The features coming to your Apple devices soon

What happened: Yesterday, Apple kicked off WWDC, which meant a slew of announcements for features that are coming to its devices later this year (usually around mid-September). While many of these were quality-of-life updates and small releases, Apple did finally unveil the new Siri and Apple Intelligence refresh. It would take a long time to list out all of the changes (as well as the hidden tidbits), so below are the major announcements. (You can watch Apple’s keynote here if you missed it.)

New features and OS updates:

• Liquid Glass: You can adjust its opacity through a slider in Settings, depending on whether you want it ultra clear or fully tinted.
• Loading and transfer times: iPhone and iPad apps should load up to 30% faster. New photos should load up to 70% faster, and AirDrop transfers should be up to 80% faster. A new loading bar for sending photos and videos in group chats will make it clear where they’re at in the send process if you have low bandwidth.
• Search: Once you update, your iPhone, iPad, or Mac will re-index all the content on your device so the updated Search feature can make it easier to find the things you need.
• Alarms: You can finally set independent volumes for your ringtone, alarms and timers, and alerts.
• Cross-compatibility: Android and Windows users can contribute to Shared Albums on iCloud.
• Audio customization: You can customize the EQ for some AirPods so they sound just how you want them to.
• Trust and safety: There’s a whole lot of features aimed at teens and kids.

Siri AI and Apple Intelligence:

• Privacy: Apple’s next generation of foundational AI models (adapted from Gemini) will run on-device and on servers (using what it calls Private Cloud Compute). It says your data is “not stored nor made accessible to Apple or anyone else.”
• Photos: You will be able to create and edit images using Apple Intelligence.
• App: Apple confirmed the new dedicated Siri app.
• The new Siri: Dubbed Siri AI, it will live mostly in the Dynamic Island at the top of your screen, which will adjust its size based on what you’re doing and how long its answer is. To get more information, you can expand the Dynamic Island into a full chat, complete with pictures and links.
• Capabilities: Siri AI should be able to understand what you’re looking at and take actions for you across your devices in a more conversational manner.
• Agentic AI: Mike Rockwell, VP of Engineering, demoed Siri AI by asking when an upcoming concert was in San Francisco, asking how to get tickets, and then asking it to remind him when tickets go live—it set a Reminder for 10am on the specified day. In another demo, Rockwell asked Siri AI for a friend’s new address, which the friend sent but he forgot to save, and it surfaced it in a few seconds.
• Customizable Siri: If your device supports Apple’s most advanced on-device model (it seems not all will), Siri AI has a new voice that sounds more natural, and you can customize its expressivity and pace to your preference with sliders.
• Accuracy: Dictation has had a major update, so it should capture your spelling and punctuation more accurately across all apps.

What this means for Apple users: Mostly, things will load a whole lot faster and your devices will be more customizable and easy to use. Siri AI will also give us the first good look at how useful (and accurate) on-device agentic AI could be day to day. —SM

Note: Saira started testing out the new operating systems on iPhone, MacBook, and iPad yesterday and is on the waitlist for Siri AI. She will share her thoughts about the most useful features over the coming months. If you have something specific you would like her to test, please let us know.

Also at Apple…

• If you have an older iPad or Apple Watch, you may not be able to upgrade to the new operating systems. Here’s which devices won’t be supported.
• Bad news for Apple users in Europe: If you have an iPhone or iPad and were looking forward to the new Siri, you won’t get it on launch day.
• Say this 10 times fast: Apple Foundation Model Cloud Pro—its most advanced new model was developed in partnership with both Google and Nvidia.
• Another hidden detail from the keynote brings a much-needed update to your group chats (and notifications).
• You’ll soon be able to vibe code prompts in the Shortcuts app.
• This year’s WWDC AI demos looked more realistic, likely thanks to a lawsuit.