Apple Expected To Unveil New AI Features At Last Developers Conference With CEO Tim Cook

Apple is expected to unveil new AI features starting Monday at its annual developers conference, which will be the last conference to feature CEO Tim Cook before he hands over his position to John Ternus in September.

The Worldwide Developers Conference, which draws thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters, generally focuses on software, unlike the fall unveiling of the newest iPhones.

Analysts expect the iPhone maker to roll out updates on new AI features and capabilities, including improvements to the Siri voice assistant.

“Although hardware products are rarely introduced at developer fairs, we could see hints of Apple expanding into foldable devices, wearables and smart home products through developer and ecosystem updates,” said Emarketer senior analyst Gadjo Sevilla, who called 2026 a “transitional year” for the conference.

Apple is trying to catch up with its Big Tech peers on artificial intelligence. It uses Google’s Gemini AI model to power its AI features.

Sevilla said he predicts Siri will be redesigned as an AI chatbot and will be more talkative, have memory to retrieve previous conversations and be able to complete multiple tasks with a single request.

He said there is optimism about the potential for an improved Siri.

“An upgraded, mediated version of Siri that can handle conversations and tasks across iPhones, Macs, and iPads could become as ubiquitous as features like AirDrop and Handoff that currently unify Apple’s ecosystem,” Sevilla said.

Cook announced his retirement in April, ending a 15-year period during which the company’s market value rose by more than $4 trillion during the iPhone-fueled prosperity. Ternus has been at Apple for the last quarter-century, including overseeing the underlying engineering of the iPhone, iPad and Mac; this post made him a leading candidate to succeed Cook.

The transition to a new CEO comes at a crucial time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has caused the biggest industry upheaval since Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007. Apple is off to a rocky start on artificial intelligence after stumbling in its efforts to deliver new features built on the technology as promised nearly two years ago.