Siri AI, Visual Intelligence and 6 key Siri features announced at Apple WWDC 2026

Apple has officially introduced AI-powered Siri, which the company says has been developed from ground-up, and reimagines the voice assistant powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence foundation models. Available to developers starting today, with a public beta arriving later this year, Siri AI represents the most significant upgrade to Siri since its original launch. According to the tech giant, the upgraded assistant features -- powered by the same underlying technology that powers Google's Gemini models -- offer massive improvements in conversational reasoning, deep onscreen awareness and a sharp understanding of a user's personal context. Here is everything that is new:The AI-updated Siri has four key features, which include: Deep personal context: Siri AI can securely browse your personal data across Apple apps, instantly pull up a specific recommendations from a past text thread, for example, find an old hotel confirmation email, or locate specific photos from a family vacation.Moreover, Siri AI moves beyond simple commands to offer natural, back-and-forth conversation where users can ask follow-up questions without starting over each time.Onscreen awareness: The second big change is awareness on what’s on the user’s screen. The assistant tracks what is currently happening on your display. For example, if you receive a text message about a potluck dinner, you can ask Siri AI to brainstorm recipe ideas based on that text and automatically save them to your Notes app.New ways to access: iPhone users can now trigger a deep system conversation by swiping down directly from the Dynamic Island or pressing the side button. A dedicated Siri app: Apple is launching a standalone Siri app that automatically logs and syncs your conversational history via iCloud, allowing you to start a chat on a Mac and pick it up later on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Also integrated across CarPlay, and AirPods for on-the-go use.Siri Camera Mode: On iPhone, a new specialised mode in the Camera app lets Siri analyse the physical world. For example, users can click a photo to instantly split a dinner bill via Apple Cash or get nutritional facts about a plate of food.Expanded ecosystem support: Visual Intelligence expands to Mac via keyboard shortcuts, iPad through the screenshot tool and Apple Vision Pro by allowing users to simply look at physical objects or open windows to ask questions.Systemwide writing tools: Siri AI can now generate text drafts from scratch or edit existing work based on user descriptions. In Mail and Messages, it analyses past conversations to automatically match the specific tone and punctuation you normally use with a specific recipient.Apple says Siri AI is built on an architecture specifically designed to protect user privacy, with on-device processing handling sensitive personal data wherever possible. According to Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, the upgrade allows users to take action across their favourite apps far more naturally than ever before.