Around the middle of each year, Apple hosts its World Wide Developer Conference, or WWDC. This is the forum for Apple to announce all the newness coming at a software level. New apps, new experiences and new upgrades.

This year at WWDC26, there were a host of updates announced, including bold changes to Apple Intelligence, enhanced parental controls, faster apps and a new version of Siri powered by AI. In particular the new parental controls are some of the most impressive moves in the cyber safety space.

Want the cliff notes from the keynote? Find below the biggest and most important changes coming to Apple software from the 2026 WWDC.

New parental controls and Screen Time tools

Parents are the big winners in this round of Apple software updates.

As the digital landscape evolves at a rapid pace that often outstrips our ability to stay up-to-date with the latest cyber threats, Apple is looking to put control back into the hands of parents and guardians. Parents will be able to set up special child accounts with age-appropriate protections enabled from the very outset. This means parents can control which apps children can access and even approve new contacts before communication begins. Communication Safety has also been expanded, for example this can allow for automatic intervention when explicit or violent content is detected.

Screen Time has been redesigned and now allows parents to set daily allowances and even make them category specific – entertainment, gaming, social media etc. Apple will also be offering expert-informed recommended screen time limits so that parents have some guidance when making these decisions. New scheduling tools will also be able restrict app access throughout the day.

Say 'hey' to Siri AI

Whether you like it or not, Siri is being rebuilt. The headline announcement from the WWDC26 keynote speech was Siri AI. This is a version of the voice assistant designed to be more conversational, contextual and capable.

It will be deeply integrated across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. The key thing most users will noticeis that Siri AI will understand personal context far better than its predecessor. Since it will be able to search across messages, emails, photos and files to help users complete tasks, you'll be able to converse and ask questions more casually. It can also perform actions across apps and retrieve up-to-date information from the web.

There will also be a new standalone Siri app which will be able to store conversation history and allows you to revisit previous chats. This will be possible across devices too. So chats you've had with Siri AI on your phone can be accessed on your computer through iCloud syncing.

Apple said Siri AI has been built with a privacy-focused architecture and will launch initially as an English-language beta later in 2026.

Apple Intelligence expands across the ecosystem

Beyond Siri, Apple Intelligence is being woven more deeply into the Apple experience at its core – this is Apple's answer to a personalise generative AI system. New AI-powered features are coming to apps ike Photos, Safari, Messages, Mail and Image Playground. Apple says the tools will help users edit images, organise information, manage browser tabs, improve communication and generate creative content.

Faster performance across iPhone, iPad and Mac

The 2027 software releases are set to come with a major performance update.

Apple has said that apps will be 30 per cent faster. Photos load up to 70 per cent faster after capture and even AirDrop transfers will be up to 80 per cent faster. iPad users will also see dramatically faster file transfers with external drives, while search functions in Spotlight, Photos and Mail have been rebuilt for improved speed and reliability.

It is important to note that Apple confirmed iOS 27 will continue supporting devices as far back as the iPhone 11, which was the 2019 model.

Smaller updates you'll want to know

If you love 'Liquid Glass' from last year's WWDC, get ready for more features. For example, a new transparency slider means you can adjust the interface from ultra-clear to heavily tinted.

Cross-platform iCloud Shared Albums now come with full-resolution photo sharing. There's menopause and perimenopause tracking in the Health app. A redesigned app grid and consolidated Find My experience is coming to Apple Watch. Custom EQ settings are being introduced for AirPods. We'll get Nnew Vision Pro spatial environments generated from panoramic photos. If you use Apple Maps, you'll get Enhanced AI-powered Flyover experiences.