Apple's World Developers Conference WWDC 2026 will open at Apple Park tomorrow (June 8) at 10 a.m.(Pacific Time). This will be Tim Cook's last WWDC keynote as CEO-he will hand over the CEO position to John Ternus on September 1. The core highlights of this conference: Siri 2.0 based on Google Gemini, the AI Agent app store, and AI native refactoring for iOS 27/macOS 27.
Siri 2.0: A complete reconstruction from a "voice assistant" to an "AI chat robot"
According to Bloomberg Mark Gurman, the new generation of Siri's internal code name "Campo" will completely abandon traditional interactive logic and adopt a modern chat robot interface similar to ChatGPT and Claude. Core upgrades include:
Context memory: Maintain context across conversations and achieve multiple rounds of continuous interactions
On-Screen Awareness: Understand the user's current screen content and provide accurate operations
In-App Actions: Proactively perform tasks between different applications, such as "saving email attachments to memos and setting reminders"
Gemini Driver: Based on the strategic cooperation reached between Apple and Google in January, it pays approximately US$1 billion in technical licensing fees every year and uses a customized version of the 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model
AI Agent App Store: Apple's "platform ambitions"
According to The Information, Apple plans to introduce AI Agent functions in the App Store, allowing users to entrust AI to perform tasks such as restaurant reservations, scheduling management, editing documents, and controlling smart homes. This "Agent Store" will:
Allow third-party developers to submit AI agents
Apple audits agent security and privacy compliance
Users can choose different AI models (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) as the underlying engine
This is in direct competition with Microsoft's Copilot Agent, Google's Gemini Spark, and OpenAI's Operator, but Apple's advantages are:
1 billion + active devices: the world's largest AI distribution platform
Privacy brand: Private Cloud Compute architecture, data does not exit the device
Ecological closed-loop: Full scene coverage from iPhone to Mac to Apple Watch to HomePod
"Liquid Glass"UI upgrade and hardware suspense
iOS 27 will introduce more refined Liquid Glass special effects controls, allowing users to globally adjust the transparency intensity. macOS 27 has a "slight redesign" compared to its predecessor.
In terms of hardware, this WWDC is not expected to have major new hardware releases, but it may pave the way for the folding iPhone in the fall.
An "AI gamble" with an annual fee of US$1 billion
Apple pays Google approximately $1 billion in Gemini licensing fees every year, the largest single technology purchase in Apple's history. The strategic significance of this transaction:
Making up for the shortcomings of self-research: Apple Intelligence's self-research model capabilities lag behind OpenAI/Anthropic by about 1-2 generations
Quick catch-up: Using Gemini's 1.2 trillion parameter model to directly benchmark GPT-5.5/Claude Opus 4.8
Risk hedging: If the self-developed model breaks through, it can reduce reliance on Gemini; if the self-developed model fails, Gemini ensures competitiveness
WWDC 2026 is the "coming-of-age ceremony" of Apple's AI strategy. When Google used Gemini Spark, Microsoft used Copilot Agent, and OpenAI used Operator to compete for dominance in the AI Agent era, Apple chose a unique path-not to develop its own strongest model, but to be the "best platform for AI models." The $1 billion Gemini license fee buys "time": using Google's modeling capabilities to make up for self-research shortcomings, while using the ecological barrier of 1 billion devices to lock in users.
But the risks are equally huge: if Siri 2.0's experience still lags behind ChatGPT/Claude, Apple's "platform strategy" will become a "packer of second-rate AI"; if the quality of third-party Agents in the Agent Store is uneven, it may damage Apple's brand reputation. Tim Cook's last WWDC keynote was not only an explanation to shareholders, but also a tribute to Jobs-in the AI era, can Apple continue to "think different"?