Apple’s yearly Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is scheduled to kick off a week from today, and signs are pointing towards a host of new software announcements – but perhaps very little in the way of new hardware.
The WWDC26 keynote will be live-streamed on Apple TV, YouTube, and Apple’s event website at 10am Pacific Time, which is 6pm here in the UK. Australian Apple fans will either have to stay up late or wake up early, as the presentation will kick off at 3am on the West Coast, or 1am on the East Coast.
With this being a software-focused showcase, we expect updates to Apple’s various operating systems across its mobile phones, tablets, computers and, most importantly, streaming devices.
That being said, Apple has surprised us with hardware announcements at WWDC in previous years. These include the Apple Vision Pro headset, updated Mac computers, and even the original HomePod, which was announced at WWDC 2017.
Ultimately, signs are pointing towards a WWDC that is putting the focus on software, which might not be such a bad thing…
What to expect…
Apple made a big statement last year with its latest batch of software updates. 2025 signalled the year of Liquid Glass, which introduced a fluid, transparent interface to everything from iPhones and iPads to Apple TV and iMacs.
Apple also standardised the naming conventions of its various product lineups. All of the version numbers were changed to align with the relevant year, signalling the launch of iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and tvOS 26.
We think, then, that it's reasonable to expect the announcement of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and tvOS 27 on Monday.
As for what these updates will bring to the table, that is somewhat of an unknown currently. We know that Apple has made a big push for Apple Intelligence, the company’s answer to the AI revolution, in recent years, but it has ultimately fallen far behind the competition.
While Google has steamrolled ahead with Gemini on various Android phones, Apple Intelligence and Siri aren’t quite living up to the claims made by Apple during the iPhone 16 launch.
Siri hasn’t got much smarter, and Visual Intelligence hasn’t really challenged Google’s excellent Circle to Search function. Therefore, we anticipate the upcoming updates to be pretty AI and Siri-focused, as Apple scrambles to bring its software up to speed.
Elsewhere, we could see some tweaks to Liquid Glass after the lukewarm reaction to the new user interface, as well as new features coming to some of Apple’s core apps. Last year, we saw a handful of updates come to Apple Music, which included the ability to pin your favourite albums and real-time lyric translations.
What not to expect…
We’ve said it already, but we’ll reiterate: it is unlikely that this will be a hardware-heavy event. The two big products that we await are still missing in action, and it’s looking less and less likely that they will break cover at WWDC 2026.
These are the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod Mini, which, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via Engadget), have both been ready to launch for several months. In fact, Gurman claims that the upcoming hardware is already being used internally at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters.
Expected upgrades aren’t monumental; in fact, some predictions are centred around some minor chipset updates. But with the previous generations of the Apple TV 4K and HomePod Mini launching in 2022 and 2020, respectively, we are willing to take any form of upgrade.
The aforementioned limitations to Apple Intelligence and Siri are reportedly responsible for the holdup with these products, but the expectation is that once Apple irons out its AI kinks, then these products should be primed to launch.
It should also not come as a surprise to hear that we probably won’t see any new iPhones during the presentations. Apple tends to save those for its annual September event – and it’s looking like it could be a big one this year.
Apple is expected to change its usual lineup by launching its first foldable device alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. The standard iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e, meanwhile, are expected to launch in early 2027.
We’re not ruling out new product announcements entirely; Apple could surprise us after all. But, with software being the primary focus for WWDC, we think September is a more likely time to see new Apple hardware.
MORE:
Read our full Apple iPhone 17 review
As well as our Apple TV 4K (2022) review
And check out the best smartphones here
