WWDC 2026: Apple unveils next-gen AI-powered Siri, expands child safety controls across devices

Apple has unveiled its upcoming software releases that will deliver the next generation of Apple Intelligence and introduced Siri AI, an entirely new version of Siri that is profoundly more intelligent, knowledgeable and capable.

According to the company, the releases also bring powerful and intuitive new features to help parents create safe digital experiences for kids, as well as improvements that further elevate the software design and performance of Apple products while making them more responsive, delightful, and easier to use with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27.

“Apple products are an essential part of people’s lives, and this year we’re bringing powerful new capabilities to empower our users in even more ways,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering during the Worldwide Developers Conference here.

“We’re delivering the next generation of Apple Intelligence across our platforms; introducing Siri AI, a profoundly more intelligent, knowledgeable, and capable Siri; expanding child safety features with intuitive new tools for families; and making our software platforms faster, more reliable, and more delightful than ever before,” Federighi mentioned.

Leveraging a bold new architecture uniquely designed to protect users’ privacy, the next generation of Apple Intelligence powers Siri AI and brings helpful new features to apps users rely on every day.

Siri AI can answer questions related to the content on a user’s screen, draw on personal context understanding to search across apps, and go out to the web to get up-to-date information using broad world knowledge and generate a helpful answer.

In addition to Siri AI, the next generation of Apple Intelligence powers tremendous new features in apps across the system to simplify the things users do every day, like editing images in Photos, browsing across multiple tabs in Safari, expressing creativity with Image Playground, communicating in Messages and Mail, and so much more.

“Powerful and intuitive new features that are easy to use help parents manage what their kids can see, who they can talk to, and when they have access to apps,” said Apple.

By setting up a child account, parents can immediately enable age-appropriate protections across the system, and with Setup Assistant, parents can choose exactly which apps to make available and stay in control of what gets added over time.

With communication safety features, parents can require approval for each new contact their kids connect with and enable automatic interventions if explicit or violent content is being shared.

On Apple Watch, a new dynamic app grid features the icons for five Siri-suggested apps, users can open a widget in the Smart Stack with a new tap gesture, and a new Find My app consolidates Find Devices, Find Items, and Find People.

The new features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Programme at developer.apple.com, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Programme next month.