential rival to ChatGPT and Gemini.