- Lead. Apple opened WWDC 2026 on June 8 by announcing that its rebuilt Siri assistant runs on a custom version of Google’s Gemini model — a striking turn for a company that spent a decade insisting it could do AI on its own terms.
- Fact. CEO Tim Cook simultaneously announced his retirement effective September 1, 2026, with John Ternus — Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering — named as his successor. Cook said: “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to help advance that mission.”
- Stake. The Gemini partnership puts Apple in structural dependence on its most direct software rival for its primary user-facing AI feature, at precisely the moment AI assistants are displacing traditional search and app navigation as the dominant mobile interface.
The new Siri AI exists as a standalone app in addition to the system-wide assistant that has been part of iOS since 2011. Apple’s Craig Federighi presented the rebuilt assistant as “more capable, more conversational, and more compatible with visual intelligence” — designed to handle complex, multi-step requests rather than simple commands. Federighi told the audience: “We believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” framing the Gemini integration within Apple’s habitual privacy positioning even as the underlying model runs in external infrastructure.
The same Gemini model Google showcased at I/O 2026 earlier this spring now sits inside Apple’s most-used feature. Apple and Google did not disclose the financial terms of the arrangement, but the commercial depth of the two companies’ relationship — they have historically been each other’s largest business partner even while competing across browsers, maps, and app stores — contextualises how far beyond competitive rhetoric the actual relationship runs. TechCrunch’s full WWDC 2026 recap covers every feature announced at the keynote.
The Cook succession
Cook’s announcement that John Ternus will take the CEO role on September 1 caps a tenure that began in 2011 when he succeeded Steve Jobs. Ternus, who has led hardware engineering since 2020, oversaw the Apple Silicon transition — the shift from Intel processors to Apple’s own M-series chips — widely considered one of the most technically ambitious product pivots in the company’s modern history. The timing of the announcement was deliberate: Cook handed his successor a clear strategic direction, anchored around the Gemini partnership and the expanded Apple Intelligence platform, rather than an open agenda.
iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence
Apple announced the full “27” software sweep: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27. iOS 27 is compatible with iPhone 11 and newer — the broadest rollout Apple has announced at a single WWDC. Key performance improvements include 70% faster photo loading and 80% faster AirDrop transfers. Apple Intelligence features in the new release include AI-powered reply suggestions in Messages, a Phone app that pulls context from Mail and Messages, and expanded photo-editing tools: Reframe, Extend, and an enhanced Cleanup.
Developers working with the iOS 27 beta found references to “foldState” and “angleDegrees” variables in the code, sustaining speculation about a foldable iPhone in development — but Apple made no official announcement on the topic. The headline from WWDC 2026 is simpler: the company that once said it would never outsource its core intelligence is now powered by Google, and the executive who led it through its most profitable decade has named his exit date.