WWDC 2026: Is Siri Actually Good Now?

Summary of WWDC 2026: Is Siri Actually Good Now?

by MKBHD

1h 51m•June 12, 2026
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Overview of Waveform Podcast: WWDC 2026: Is Siri Actually Good Now?

Marques, Andrew, and David break down Apple’s WWDC keynote, which they view as a more “Snow Leopard”-style update: less flashy redesign, more polish, speed, and bug-fixing across Apple’s platforms. The biggest theme is Apple Intelligence/Siri 2.0, but the episode also covers a long list of practical quality-of-life improvements across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, Vision Pro, Photos, Maps, Safari, Wallet, and parental controls. The hosts are optimistic about many of the smaller updates, but remain skeptical about how well Siri will work outside Apple’s ecosystem and how much of the new AI experience depends on Apple-only apps and developer adoption.

Key Takeaways

  • WWDC felt more like a refinement release than a giant redesign.
  • Apple emphasized speed, readability, and “little things” that remove friction.
  • Siri is finally becoming context-aware and action-oriented, but it still looks incomplete and ecosystem-limited.
  • Many of the most useful features are quality-of-life upgrades, not headline-grabbing AI demos.
  • Parental controls were one of the most meaningful announcements for real-world users.

Key Platform Updates

iPhone / iOS

  • Liquid Glass controls: users can now adjust transparency with a slider, and Apple also sharpened the glass UI edges for better readability.
  • Faster performance:
    • App launches are reportedly up to 30% faster.
    • Older devices, including iPhone 11 support, benefit from better scheduling and indexing.
  • Connectivity improvements:
    • Faster switching from weak Wi‑Fi to cellular.
  • Genmoji overhaul:
    • New interface.
    • Better multi-element creation and more flexible editing.
  • Image Playground refresh:
    • More photorealistic outputs and new editing tools.
  • Photos app tools:
    • Cleanup is improved.
    • Extend can expand image edges by up to 25%.
    • Spatial Reframe lets you subtly shift the camera perspective in a photo using depth reconstruction.
  • Camera app updates:
    • Simplified controls.
    • New Siri/Visual Intelligence access directly in the camera UI.
  • Wallet:
    • Create digital passes from physical ones.
    • Better receipt scanning and bill splitting.
  • Passwords:
    • Can automatically change weak/compromised passwords if you grant permission.
  • Calendar:
    • Create events from natural language.
  • Find My:
    • Custom time durations for location sharing.
  • FaceTime:
    • Dual-camera recording now available.
  • Health:
    • More synced step-count behavior.
    • New tracking for menopause/perimenopause.
  • Messages / shared content:
    • Full-res shared album support and cross-platform contributions.
  • Apple Pay:
    • Better card selection UI for online checkout.
  • Alarms / volume:
    • Dedicated alarm volume improvements.
  • Shortcuts:
    • Build automations by describing them in natural language.
  • Call context:
    • Apple can surface relevant info when calling businesses, like airline confirmation details.

iPad / iPadOS

  • Largely inherits the iPhone improvements.
  • External drive file transfers are much faster.
  • Also gets Safari-related improvements from macOS.

Mac / macOS Golden Gate

  • New OS name: macOS Golden Gate.
  • Same platform-wide speed/readability improvements as iPhone/iPad.
  • Safari gains AI-powered extension creation:
    • You can describe an extension in natural language.
    • Safari can also suggest existing extensions if they already do what you want.
  • Tab organization:
    • AI can sort tabs into groups by topic.
  • Page monitoring:
    • Safari can watch for page changes, useful for things like ticket drops or lottery openings.
  • Window/monitor memory:
    • Much better at remembering multi-monitor setups and screen orientation.
  • Spotlight + Siri integration:
    • Siri actions are built directly into system search and screenshot tools.

Apple Watch / watchOS

  • No major redesign.
  • The main visible change is a new app view that shows the most-used apps first when opening the app launcher.
  • Better workout and sleep features, plus faster connectivity and playback.
  • Support drops for older watches, which the hosts note was a point of frustration.

Vision Pro / visionOS 27

  • Panoramas can now be spatialized and used as environments.
  • New floating Siri orb interface.
  • You can point at real-world objects and ask Siri about them.
  • Vision Pro also gets the broader Siri and AI improvements.

AirPods

  • Customizable EQ finally arrives.
  • The hosts are happy to see the feature, even if the 3-band EQ is limited.

Siri and Apple Intelligence: The Big Story

What Siri is supposed to do now

Apple’s new Siri is framed around three pillars:

  • Personal context
    • Search messages, email, calendar, notes, and other on-device data.
  • On-screen awareness
    • Understand what’s visible on the display and act on it.
  • In-app actions
    • Chain actions across Apple apps, like creating notes, calendars, reminders, or sending messages.

What the hosts liked

  • The new Siri feels much more ambitious than the old version.
  • It’s deeply integrated into the system rather than acting like a separate chatbot.
  • The overlay-style UI on iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro looks clean and consistent.
  • Some real-world demos worked well, especially when Siri had access to the right personal context.

What they’re skeptical about

  • It seems heavily optimized for Apple apps, not third-party defaults.
  • It may struggle for users who rely on Gmail, Google Calendar, Spotify, Pocket Casts, WhatsApp, and similar apps.
  • Some actions still failed or only partially completed in testing.
  • The experience feels promising, but not fully mature yet.
  • The hosts question whether people will want to reorganize their entire workflow just to fit Apple’s version of the ecosystem.

Under-the-hood concerns

  • Siri appears to rely on several on-device and cloud models.
  • Apple’s compute story is still somewhat murky.
  • They discuss rumors/speculation about Apple using Google/Gemini-like models as a teacher for its own systems.
  • Some features may depend on higher-RAM devices, with the most advanced on-device model limited to newer iPhones.

Parental Controls and Safety

This was one of the most praised parts of the keynote.

What changed

  • A much easier child account setup flow.
  • Existing child accounts can be converted into the new setup.
  • Prebuilt “essentials only” account templates.
  • Easier app approval, website approval, and contact approval.
  • More granular screen time controls:
    • Based on app groups.
    • Based on time of day.
    • Easier for parents to tune on the fly.
  • Dedicated guidance pages for parents.

Why it mattered

  • The hosts think these controls are genuinely useful.
  • The biggest win is not just the feature set, but how much easier Apple made them to set up.
  • They expect many parents will only use these tools if setup is simple and obvious.

Key Reactions and Opinions

  • The keynote production felt a little more casual and human than usual.
  • The hosts noticed handheld shots, people in the background at Apple Park, and less hyper-polished lighting.
  • They interpreted that as possibly intentional: Apple wanted the AI-heavy presentation to feel more human and less sterile.
  • They also found the ending rap/shoutout segment divisive, with one host loving it and the others less enthusiastic.

Main Takeaways

  • Apple’s software direction this year is about refinement, utility, and AI integration, not a giant visual overhaul.
  • The best updates are the boring ones: faster app launches, better alarms, better sharing, better window memory, better passwords.
  • Siri is the main attraction, but it will likely be most useful for people fully invested in Apple’s apps and ecosystem.
  • Apple’s parental controls may end up being one of the most impactful announcements for actual families.
  • The big question going forward: Will Siri be genuinely useful in everyday life, or just impressive in demos?